A change is coming this spring for anyone trying to make a phone call as the province rolls out a new 639 area code and introduces mandatory 10-digit dialling for all local calls.

Tara Tibeau, SaskTel communications manager, said the population increase in the province and the continuing trend of people to own multiple mobile devices have depleted the 306 area code number availability. She said these factors led the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to introduce the second area code for Saskatchewan residents and businesses, which will be distributed starting May 11 through an “overlay” method.

“It’s not going to be a geographical distribution of the code,” said Tibeau. “As the 639 is introduced, it’ll just interchangeably come up. The system will generate a random number, how we normally generate numbers, and it’ll come up with either a 306 or 639. Generally we’re going to start seeing a lot more 639s as we run out of 306s.”

Since the new area code will not be assigned to a specific region, the CRTC came up with the need for 10-digit local dialling, which is the area code plus the seven-digit number.

Tibeau said SaskTel has been preparing the network for 10-digit dialling since the decision to add a new code was made in 2010. She said the network can accept 10-digit dialling right now and beginning Feb. 25 whenever someone makes a call by punching in only seven digits they will first receive a message reminding them about the change before the call goes through.

Starting May 11, whenever someone only dials seven digits the call will not go through, so Tibeau stresses that people prepare their equipment that has phone numbers programmed in such as security systems that call out to the police and make sure they add the area code in.

“Most of the other provinces have already added a second (area code), some are already on their third,” she said. “Some provinces like BC actually have six different area codes. Toronto alone has three. It’s good. It’s actually a sign of growth and it’s a good indication that the province continues to do well in these times.”