Alberta area codes

Alberta is a western Canadian province bordered by British Columbia, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, and the U.S. state of Montana. Its economy is built on energy, agriculture, and a growing tech sector.

Telephone numbering in Alberta

Alberta falls within the North American Numbering Plan and uses the +1 country code along with the rest of Canada and the United States. The province is currently served by 5 distinct area codes, of which 1 are original assignments and the remainder are overlays added to expand number capacity.

Because of overlay introduction, residents of most populated areas in Alberta must dial all 10 digits even for local calls. Mobile portability rules also mean a phone bearing a Alberta area code may physically be located anywhere in Canada — or anywhere in the world. The original area code remains a useful clue to a number's heritage but is no longer a reliable indicator of current location.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulates numbering policy in Canada, with day-to-day administration handled by the Canadian Numbering Administrator. New overlays are introduced when the existing pool of central office codes within an NPA reaches exhaustion thresholds defined by the NANP relief planning process.