Toronto is getting a new area code this weekend. Here’s what you need to know

A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Anyone signing up for a new phone number in Toronto may get the city’s newest area code this weekend.

As of Saturday, “942” will join the ranks of the city’s existing area codes: 416, 647 and 437. All existing phone numbers will hold on to their existing area codes, according to Telecommunications Alliance.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) first approved the new area code two years ago to meet an increasing demand, after noting the existing area codes are expected to be exhausted by April 2026. The CRTC waited the two years to provide “necessary time” to customers and service providers to implement the 942 area code to their databases, the 2023 report notes.

The last time Toronto saw a new area code was back in 2013, with the inclusion of the 437 area code. Twelve years prior, 647 was introduced.

The CRTC says a survey is conducted by the Canadian Numbering Association annually to determine the need for new area codes in each region, to ensure telephone numbers don’t run out.