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Telecom Decision CRTC 2026-185

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Gatineau, 24 July 2026

Public record: 8621-C12-01/08

CISC Business Process Working Group – Consensus report BPRE106a – Switch provisioning activities and Number Portability Administration Center subscription creation

Summary

The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Business Process Working Group (BPWG) submitted consensus report BPRE106a to the Commission, which covered switch provisioning activities and Number Portability Administration Centre (NPAC) subscriptions. In the consensus report, the BPWG proposed updated language to guidelines related to customer migration and service installation. The updates aim to clarify and address inconsistencies in industry documentation regarding the timing of switch provisioning activities and the creation of NPAC subscriptions during number porting.

In this decision, the Commission approves the updates outlined in consensus report BPRE106a. The Commission considers that the proposed changes will help improve clarity and provide certainty for service providers handling switch provisioning activities and NPAC subscriptions. These changes will also help ensure consistency across industry documentation and improve customer experience, while helping to safeguard against potential fraud.

Background

  1. The Commission has established rules and guidelines for local exchange carriers regarding interconnection and customer transfers, which date back to the introduction of competition in Telecom Decision 97-8. These rules and guidelines include the Customer Migration Process for Canadian Local Competition, which provides an overview of the recommended processes and information-sharing practices between carriers and other parties on: (i) customer transfers between local service providers, (ii) initial customer subscriptions to new local services, and (iii) customer cancellations of local services.
  2. The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Business Process Working Group (BPWG) initiated Task BPTF0106 to address concerns regarding inconsistencies in industry documentation related to the timing of switch provisioning activities during the telephone number porting process, specifically when a telephone number can be provisioned or must be deprovisioned. Switch provisioning activities refer to adding or removing a telephone number in a service provider’s switch as part of the porting process.
  3. The timing of telephone number provisioning or deprovisioning is discussed in the Customer Migration Process for Canadian Implementation of Local Competition Part I. However, it is not covered in other relevant industry documents which has led to misinterpretations of porting processes.
  4. Another issue raised within the BWPG was that wording should be amended in the Customer Migration Process for Canadian Implementation of Local Competition Part II and the Installation, Testing and Maintenance Guidelines (ITMG)Footnote 1[collectively, the porting process documents] to align with the existing Customer Transfer Process Maps.Footnote 2The new wording should clarify that:
    • A new service provider should not create a Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) subscriptionFootnote 3 until it has received a local service confirmation from the old service provider.
    • If a pre-provisioned port request is cancelled, the number must be removed from the new service provider’s switch, and the NPAC subscription must be cancelled immediately.

The Report

  1. In April 2025, the BPWG submitted consensus report BPRE106a – Switch Provisioning Activities / NPAC Subscription Creation (the Report), which proposed amending the porting process documents to clarify that a telephone number must not be provisioned in a new service provider’s switch until port confirmation from the old service provider has been received. According to the Report, this change would help maintain fraud prevention measures. The Report also suggests that should there be any call-routing issues the old service provider could manage them by assigning a temporary telephone number, known as an unconditional 10-digit trigger.Footnote 4 Additionally, changes were proposed to clarify that if a pre-provisioned port request is cancelled, the new service provider must remove the telephone number from its switch.
  2. Furthermore, the BPWG proposed clarifying that a new service provider should not create an NPAC subscription until it receives a local service confirmation. Creating an NPAC subscription too early may cause the NPAC timer to expire and automatically activate the subscription. When this happens, the old service provider must manually identify unauthorized NPAC subscriptions and place them in conflict, which adds work and delays the porting process. Other potential scenarios include local service requests being rejected or not being received, mismatched due dates, and invalid telephone numbers.

Commission’s analysis

  1. The BPWG consists of Canadian telecommunications service providers and number portability experts. The Commission considers that the BPWG’s participation in respect of the issues raised in the Report reflect the general views of the telecommunications industry.
  2. The Commission has reviewed the proposed changes to the porting process documents and considers them reasonable. The Commission considers that the proposed changes will improve clarity and provide certainty for service providers handling switch provisioning activities and NPAC subscriptions, which will, in turn, improve clarity and coordination among service providers.
  3. The Report’s recommendations align with industry best practices and existing fraud prevention frameworks. The changes will help ensure consistency across industry documentation and improve customer experience, while helping to safeguard against potential fraud.

Conclusion

  1. In light of the above, the Commission approves the Report and the proposed changes to the porting process documents. Key updates will include (i) adding clear wording to the Customer Migration Process for Canadian Local Competition, Part II, version 8.2, for initiating and activating number porting, including potential scenarios; and (ii) revising Section 2 of the ITMG, version 10, to define the timing for switch provisioning activities and NPAC subscriptions.

Secretary General

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