Area codes 778 and 236 are overlay area codes for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Area code 778 was created on November 3, 2001 as a concentrated overlay of area code 604, the area code for the Lower Mainland. It originally served only Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Regional District, with the rest of the Lower Mainland continuing to use only 604. Nonetheless, the implementation of 778 made 10-digit dialing mandatory across the Lower Mainland.