bordered area code 709 of Newfoundland in the Torngat Mountain area and area code 403 where Bell Canada and Northwestel service areas met, as well as area code 204 (Manitoba) and area code 807 (northwestern Ontario). Also, from the late 1970s to 1997, area code 819 extended one eighth of the way around the world, from the 45th parallel north at Stanstead, Quebec, to the North Pole by including much of the Northwest Territories along with most of western Quebec. Northwestel used Alberta's area code 403 for its services in Yukon and the Northwest Territories. In 1997 and 1998, the portions of 819 in the Northwest Territories, as well as the portions of 403 in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, were transferred to area code 867, which was newly created to unite all of the Canadian territories, including Nunavut, which was created in 1999. Area code 819 was cut back to western Quebec, and area code 403 was reduced to serve only Alberta. Thus, borders with area codes 403, 204, and 807 were replaced with the single border on area code 867. Area code 514 was split shortly afterward, which changed area code's 819's border with 514 to a boundary with Area code 450, the new area code for the off-island suburbs of Montreal. Until 2006, it was possible to make calls between Ottawa and Hull with only seven digits since Ottawa and Hull are a single local calling area. Central office code protection prevented the same seven-digit local number from being assigned in both Ottawa and Hull. Code protection was implemented in such a manner that if an exchange in +1-819-77x (1-819-PRovince) was in use in Hull, the corresponding +1-613-77x exchange could not be used anywhere in Eastern Ontario. Conversely, if an exchange in +1-613-23x was used in Ottawa, the corresponding +1-819-23x exchange could not be used anywhere in western Quebec, even in areas a safe distance from the National Capital Region such as Mauricie and Estrie. In Canada, even tiny hamlets are a rate centres, with multiple competitive local exchange carriers being issued 10,000-number blocks, each of which corresponds to a single three-digit prefix. Larger cities had multiple rate centres, most of which were not amalgamated during the creation of "megacities" in Quebec in 2002 and still remain separate. For instance, Hull was in 2002 merged into the "megacity" of Gatineau. However, the megacity has five separate rate