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Short codes in Canada: what changes at the border

A US short code does not reach Canadian subscribers. Canada runs its own Common Short Code programme, administered by the Canadian Telecommunications Association (the former CWTA) through txt.ca, and the codes are provisioned separately on Rogers, Bell, Telus and the regional carriers. Canadian short codes are five or six digits, assigned on a one-year lease, and the programme is reviewed and approved in Canada regardless of where the sender is based.

Published Canadian fees at the time of writing (September 2026): a deposit of $1,500 plus GST/HST that covers the first three months, then $350 plus tax per month; registered charities pay $250 per month with the deposit waived. Applications are reviewed weekly and provisioning takes three to six weeks after approval. Two compliance points differ from the US: Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires express consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe in every commercial message, and programmes that reach Quebec are expected to handle STOP and ARRET, HELP and AIDE, with French-language content available.

If you need one sender identity for both countries, a verified toll-free number is the usual answer: toll-free SMS delivers to US and Canadian carriers from a single number at a fraction of two short-code leases, with throughput that suits most transactional and moderate-volume marketing programmes. Signalmash provisions toll-free numbers and US short codes (see the managed plans on our pricing page) from one account, handles the carrier paperwork, and will tell you plainly whether a second lease in Canada or a single toll-free number fits your volumes.

How to look up who is behind a short code

Searches such as "short code 99354" are usually a consumer trying to identify a five-digit sender. There is no longer an official public US ownership directory (the CTIA's consumer directory site has lapsed), so the reliable checks are on the message itself. CTIA guidelines require every short code programme to answer the keyword HELP with the brand name, a description of the programme and a contact; text HELP to the code and the reply names the sender. The message body must also identify the brand, and the same code always belongs to the same registrant while the lease is active, so a second message from the code comes from the same programme.

Third-party directories (shortcodes.org, textingworld.com, shortcodes.info) list historical registrations and are useful for a first guess, but entries can be years out of date because codes change hands when a lease ends. If a message looks like phishing, do not tap links: forward it to 7726 (SPAM) on AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon, reply STOP if it is a legitimate programme you no longer want, and report scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. In Canada, the Canadian Telecommunications Association publishes the list of current Common Short Code programmes on txt.ca, and spam can be reported to the Spam Reporting Centre.

For businesses, the lesson is the same in both countries: keep your HELP response current, put your brand name in every message, and register your programme brief accurately, because recipients do check.

Does a US short code work in Canada?

No. US and Canadian short codes are separate programmes with separate carriers, registries and approvals. Sending to both countries means leasing a code in each, or using a verified toll-free number, which delivers to both.

How much does a Canadian short code cost?

The Canadian Telecommunications Association's published fee is a $1,500 plus tax deposit covering the first three months and $350 plus tax per month after that, on a one-year lease, with a $250 monthly rate for registered charities. Your messaging provider's platform and per-message fees are additional, and provisioning takes three to six weeks after the weekly application review.

How do I find out who texted me from a short code?

Reply HELP to the code: carrier rules require the programme to answer with the brand name and contact details. Check the message body for the brand, look the code up in a third-party directory as a secondary check, and if it looks like a scam, forward it to 7726 and do not follow the link.