Nothing creates a sense of camaraderie quite like a local area code. Local phone numbers are recognizable and help businesses inspire instant trust among their customer base. In fact, only 45% of Canadians sometimes answer their phones, but when people pick up, it’s usually for local calls.
If your brand serves Canadian clients, what’s better than having a Canadian phone number (or a few) to attract more locals to your business?
Getting a Canadian phone number with a local area code is 100% possible for companies outside of Canada, including remote and dispersed teams. There’s no need to move across borders just to get the business phone number you want.
With a VoIP phone system, you can access a Canadian number and establish a local presence within minutes, no matter where you’re based.
Keep reading to learn why you should get a Canadian phone number and htooow to do so.
How to get a Canadian phone number
When you’re working from abroad, you can’t get a Canadian mobile number through your typical phone carrier — but that doesn’t mean accessing local numbers has to be any harder.
The best way to get a Canadian phone number is through a VoIP phone service, which can give you virtual phone numbers from any country it supports. All you need is a mobile phone, tablet, or computer to use your new number.
VoIP services can reduce the hassle of setting up a business phone — since setup takes minutes. Here are the two simple steps you need to take to get a Canadian phone number:
1. Choose the right VoIP provider
Not every VoIP provider supports Canadian numbers. If you’re in need of a brand-new number, double check that your VoIP service offers local telephone numbers with your desired three-digit Canadian area codes.
If you have an existing Canadian phone number but are moving to another country, you may want to keep your current number to avoid confusing your customers or maintain your brand. In this case, look for a VoIP service that supports phone number porting from the type of device your Canadian number is currently linked to (for example, a landline phone or cellphone).
Be on the lookout for any porting costs, as some services charge pricey hidden fees. With OpenPhone, you can easily make the switch from any device or VoIP service for free.
2. Set up your virtual phone number
Once you select your ideal Canadian VoIP provider, the next step is signing up and setting up your virtual number. This process can take as little as a few minutes and is straightforward with the right provider.
If you select OpenPhone as your provider, you’ll just need to complete these three simple steps to get a local Canadian phone number:
- Create an OpenPhone account — when you sign up you can try OpenPhone free for seven days.
- During signup, select your city or area code in Canada to pick your local phone number.
Canada Phone number look-up
- Complete the signup process, and the Canadian number you selected is yours!
See how easy it is to create an OpenPhone account in this video:
Why OpenPhone is the best option for a virtual Canadian phone number
With all the virtual phone options available to you, it can be confusing to know which one you should go with. Here’s why OpenPhone is the best option to get a Canadian phone number:
- Local and toll-free Canadian numbers: Whether you’re serving customers in a couple of Canadian provinces or all of them, OpenPhone has you covered. Get as many Canadian local or toll-free numbers as you need.
If you want to stand out to your customers, you can choose a vanity number like 1-800-FLOWERS as well. - Shared numbers: Want to direct all your Canadian sales or customer support calls to one phone number? No problem. Even if you have a fully remote company, OpenPhone allows your team members to split responsibility for incoming calls and messages and collaborate on any conversations. Your team can even be on separate calls at the same time using a single number.
- Easy global calling: Need to make calls or send texts outside of Canada? OpenPhone makes international calls as easy as pie. Even if you have a local Canadian number, you can still manage unlimited calls, SMS messages, and MMS messages to and from anywhere in Canada and the US. Connecting with toll-free numbers is also free.
Get a full cost breakdown with our international calling and texting rate sheet. - Cross device support: OpenPhone allows you to make calls on any internet-enabled device. We offer desktop, browser, and mobile apps, so you can conveniently manage calls and texts from your office computer or take your work on the go.
- Reliability: Unlike other pieces of software in your stack, your phone service can’t have any downtime. At OpenPhone, we optimize for reliability so that you can take calls without any worries. See our status page and uptime reporting and you’ll see we have over 99% uptime.
- Affordable pricing: OpenPhone is one of the most cost-effective VoIP solutions in the market. Plans start at $15 per user per month.
- Advanced features: OpenPhone offers a suite of advanced features that set it apart from other VoIP solutions, including:
- Call recording
- AI-powered call summaries and transcriptions
- Auto-replies, snippets, and scheduled texts
- 5000+ app integrations with Zapier
Three reasons to get a Canadian phone number
Any company that works with Canadian customers should consider getting a Canadian phone number. A local number comes with a slew of benefits, including the three listed below:
- More answered calls: Struggling to get Canadian leads or clients to pick up the phone? Your country calling code or area code might be the issue. People are often hesitant to pick up unknown numbers — especially if they’re coming in from abroad — to avoid fees and unfamiliar callers.
- Greater legitimacy: If you have international clients, offering local numbers in each country (including Canada) shows that you officially service customers in the area. For example, if you own a virtual consultation service based in Egypt, it’s unlikely that clients in Canada will go out of their way to reach out to you if you only have an Egyptian number. Even if your website copy targets them, Canadian clients will want to avoid fees and a potential scam.
If your Egyptian company has a Canadian number, it’ll appear like your brand has an official Canadian branch, instantly boosting trust. - No long-distance fees: Local numbers allow you to call and text Canadian clients without getting charged any extra fees. Your actual location will no longer matter. Even when you’re technically making international calls, you won’t face long-distance pricing. OpenPhone offers unlimited calling to Canada and the US.
