250 Area Code – Victoria, British Columbia: Location, Time Zone & History

British Columbia's territory outside the Lower Mainland has carried the 250 code since it split from 604 on October 19, 1996, with Vancouver and the Fraser Valley keeping the old number. The result is a numbering region unlike most others: rather than a single metropolis, it links Victoria, the provincial capital, with interior and northern communities that each carry a distinct identity, from Okanagan wine country to resource towns further north.

Victoria's British colonial heritage and its Butchart Gardens give the coastal end of the territory a genteel, historic character, while inland the Okanagan Valley has grown into one of Canada's principal wine-producing regions. Beyond Victoria, the region also takes in Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, Nanaimo, and Cranbrook, a spread reflecting how much of the province sits under one dialing code despite sharp differences in local economy and lifestyle:

• forestry and forest products
• tourism and hospitality
• wine and agriculture in the Okanagan Valley
• mining, natural resources, fishing, and aquaculture
• provincial government and public services centered in Victoria

Time itself is not uniform across the territory: most areas run on Pacific Time, but East Kootenay currently keeps Mountain Time year-round to align with neighboring Alberta, a quirk set to end with a planned switch to Pacific Time in fall 2026. As the province grew, the 778, 236, 672, and 257 overlays were layered on top of the same footprint, so newer lines in these communities now dial out under different codes.