Andy LaCroix just alerted me to the fact that Primus is offering VoIP, in Canada, with Canadian area codes. The service is called "TalkBroadband".
I'm currently walking through the sign-up form, and it all looks very good. The basic service, at $20/month, includes "a phone line, Touch Tone Service, Call Hold, Caller ID Block".
Read on for more details (yes, I've already signed up).
The following area codes are available (as of Jan. 2004):
416, 647 - Toronto 403 - Calgary 514 - Montreal 613 - Ottawa 604 - Vancouver 780 - Edmonton 905 – Hamilton numbers only.
You can choose a number from any area, it doesn't have to be the one you're actually in. As well, I noticed that as an additional feature, and at a charge of $4 per month, you can purchase a second number. So, you could have one number in Vancouver and one number in Ottawa (which is probably what I'll do, but I'll try it out first).
What about power failures? Well, there is this: For the rare occasions of power failure, Primus provides a free Backup Call Forward service
It's your choice to either forward the call to a backup call answer service or to another phone number. I'm opting to have it forward to my cell phone number.
Well, we'll see how it goes. I'm all signed up and should be getting my package in the mail!
Update: was doing some conjecturing about the hardware used for this. The picture on the front page of the Primus site looks like a D-Link. Here's a link to the DVG-1120, plus a review from BigBruin. The review is quite positive, although the way it was setup, being on the phone completely nuked the broadband connection for other traffic. I will have to experiment with how I install, especially as I am using my e-smith server as my router.