581 Area Code: Location, Cities, Time Zone & Scam Guide

If you have received a call from a number starting with 581 and are wondering where it came from, you are not alone. The 581 area code is one of Canada’s most important regional codes, serving a huge territory across eastern Quebec — from the historic streets of Quebec City to the remote fishing towns of the Gaspé Peninsula. It shares its entire footprint with the better-known 418 area code and is part of a three-code overlay complex that keeps this francophone region connected.

In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about the 581 area code: where it is located, which cities it covers, its time zone, its history, how to dial it correctly, and how to spot phone scams that use it.

581 Area Code at a Glance

Feature	Detail
Area code	581
Location	Quebec, Canada — eastern Quebec (northern and eastern portions of the province)
Major cities	Quebec City, Saguenay (Chicoutimi), Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Saint-Georges, Sept-Îles, Matane, Gaspé
Time zone	Eastern Time (ET) — UTC−5 standard, UTC−4 daylight saving
Country	Canada
Dialing format	+1 581 XXX XXXX (from outside North America)
In service since	September 19, 2008
Parent / overlay of	418 (overlay code)
Overlaid by	367 (since November 24, 2018)
Dialing rule	10-digit dialing mandatory (all local calls)
Future relief	273 reserved as a fourth code for the region (target 2027)

Where Is the 581 Area Code Located?

The 581 area code is located in the province of Quebec, Canada. It covers the same vast territory as the original 418 area code — essentially all of northern and eastern Quebec. This is one of the largest geographic area codes in Canada, stretching from the Ottawa Valley’s northeastern edge in the west to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the east, and from the U.S. border north to the remote Inuit communities of Nunavik.

Quebec City, the provincial capital and the oldest French-speaking city in North America, is the largest and most recognizable city in the 581 territory. Across the Saint Lawrence River sits Lévis, which forms the southern anchor of the Quebec City metropolitan region. To the northeast, the code reaches the fjords of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean; to the east, the port city of Rimouski; and to the far northeast, the Gaspé Peninsula and the Côte-Nord (North Shore) communities like Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau.

Cities Covered by Area Code 581

Because 581 is an overlay of 418, every city and town in the 418 numbering plan area can also carry a 581 number. The largest population centers include:

Quebec City (Ville de Québec) — the provincial capital, with its UNESCO-listed Old Quebec, the Château Frontenac, and the National Assembly
Saguenay — formed in 2002 from Chicoutimi, Jonquière, and La Baie, it is the economic hub of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region
Rimouski — a port city on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, gateway to the lower St. Lawrence region
Lévis — directly across the river from Quebec City, part of the greater Capitale-Nationale economic zone
Rivière-du-Loup — a service hub in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region
Saint-Georges — the main city of the Beauce region in the Chaudière-Appalaches
Thetford Mines — historic asbestos-mining city turned industrial and tourism center
Matane — a coastal city known for shrimp fishing and as the departure point for ferries to the Côte-Nord
Sept-Îles — the largest city on the Côte-Nord, a key mining and aluminum port
Chibougamau — a mining town in the far north of the region
Gaspé — at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, surrounded by national parks and dramatic coastal cliffs

Smaller communities across the region — from Sainte-Anne-des-Monts to Alma, Roberval, Baie-Saint-Paul, and Port-Cartier — are all part of the same 581/418/367 complex.

History of the 581 Area Code

The 581 area code entered service on September 19, 2008, as the first overlay of area code 418. The story behind it is a classic number-exhaustion tale. Area code 418 was one of Canada’s original area codes, assigned in 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan was first drawn up. For more than half a century it served eastern Quebec without relief.

By the early 2000s, however, the combination of mobile phones, fax lines, pagers, dial-up internet, and growing competition among carriers was burning through the 418 number pool. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) assigned 581 as the relief code, and regulators chose a distributed overlay rather than a geographic split. That decision meant no existing 418 customer had to change their number — but it also meant mandatory 10-digit dialing for all local calls across the region.

The rollout followed a careful schedule: permissive ten-digit dialing began on June 21, 2008, mandatory ten-digit dialing took effect on September 6, 2008, and 581 numbers began being assigned on September 19, 2008.

Growth continued, and on November 24, 2018, a third code — 367 — joined the same footprint, so any new line in eastern Quebec today can land on 418, 581, or 367. area code 273 has been reserved as a fourth code for the region, targeting relief in 2027.

