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Canada Porting

The following topics are discussed in this guide:

- Porting requirements

- Restrictions

- Porting process 

- Timelines

- Common rejections

- Additional information

 

In Canada we offer porting for the following number types:

Number type Number type prefix Capabilities
Local +1-XXX Voice + SMS
Mobile +1-XXX Voice + SMS
Toll-Free

+1-800

+1-888

+1-877

+1-866

+1-855

+1-844

+1-833

 Voice + SMS

 

Porting requirements

*per number type

LOCAL & MOBILE

Requirements

Description
 

LOA (Letter of Authorization)

 Note that the information on your LOA must match the authorized user name and service address provided by your current carrier. 
 

Customer Service Record (CSR) or the most recent bill

A CSR is a complete record indicating the information that the existing carrier has on file for your number.

Bill: A scanned (or electronic) copy of the most recent phone bill (preferably dated within the last 30 days that includes customer’s account number, owner/authorized user name and address information for all the numbers you’d like to port).
 

Account SID

 Your unique ID starting with “AC” that you can find on the main dashboard in Twilio Console.
 

The authorized user or owner’s first and last name

  
 

The corresponding service address

This must be an actual physical address. 

PO Boxes are not valid addresses for porting.
 

Current account number

  

 

TOLL-FREE

Requirements

Description
 

LOA

Dated within the last 15 days.

The Letter of Authorization (LOA) verifies your ownership of the phone numbers and authorizes Twilio to complete the port request. The information in the LOA must match the service information on file with your current carrier.
 

The corresponding service address

Please note that our porting tool only accepts American service addresses. As your service address lies in Canada, you must submit the request using any American address. You may use the following:

Twilio, Inc.

548 Market St, #14510

San Francisco, CA 94104

Please note that your LOA must show your actual Canadian service address for the number(s), as we will send this document to your losing service provider in order to request the numbers' release. It must match their records in order to be successful.
 

Billing document

 A scanned (or electronic) copy of the most recent phone bill (preferably dated within the last 30 days that includes customer’s account number, owner/authorized user name and address information for all the numbers you’d like to port).
 

Account SID

 Your unique ID starting with “AC” that you can find on the main dashboard in Twilio Console.

Restrictions

Please note that you will need to approve the port within a 90-minute timeframe from receiving the port approval SMS text from the losing provider. Unless you respond to the text message within the given timeframe, the port will get rejected.

Porting process 

  1. Submit your porting request with all the requirements in place via this submission form for LOCAL & MOBILE numbers, or use TWILIO Console for TOLL-FREE numbers.
  2. Twilio validates the port request. If everything in Step 1 is correct, you can expect Twilio to approve your port request within 24 business hours.
  3. Twilio submits the number to the Carrier Partner. This can take up to 24 business hours.
  4. Twilio’s Carrier Partner reaches out to the current provider. Your request is submitted to your soon-to-be former service provider as a port request. During this time, do not close your account with your service provider and keep your numbers active. This can take around one week to complete.
  5. Response from the carrier. At this point, your request is either approved or rejected:
    • Approved: If approved, Twilio will notify you about a porting date. 
    • Rejected: Rejections can occur due to various reasons. For example, invalid VAT Number or invalid/incomplete range of numbers. Read more about common reasons for port request rejections below. Rejections may add an undetermined amount of time to your porting request.
  6. Twilio reaches out to you with a porting date. Twilio emails you with a porting date and time slot if known. Your number is on your Account and can be visible in the Twilio Console.
  7. Configure your number. It is critical to configure your number prior to the porting date. This will minimise the service downtime. You can configure the numbers from the Twilio Console.
  8. Your phone number is with Twilio. Once your number is routed to Twilio and everything works as expected, you can remove the number from your former provider.

Timelines

Depending on complexity of the port, we can complete your port request within the approximate time frames listed below:

Local +1-XXX up to 4 weeks
Mobile +1-XXX up to 4 weeks
Toll-Free

+1-800

+1-888

+1-877

+1-866

+1-855

+1-844

+1-833

 up to 4 weeks

In case you wish to expedite your request please reach out to your current provider to confirm you are porting your number away from their service and to Twilio.

If the current provider rejects your port during the porting process, additional time may be added once the rejection is resolved.

Common rejections

There are a number of factors that can delay port orders. Below is a list of the most common rejection reasons and how to address them. In each case, we would need to resolve the rejection to be able to proceed with the port. 

Rejection Explanation How to solve the rejection
Unauthorised signatory LOA (Letter of Authorisation) is signed by an unauthorised individual
  1. LOA must be signed by the authorised user and/or owner of the number. 
    1. Update the signature and send the document to Twilio to resume your porting request
Incorrect Site Address Site address on the LOA (Letter of Authorisation) is not matching current provider’s records
  1. Ask your current provider what site address they have on records
    1. Update porting request with the correct address
    2. If site address was changed, update it with your current provider and let Twilio know to resume your porting request
Invalid/incomplete range of numbers Number you wish to port is part of a bigger numbering range
  1. Ask your current provider if there are any associated numbers to the one you wish to port / if number is part of a bigger range
    1. Include all associated numbers / range to the porting request
    2. If your current provider allows to break down the range, you can request them to do that and port a single number
      1. Once your provider breaks down the range, let Twilio know to resume your porting request

 

 
Inactive number Numbers are not currently in service with your current provider and/or you have outstanding charges on the account
  1. Contact your current provider to reinstate the number
    1. Once this is done, let Twilio know to resume your porting request

Unfortunately, we cannot contact your current service provider on your behalf. For security reasons, your current service provider will naturally refuse to provide us with your private and confidential information. 

For a more summarised view of porting requirements, please visit our guidelines page here. 

Additional information

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC): is a public organization with a mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasting and telecommunications.

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