the 226 area code was first proposed as a result of an npa exhaustion study conducted in the 1990s. the issue was raised with the crtc by telecommunications firms and saic canada, and in 1992 a relief plan was approved ("telecom decision crtc 2002-25"). although it primarily accepted the industry proposal, the crtc required a permissive dialling period of four months, with consistent network announcements to consumers, instead of the proposed two-month period. on april 15, 2003, the committee recommended delaying the introduction of the 226 area code from february 19, 2005 to october 21, 2006, primarily as a result of updated forecasts of the 519 npa exhaustion projections.