Canadian phone numbers: What you should know
Canadian phone numbers are similar to other North American numbers, but they have their own area codes. The reason for this is they are part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), which is an integrated telephone numbering plan that serves over 20 North American countries, including Jamaica, Grenada, and the Bahamas.
Here’s what you should know about Canadian phone numbers:
Canadian phone number format
NANP numbers, including Canadian numbers, have the same format:
- Country code: NANP numbers share the same code — 1.
- Area code: The three-digit area code signifies where a number is located. Canada’s area codes are divided among its provinces and territories. Canada has 62 area codes as of July 2024.
- Central office code: This three-digit code is used to identify the specific network exchange within the broader area code.
- Line code: This four-digit code signifies the specific line connected to the telephone network.
Put together, the standard Canada phone number format is made of ten digits that look like this:
Canadian phone number types
Businesses can choose from three different types of numbers when they’re looking for a Canadian phone number:
- Local numbers: These are standard ten-digit numbers that include an area code, central office code, and a line code. Local numbers can be used by businesses to call and text their customers. Since they allow for two-way business communications, customers can text them back as well.
OpenPhone offers local Canadian numbers in 10 provinces. Here are all the Canadian area codes OpenPhone offers:
| Canadian province or territory | Area code |
|---|---|
| Alberta (includes Calgary) | 368, 587, 780, 825, 403 |
| British Columbia | 236, 250, 257, 672, 778, 604 |
| Manitoba | 204, 431, 584 |
| New Brunswick | 428, 506 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 709, 879 |
| Nova Scotia | 782, 902 |
| Ontario (includes Vancouver) | 807, 249, 683, 705, 226, 382, 519, 548, 289, 365, 742, 905, 343, 613, 753 416, 437, 647, 942 (Toronto) |
| Prince Edward Island | 782, 902 |
| Quebec | 468, 819, 873, 367, 418, 581, 354, 450, 579 263, 438, 514 (Montreal) |
| Saskatchewan | 306, 474, 639 |
- Toll-free numbers: Canadian toll-free numbers allow anyone based in one of the NANP countries or regions mentioned earlier to call a toll-free number without paying hefty long-distance fees. Toll-free area codes include 800, 833, and 844. They’re useful if you’re selling across Canada and other countries, but don’t need a number tied to a specific region.
- Vanity numbers: This is a type of toll-free number where you can customize a specific phone number for marketing and advertising purposes. For example, if you have a handyman business, having FIX in your phone number can help you stand out to prospective customers.
Get the Canadian phone number you need with OpenPhone
Canadian phone numbers are highly beneficial for any brand with clients in Canada. It helps you develop a trustworthy brand image while avoiding long-distance fees. Using a VoIP service provider like OpenPhone, you can access a Canadian phone number no matter where in the world you actually are.
Try out OpenPhone for free to experience its perks for Canadian-facing businesses and remote teams.
FAQ
Depending on your phone provider, you’ll be paying $15-plus per month to use a Canadian phone number, and some may charge $0.01-$1 per minute extra for international calls.
With OpenPhone, there are no hidden fees – just a flat rate to contact customers in Canada and the US.
Here are the steps you’ll need to follow to set up a virtual number:
1. Choose your preferred Canadian area code
2. Invite your team to your virtual phone platform
3. Set up essential features like a phone menu, business hours, call forwarding, and voicemail
4. Enable call recording, call summaries, and transcripts (if available)
Your virtual phone number will be linked to your VoIP account, so you can manage calls and texts from any device that your VoIP phone system supports.
A VoIP Canada number is a virtual phone number you can use to call and text from almost anywhere else. Whether in Montreal or Madrid, you can access your virtual phone number from your VoIP provider’s app.
Canada’s country code is +1 or 001.
OpenPhone doesn’t charge anything to port over a Canadian number from any device or VoIP service. However, some providers may require you to pay a port-out fee.
If you’re dialing a Canadian number from within Canada, you simply have to dial the area code, central office code, and the line number.
Calling a Canadian landline number or mobile number from the US? Here’s how to do it:
1. Dial Canada’s country code – ‘+1’.
2. Dial the phone number, including the area code, central office code, and line number.
When you call Canada from outside the country, you usually have to dial an international code as well, but this isn’t the case with NANP countries like the US. With OpenPhone, you don’t have to dial the country code either; you only need to dial +1, the area code, and the seven-digit phone number in your OpenPhone app.
Calling Canada phone numbers from non-NANP countries using another phone service, you’ll need to also include the international access code:
1. Dial the international access code — ‘011’.
2. Dial Canada’s country code — ‘1’.
3. Dial the phone number, including area code, central office code, and line number.
International calling is the same with a virtual number as it is with a physical SIM-based number.
Dial your recipient’s country code followed by their number. That’s it!
Yes, you can get a virtual Canadian phone number from anywhere in the world. Sign up with a VoIP provider like OpenPhone and get your number instantly.
If you want to port an existing Canadian phone number to OpenPhone, all you need to do is fill out a one-minute porting form in the OpenPhone app after signing up, and we’ll take care of the rest.
