About a month and a half ago, the CRTC (Canadian counterpart of the
FCC) announced that Canada, too, will implement the 988 suicide crisis
lifeline number, effective 30 November 2023. That’s a good thing, and hopefully will save lives.

However, as with the US 988 mandate, there is the matter of conflicts
between 7-digit local numbers and the new 988 short code. Almost all
of Canada already dials 10 digits for local calls, but there are still
four exceptions.

New Brunswick (506) is already scheduled for an overlay in April, so
they will already be on 10D before the 988 mandate affects them.

Newfoundland and Labrador (709) has postponed their overlay several
times, but there is indeed a 709-988 prefix, located in Norman’s Bay, Labrador, population 15 (2021 census). Thus, even though the overlay
is still a few years out (current projected exhaust is November 2028),
they will switch to 10D at the end of May (6 months ahead of the
rollout of 988). Personally, I would’ve “pulled a North Dakota” — move the small number of affected people to a new prefix so the whole
province can keep 7D a while longer — but the CRTC didn’t even
consider such an option.

Area code 867, which serves the territories of Yukon, Northwest
Territories, and Nunavut, also has a 988 prefix, located in
Yellowknife, NWT. However, most local calling areas in 867 are a
single rate center, most with just a single prefix. Thus, the CRTC
decided to order 10D only in Yellowknife; Yukon, Nunavut, and the rest
of NWT get to keep 7D.

Lastly, there is area code 807, the westernmost slice of Ontario,
stretching all the way from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. It’s one of
the most sparsely used NPAs, with a projected exhaust date of 2156, a
mere 133 years from now. There is no 807-988 prefix, so no numbering
conflict between 988 and 7-digit local calls. However, in decision
2022-234, the CRTC has ordered that 807 switch to 10D local calls.

If they were making 10D truly nationwide, that would make some sense,
but they made an exception for most of 867, so that blows that
argument out of the water. There is no technical reason and no
discernible policy reason to make 807 go to mandatory 10D. By all
means, they should require PERMISSIVE 10D, to keep from confusing any
visitors who for some reason find themselves using a landline, but it
should not be mandatory.

I have reached out several times to the CRTC to ask them to explain
this decision. When they finally deigned to respond at all, they
simply directed me to paragraphs 90 to 133 of 2022-234. Those
paragraphs explain why any area with 988-xxxx local numbers has to
switch to 10D, and they make some vague mention of the possibility of
future 3-digit short codes, but do not address any reason to make 807
switch.

I reached out to local newspapers and the CBC in Thunder Bay (the
largest city in 807), and to the Thunder Bay city council and mayor,
and to the Fort Severn First Nation, but no one seems interested in
preserving 7-digit calling. Thunder Bay is gearing up for municipal
elections later this month, so I guess they’re a little preoccupied.

You can read all the gory details on my website:

https://LincMad.com/thunder-bay.html

P.S. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

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