Get a business number with area code 778
Area code 778 covers British Columbia (overlay). Connect your own telecom account to Relay, pick a 778 number, and your team calls and texts from the browser. The telecom account carries your name.
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Area code 778 at a glance
Where area code 778 comes from
Put into service in 2001, 778 first acted as an overlay on the Lower Mainland before extending across all of British Columbia. It is the first provincial code to cover both coast and interior.
What 778 covers
The entire province: Vancouver and its valley, the island with Victoria and Nanaimo, the Okanagan with Kelowna, the interior with Kamloops and the north up to Prince George. A 778 therefore locates nothing more precise than British Columbia.
Places served by 778
Who answers the phone in 778
It mixes Vancouver's urban businesses with interior activity: Okanagan wine growing, forestry, tourism and regional services.
The phone day to day in 778
Pacific time, with the same offset constraint toward the east of the country. Since 778 covers the whole province, usage varies enormously: a Vancouver business and a Kelowna one work neither the same hours nor the same seasons. The Okanagan has strong summer peaks, the interior slows in winter, and the valleys impose long drives.
778 and its neighbours
The 778 overlays 604 on the coast and 250 everywhere else. With 236 and 672, British Columbia has four codes for a single territory. Ten-digit dialling is the rule across the province.
What a 778 number changes for a business
It locates British Columbia without specifying a city, which suits a business serving several regions. To target Vancouver precisely a 604 still speaks louder; for the interior, a 250 does.
How to dial a 778 number
Ten-digit dialing is mandatory in the 778 area (overlaid with 604, 236, 672, 250).
Why a 778 number for your business?
A 778 number gives you a local presence in British Columbia (overlay). Calls with a local caller ID get picked up more often than an unknown or toll-free number, and your clients recognize a neighbour rather than an out-of-province cold call.
- Picked up more often than a toll-free or out-of-province number.
- Local trust: clients prefer a vendor from their region.
- Remote team: everyone calls from anywhere under the same local number.
- Easy to recall for cards, vehicles and word of mouth.
Who uses a 778 number?
Practices and professional services
Accountants, notaries, consultants: the client calls back a number they recognise, and every exchange stays attached to their file. Missed calls go back out as an automatic text instead of sitting in a mailbox nobody checks.
Shops and workshops
The phone question is short: do you have it, when do you close, what does it cost. The number rings wherever someone can answer, and texting handles the rest without tying up the counter.
Home services
Plumbers, electricians, HVAC: the whole team shares one local number, calls ring whoever's free, nothing slips.
Real estate
A local number doesn't get screened like an out-of-province one. Every call and text stays on the contact record.
Health & clinics
A voice menu routes to scheduling or billing; after hours, urgent calls go through, the rest to voicemail.
Professional services
Accountants, lawyers, advisors: every call is logged, and an AI summary lists action items after the conversation.
Sales
Reps prospect with a local caller ID — picked up more often than an unknown or toll-free number.
Retail & delivery
Order confirmations and delivery windows by SMS from the same local number customers already know.
Get a 778 number in 3 steps
- 1Connect your telecom account (Twilio or Telnyx) — your credentials are encrypted, never exposed.
- 2Pick a number with the 778 area code, or port an existing 778 number.
- 3Your team calls and texts from the browser, on a shared number.
Nearby and related area codes
Other area codes near 778 or covering the same region.
See all Canadian area codes How a virtual phone number works
Porting an existing 778 number
If you already have a 778 number, you do not have to change it. Number portability is a regulated right in Canada: your current provider cannot hold on to a number that belongs to you. The transfer goes to your own telecom account, not ours, which means the number stays in your name once it lands.
In practice you need a recent bill from the current provider and a signed authorisation. Timing depends on the line type, typically a few business days. The line keeps working during the transfer: the switch happens on an agreed date, not into a void.
What a 778 number really costs
There are two bills, and that is deliberate. Relay software comes from us, in Canadian dollars, billed per team with seats included. Telecom comes from your provider, at their published rate, on an account in your name. We do not resell the minute and we take no margin on it.
The consequence is easy to verify: you can open your provider's dashboard and see the real price of every call and every text. That is what changes as volume grows, because a hidden margin on the minute costs more and more the more you call.
Texting from a Canadian number: what to know
Since March 2025, a Canadian number used for business texting requires A2P 10DLC registration or identity verification with the carrier. Many sites still present this as an American matter: it is not, the rule also applies to texting a Canadian customer from a 778 number. The process happens on your own telecom account, with your business details, and like the number it stays yours.
778 or 604, 236, 672, 250: which one?
These codes cover the same territory, down to the street. Technically they are equivalent: same local zone, same rates, same ten-digit dialling. The only real difference is age. Since 778 has been in service since 2007, it reads as the most established, and it is also the hardest to get. The newer overlays offer identical reach with far better availability.
The more useful question is how many numbers you need. A business serving several cities often does better opening one per market than forcing a single number on everyone: the local listing shows the expected code, and the calls still land in the same shared inbox. Because the numbers live on your own telecom account, adding one does not mean renegotiating anything.
One last point, often forgotten: the number you display has to be the one that rings when somebody calls back. A local code on a listing followed by a callback from a placeless number cancels the whole benefit. That is why the outbound call goes out from the same 778 number as the inbound one.