began on June 21, 2008 with the start of a permissive dialing period during which local calls could be made with both seven and ten digits. Ten-digit dialing became mandatory in eastern Quebec on September 6, 2008. By 2016, area codes 418 and 581 were again on the brink of exhaustion because of the further proliferation of cell phones and pagers. In 2017, the CRTC assigned area code 367 as a second overlay for eastern Quebec. It entered service in 2018. That had the effect of assigning 23.4 million numbers to only 1.8 million people. However, overlays have become the preferred method of relief in Canada, as they are an easy workaround for the number allocation problem. No area codes have been split in the country since 1999. The major incumbent local exchange carriers in the area are Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Telus (formerly Quebec-Telephone) and Vidéotron. Places and exchange codes in the service area Adstock: (418) 422 (581) 634 Aguanish: (418) 533 (581) 299 Albanel: (418) 279 501 (581) 601 Albertville: see Causapscal Alma: (418) 212 301 319 321 347 442 450 480 481 482 487 662 668 669 719 720 758 769 (581) 200 216 230 265 431 533 598 728 828 Amqui: (418) 330 629 631 713 (581) 335 Armagh: (418) 466 (581) 328 Auclair: see Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac Baie-Comeau: (418) 280 282 293 294 295 296 297 298 378 445 589 921 (581) 381 642 726 823 829 929 987 Baie-des-Sables: (418) 772 (581) 396 Baie-Johan-Beetz: (418) 539 (581) 298 Baie-Saint-Paul: (418) 200 219 240 435 436 760 (581) 237 Baie-Sainte-Catherine: (418) 237 (581) 236 Baie-Trinité: (418) 920 939 Batiscan: see Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan Beauceville: (418) 217 774 (581) 420 813 Beaulac-Garthby: (418) 458 (581) 228 330 835 Beaumont: see Lévis Beaupré: (418) 702 746 827 Bégin: see Saint-Ambroise Berthier-sur-Mer: see Saint-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud Biencourt: (418) 499 (581) 373 Blanc-Sablon: (418) 461 (581) 297 Boischatel: (418) 406 762 822 (581) 538 Bonaventure: (418) 530 534 (581) 364 630 827 Bonne-Espérance: (418) 379 (581) 296 Cacouna: see Rivière-du-Loup Cap-Chat: (418) 786 (581) 395 Cap-Saint-Ignace: (418) 246 715 Cap-Santé: see Donnacona Caplan: (418) 388 (581) 363 Carleton-sur-Mer: (418) 364 (581) 362 Cascapédia–Saint-Jules: see New Richmond Causapscal: (418) 756 (581) 394 Chambord: (418) 342 491 (581) 602 816 Chandler: (418) 398 616 680 689 (581) 361 Chapais: (418) 745 Château-Richer: (418) 824 972 978 Chibougamau: (418) 748 770 (581) 430 445 464 579 627 Chute-aux-Outardes: