A new area code, B.C.’s fourth, will affect the area across the Strait of Georgia from the Comox Valley.
Created due to an ongoing explosion in the number of smartphones and other wireless technology, the 236 area code will be used in an area that includes Powell River and Texada Island.
Other affected areas include the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.
The new area code, necessary due to an unprecedented demand for new phone numbers, comes six years after the introduction of the 778 area code.
Until 17 years ago, the province’s only area code was 604. That was joined by 250, which covered B.C. outside Greater Vancouver.