581 Area Code Time Zone

The 581 area code lies entirely within the Eastern Time Zone (ET). That means:

Standard time: UTC−5 (Eastern Standard Time, EST)
Daylight saving time: UTC−4 (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT), observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November

Daylight saving is observed across the entire province of Quebec, so the whole 581 footprint shifts together. If you are calling a 581 number from the Pacific coast, subtract three hours from your local time; from the U.K., add five hours (in winter) or five hours (in summer, when the U.K. is on BST at UTC+1 and Quebec is on EDT at UTC−4 — a five-hour difference in both cases, with a one-hour shift during the few weeks when DST transitions do not align).

How to Dial a 581 Area Code Number

Because 581 is part of an overlay complex, ten-digit dialing is mandatory for all local calls within the region — even if you are calling a neighbor with the same area code. Here is how to place calls correctly:

Local call within the 581/418/367 region: dial the area code plus the seven-digit number (e.g., 581-555-0142).
Long-distance call from elsewhere in Canada or the U.S.: dial 1 + 581 + the seven-digit number (e.g., 1-581-555-0142).
International call: dial your country’s exit code, then 1 + 581 + the seven-digit number (e.g., from the U.K., 00-1-581-555-0142; in the universal format, +1 581 555 0142).
Texting: the same ten-digit format applies — include the area code in every saved contact to avoid failed messages.

If you still have old contacts stored with only seven digits in this region, update them to ten digits — seven-digit dialing has not worked in eastern Quebec since September 2008.

Is the 581 Area Code a Scam? Phone Scam Safety

An area code is never inherently a scam — 581 is a legitimate, active code used by millions of Quebec residents, businesses, and government offices. However, like every North American area code, it can be spoofed by scammers who make their calls appear to come from a local number. Common scam patterns that may show a 581 caller ID include:

Government impersonation: callers claiming to be from Revenu Québec, the Canada Revenue Agency, or Service Canada, threatening fines or arrest unless you pay immediately or confirm personal details.
“Bonjour, this is your bank” scams: fraudsters spoofing local numbers to appear trustworthy while asking for banking credentials.
Tech-support scams: callers claiming your computer is infected and requesting remote access.

How to protect yourself:

Do not trust caller ID alone. Modern scammers can display any number they want, including real 581 numbers belonging to innocent people.
Never give out financial or personal details to an unsolicited caller. Real government agencies and banks will not demand payment over the phone.
Hang up and call back using the official number published on the organization’s website.
Do not call back unknown international numbers from a single missed ring.
Report fraud in Canada to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre.ca) or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the 581 area code?

The 581 area code is in eastern Quebec, Canada, covering Quebec City, Saguenay, Rimouski, the Gaspé Peninsula, and the Côte-Nord. It is an overlay of the original 418 area code, so it shares the exact same territory.

What time zone is the 581 area code in?

The 581 area code is in the Eastern Time Zone (UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving), the same as Montreal, Toronto, and New York City.

When was the 581 area code created?

The 581 area code went into service on September 19, 2008, as an overlay of area code 418. Mandatory 10-digit dialing for the region began two weeks earlier, on September 6, 2008.

What area code is 581 an overlay of?

581 overlays area code 418, one of Canada’s original 1947 area codes. In 2018, area code 367 was added as a third overlay on the same footprint.

Is 581 a toll-free number?

No. 581 is a geographic area code for Quebec, not a toll-free code like 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, or 833. Calls to 581 numbers are charged as regular long-distance calls if you are outside the region.

Should I answer calls from 581 numbers I don’t recognize?

If you know people or do business in Quebec, a 581 call could be legitimate. Let unknown calls go to voicemail, then verify the caller’s identity through an official number before returning the call.

Conclusion

The 581 area code is the modern face of eastern Quebec’s telephone network — an overlay code created in 2008 that keeps one of Canada’s most culturally rich regions connected without forcing anyone to change their number. Whether you are calling a hotel in Old Quebec, a supplier in Saguenay, or a fishing lodge on the Gaspé coast, the rules are simple: always dial ten digits, remember you are in the Eastern Time Zone, and treat unexpected calls with the same healthy caution you would apply to any unknown number. Bookmark this guide for quick reference, and explore our other Canadian area code guides to complete the picture.