Area code 807

Area code 807 is a telephone area code in the Canadian province of Ontario, encompassing the Northwestern Ontario region. The 807 Area Code was created in early 1962 when this region of Ontario split from area code 705. The main reason for the split was not the exhaustion of 705, but rather for routing efficiency for calls from Western Canada to northwestern Ontario; such routing efficiency can now be achieved using the highly-computerized digital exchanges that did not exist in the 1960s.

Major communities served by the 807 area code include Thunder Bay, Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Rainy River, Marathon, and Greenstone. The area is split between the Central and Eastern time zones.

The incumbent local exchange carriers in 807 are Tbaytel, Bell Canada and Bell Aliant's Dryden Municipal Telephone Service.

807 is one of the least populated area codes in Canada. It is less than 40% used, and CNAC estimates that it will not be exhausted for many decades. In the early 21st century, as 705 neared exhaustion, CNAC briefly considered "erasing" the 807-705 boundary and turning 807 into an overlay for all of Ontario north and west of the Golden Horseshoe. However, because of the potential for confusion, this solution was ultimately not implemented. As a result, 807 is the only area code in Ontario without an overlay, and hence the only one still with 7-digit dialling. Other such Canadian area codes are 506, 709 and 867.[1] Although Northwestern Ontario should not need an additional area code any time soon, it is still possible that 10-digit dialing may be implemented in the area in the near future.[2]