Area code 289

289 is an area code for the region around Toronto, from Hamilton and Niagara to Brampton, Markham and Oshawa. It started on June 9, 2001, as the first overlay on 905, and brought ten-digit local dialling to the region. Toronto itself uses 416, 647, 437 and 942.

• June 9, 2001289 numbers first issued
• 94Exchange areas in the 905 group
• 4Codes sharing the area: 905, 289, 365, 742
• 537Code set aside for the region's next round

Where 289 numbers are issued

289 covers the 94 exchange areas of the 905 group, all in Ontario.¹ The administrator groups them into eight local regions named after Hamilton, Burlington, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Oshawa, Cobourg, Barrie and St. Catharines-Thorold.¹

The Barrie region is the odd one. Its 905-group exchanges are Bradford, Beeton and Tottenham. Barrie itself uses 705, 249 and 683.¹ To the west, Brantford, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo are in the 519 group.¹

289 and the switch to ten digits

905 split from 416 in October 1993.^2,3 By 2000 it was nearly full. On Aug. 15, 2000, the CRTC found that 905 would run out in April 2001, ordered conservation measures to stretch that to June 9, 2001, and approved a new code laid over the whole area.⁴

The CRTC saw considerable merit in splitting the region into three concentrated overlays instead. It dropped the idea because Bell Canada said it couldn't be ready until Jan. 31, 2002, after the forecast exhaust date.⁴

289 went live on June 9, 2001, three months after Toronto's 647, with ten digits required for local calls.^2,3 Every carrier switched except Bell Canada, which let its customers in neighbouring 519, 613 and 705 exchanges keep reaching 905 and 289 numbers with seven digits. In November 2001 the CRTC ordered Bell to comply.⁵

Exact dates are NANPA in-service dates. The administrator's history gives the month.^2,3

The 905 region needs a fifth code

365 arrived in 2013 and 742 in 2021, and the region is short again.² The administrator's July 2026 forecast has the four codes running out in November 2029, the earliest of Ontario's six groups, and relief planning began on Sept. 24, 2026.⁸ The CRTC set aside 537 for the region in November 2022.⁹

Projected exhaust dates from the administrator's status report posted Sept. 29, 2026.⁸

Calls from 289 numbers

The CRTC says callers can change what shows on your call display, including copying the first six digits of your own number so a call looks like it comes from a neighbour.¹⁰ The code on your screen tells you where a number was issued. It doesn't tell you who is calling.

• Don't trust call display. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says never to assume the number on your screen is accurate, for calls or texts.¹¹
• Call back on a number you find yourself. If a caller says they're from your bank, a service provider, the police or a government agency, hang up and call the number on your card, your statement or the organization's website.^10,11
• Don't tap links in texts. Forward suspicious texts to 7726 (SPAM), then delete them.^11,12
• Report it. Report fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or to your local police, even if you didn't lose money.^10,12
• Cut down on telemarketing. Register your number on the National Do Not Call List and file a complaint about unwanted telemarketing calls.¹⁰

What people are saying

We read Reddit threads about 289 numbers. The most common question is whether calling one from Toronto costs extra.

• "It's not the 289 that would make it long distance but rather the next 3 digits."

  Commenter on r/Rogers, May 14, 2023¹⁴

  That matches how numbering works. The administrator says all 10,000 numbers in a prefix belong to the same rate area.¹³ Whether a call between rate areas is long distance depends on the caller's plan, which we didn't check.

• "289 is basically 905."

  Commenter on r/Rogers, May 14, 2023¹⁴

  Correct. 289 was laid over the 905 area in June 2001 and shares its exchange areas.^1,3

Claims we checked

• Misleading
  Canada switched from seven-digit to ten-digit numbers when 289 started.

  Calilio's 289 page says "before 2001, the 7-digit number had been used in Canada" and that the 10-digit format arrived with 289.¹⁵ Ten-digit local dialling started in Toronto with 647 in March 2001, reached the 905 region with 289 that June, and didn't reach eastern Ontario until 2006 or Alberta and B.C. until 2008.³

Questions people ask

How we did this

We counted exchange areas in the Canadian Numbering Administrator's listing dated Oct. 7, 2026, and took the history from the administrator's relief history, the NANPA database, CRTC Orders 2000-772 and 2001-840 and CRTC Decision 2022-308. The forecast and planning status come from the administrator's Sept. 29, 2026 status report. Advice on calls comes only from the CRTC, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the Government of Canada. Reddit quotes are verbatim, with usernames left out. The clock uses fixed offsets and Ontario's 2026 time rules, not your device's settings.

Area codes change slowly, but new codes, forecasts and time rules do move. Each change goes in the update log below.

Update log

• Oct. 7, 2026, 10:19 p.m. ETFirst published. Data checked against the numbering administrator's and NANPA's files dated Oct. 7, 2026.