Area code 867 is the area code for the three Canadian territories in the Arctic far north.
867 was created on October 21, 1997 from portions of two existing Canadian area codes. It has the largest land area of any area code in the North American Numbering Plan. The territorial extent reaches 3,173 km from Cape Dyer on Baffin Island to the Alaska border, and 4,391 km from the south end of James Bay to the North Pole. The largest distances between exchanges are 2,200 km from Sanikiluaq to Grise Fiord, and 3,365 km from Beaver Creek to Pangnirtung. Four different official time zones are observed within the area.
Nearly all of the eastern Northwest Territories (along with most of western Québec) were originally in area code 819§ and served by Bell Canada until 1992. The Yukon Territory and the western portion of the Northwest Territories were originally covered by Alberta area code 403, and served by Northwestel.
Inuvik had had the 403-979 prefix before the 867 area code was formed, and then went to 867-777 to resolve a conflict with the 979 prefix at Iqaluit (coming from the 819 area).
- The digits were chosen to promote the theme "TOP of the world", as TOP spells 867 on a North American dial.
- 1867 also happens to be commemorated as the year of Canadian Confederation.
Since then, Nunavut has taken over all of the former 819 portion of the Northwest Territories, plus part of the old 403 area. Area code 403 (Calgary, Alberta) has since been further split to create 780 for the northern two-thirds of Alberta, including Edmonton.
The only incumbent local exchange carrier in 867 is Northwestel, although until 1964, the geographic area now served by 867 did have up to five independent telephone companies, plus Bell Canada.
§ - The code 819 was applied to the eastern NWT and northern Quebec starting in the late 1970s as Direct distance dialing became available; from 1957 to the late 1970s, these areas were nominally part of area code 418; prior to 1957, they would have been regarded as part of area code 514, but there were no telephone services in the area prior to 1958. 
Places that use this area code
| Area code 867 covers all points in the three Canadian territories: |
To the extent that exchanges within the territories also serve some customers in adjacent provinces, 867 numbers can also be found in Fraser and Swan Lake, British Columbia (served from Carcross and Swift River, respectively), and Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta (served from Fort Smith). Excluded from this area code is Environment Canada's weather station at Eureka which uses 204 and 613. However, where the Alaska Highway repeatedly (nine times) crosses the BC-Yukon border, two highway lodges and area residents are served by Watson Lake (867) numbers, not the nearer Lower Post (250) exchange. No provincial exchange actually near the border serves any territories customer.
Each community has only one central office code, except for:
- Whitehorse, Yukon (867) - 332 333 334 335 393 455 456 633 667 668
- Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (867) - 444 445 446 669 765 766 767 873 920 999
- Iqaluit, Nunavut (867) - 222 975 979
- Inuvik, Northwest Territories (867) - 620 678 777
- Fort Smith, Northwest Territories (867) - 621 870 872
- Hay River, Northwest Territories (867) - 874 875 876
(Until 1978, only Whitehorse (633, 667, 668) and Hay River (396, 874) had more than one prefix; Hay River was reduced to one (874), while Yellowknife (873) had a second prefix (920) added. Iqaluit (979), Inuvik (777) and Hay River received second prefixes in the 2001-2004 period, and Fort Smith (872) in 2006.)
Northwestel's proposal for a new regulatory regime was approved for 2007, allowing resale of local telephone service, additional central office codes should not be required for competitive carriers wishing to offer local service. If the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in future approves facilities-based local service competition, the expense of deployment would probably limit it to major communities, necessitating additional prefixes only in communities that already have multiple prefixes. Communities that now have only one prefix are not likely to need a second prefix other than for local growth.
See also
External links
- CNA exchange list for area +1-867
- Natural Resources Canada, Polar Continental Shelf Project - Eureka Weather Station
- Area Code Map of Canada
| Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut area code: 867 | ||
|---|---|---|
| North: Arctic Ocean, Country code +7 in Russia | ||
| West: 907 | Area Code 867 | East: Atlantic Ocean, Country code +299 in Greenland |
| South: 204, 250/778, 306, 705, 709, 780/587, 807, 819 | ||
| State of Alaska Area Code: 907 | ||
| Province of Alberta Area codes: 403, 587, 780 | ||
| Province of British Columbia Area Codes: 250, 604, 778 | ||
| Province of Manitoba area code: 204 | ||
| Province of Newfoundland and Labrador Area code: 709 | ||
| Province of Ontario area codes: 226, 289, 416, 519, 613, 647, 705, 807, 905 | ||
| Province of Saskatchewan Area code: 306 | ||
| Province of Quebec area codes: 418, 438, 450, 514, 581, 819 | ||
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