368 Calling: New Alberta Area Code Launches Saturday - Global News

Saturday marks the start of a new area code for Albertans.

Announced in 2021, Albertans will now see 368 pop up as an option for an area code. The new addition is the fifth area code for the province.

Back in 1947, area code 403 was introduced, and in 1999, the 780 area code was added specifically for northern Alberta.

Though 403 was saved for southern Alberta, the codes 587 and 825 were added for the whole province in 2008 and 2016, respectively.

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Phone numbers with the new area code will only be assigned once there is no longer a sufficient supply of numbers with the existing area codes.

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The 368 area code is the result of a decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and is intended to meet the continuously growing demand for new telephone numbers, according to a news release.

The introduction of the new area code won’t affect the geographic boundaries for local calling areas or the way long-distance calls are dialed. Special numbers such as 211, 311, 411, 611 and 911 will not be affected and will still be dialed using only three digits.

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