How to forward your business calls in Canada (after hours, when busy, or always)

To forward your business calls in Canada, you switch on call forwarding for the number customers already dial and point it at the number that should answer instead, such as an AI receptionist or answering service. You do it with a short dial code, your phone’s call settings, or your phone system’s admin portal. For a receptionist, the usual setup is conditional forwarding: calls ring your team first and only forward when the line is busy or nobody picks up, plus forward-all once you close.

This guide covers the four kinds of forwarding, what to set for a receptionist, how to test it, the problems that catch most businesses, and where each major Canadian carrier and phone system publishes its own instructions. We checked every code below against the provider’s official help page on October 28, 2026. Codes and fees change, so if your provider’s page says something different, follow it.

What are the four types of call forwarding?

Every Canadian carrier offers some version of these four. The names vary: “no reply”, “no answer” and “ring no answer” all mean the same thing.

Busy, no answer and not reachable are called conditional forwarding, because each one only kicks in under a condition. Forward-all trumps them: while it’s on, nothing rings at your end.

Which forwarding should you set for an AI receptionist?

Choose by who you want to answer first.

• Your team first, the receptionist catches the rest. Turn on busy and no answer (and not reachable, on a mobile). Calls ring your phones as usual; only the ones you miss or can’t take go to the receptionist.
• After hours only. Turn on forward-all when you close and cancel it when you open. On a basic landline or mobile, forwarding stays on until someone turns it off, so this is a daily habit. The low-effort alternative is to leave busy and no answer on around the clock: in the evening nobody picks up, so every call forwards anyway. Cloud phone systems such as RingCentral let you put a schedule on a forwarding rule instead.
• The receptionist answers everything. Turn on forward-all and leave it on. The receptionist answers, books and takes details, and transfers to your team when a person is needed.

These are the same three modes Infold works in: after hours, when busy, or always. Here’s what the gaps look like across one ordinary day, and what changes when missed calls forward instead of ringing out:

How many rings should you allow?

Long enough for your team to reach the phone, short enough that callers don’t give up before anyone answers. Defaults vary by line: Rogers Home Phone’s no-answer forward kicks in after 4 rings, Vidéotron business lines default to 3 (change it with *94), and Microsoft Teams waits 20 seconds. Three or four rings is a sensible start. Test it, then adjust.

How do you forward calls from a mobile phone in Canada?

Most Canadian mobile carriers publish the same short codes. Dial the code, then the 10-digit number you’re forwarding to, then #, and press call. For example, no-answer forwarding is *61* + the number + #. This is what each carrier’s own help page lists:

The “switch off” column shows no answer as the example; swap in the type’s number for the others (#67# for busy, #21# for all calls). A few carrier-specific notes:

• Rogers says conditional forwarding won’t work while voicemail is activated. On Rogers, #61# pauses forwarding, ##61# cancels it and *#61# checks its status (swap in the type’s number as above).
• TELUS adds *004*, which it describes as forwarding incoming calls after 10, 20 or 30 seconds: dial *004*, the number, *, the seconds, then #. TELUS says forwarding isn’t available on TELUS Prepaid and only works to numbers within North America.
• Koodo says only the “unreachable” type works on prepaid.
• Freedom Mobile says forwarding redirects calls to another Canadian number.
• Bell Mobility doesn’t list codes; its help page has you open Call Settings → Call Forwarding on the phone and pick the type, such as all calls or only unanswered ones. Bell calls ring-first forwarding “No Answer Transfer”.
• Vidéotron mobile customers set it up in the phone’s settings. Vidéotron says your phone and SIM must support VoLTE, and calls can only be forwarded to numbers in Canada or the United States.

How do you forward a landline or office phone?

Landlines and business lines use different codes, and they are less consistent from carrier to carrier.

• Bell Home phone: dial *72, wait for the beeps and dial tone, then dial the number you’re forwarding to. If someone answers, keep the line open for at least 5 seconds; if it’s busy or unanswered, hang up after 3 seconds and repeat once. *73 switches it off. This forwards all calls. Bell’s business troubleshooting page adds that if *72 gives you a busy signal, dial *73 to clear old forwards and start again, or try 1172.
• Rogers Home Phone (no answer): dial *92 and the 10-digit number, answer the test call and stay on for at least five seconds. Calls then forward when no one answers after 4 rings; *93 switches it off. Two catches from Rogers: if you subscribe to voicemail, these codes only switch voicemail on and off, and only one call can be forwarded at a time, so other callers hear a busy signal.
• TELUS Business office phone: *72 or #72 forwards all calls (answer the test call and hold for 5 to 10 seconds); *73 switches it off. No answer is *92 (off: *93), and *94 sets the rings, from 2 to 9. Busy is *90 (off: *91). For busy and no answer, TELUS sets the destination number when you order the feature.
• Vidéotron Business lines: *72 forwards all calls (a paid add-on, included with the Optimal Business Line) and *73 cancels; dialling *72 again and hearing a busy signal confirms it’s on. Busy is *90 (off: *91) and no answer is *92 (off: *93). *94 followed by a number from 0 to 9 sets the rings; the default is 3. Vidéotron says busy forwarding carries two calls at once, so a third caller hears busy.

How do you forward calls on a cloud phone system?

On VoIP and cloud systems, forwarding lives in the app or admin portal, and you usually get schedules and caller ID options too.

• RingCentral: in the app, click your profile picture, then Call rules → Forward all calls, choose Forward the call, click Number and enter it. Add a schedule if you only want it after hours.
• Microsoft Teams Phone: Settings → Calls → Call handling and forwarding. Microsoft says that if you don’t see forwarding options, you probably don’t have an Enterprise Voice or Business Voice licence. On Teams SIP desk phones, *33* plus the number forwards always, *34* forwards unanswered calls (20 seconds by default, up to 60), and *32* resets.
• Google Voice: calls ring “linked numbers” that you verify. Google’s help page says forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported and points businesses to the Google Workspace auto attendant. If your main number is on Google Voice, plan this step before go-live. Google lists Voice as available in Canada.
• Ooma Office: dial *72, then the number and #. *73 switches it off and *74 toggles it. The End User Portal and mobile app have the same setting.
• Vonage Business Communications: in the Admin Portal, go to Phone System → Extensions, edit the extension, open Call Forwarding, turn on Forward Calls and choose Send To Ext. or Number. Pick Originating Caller ID so the receptionist sees who is calling rather than your own number.

How do you test call forwarding before you rely on it?

Test it the way customers will reach it. It takes about ten minutes:

1. Call from a phone that isn’t on your account, such as a personal mobile.
2. Let it ring out to test no answer, and count the rings before the receptionist picks up.
3. Call while the line is busy (stay on another call) to test busy forwarding.
4. Switch the mobile off to test not reachable.
5. Turn on forward-all and call again, the way it will work after closing.
6. Check caller ID. The receptionist should see the caller’s number, not yours.
7. Ask for a person. If the receptionist transfers callers to your team, the transfer has to go to a number that doesn’t forward, or the call goes round in a loop.
8. Listen for voicemail. If you hear your voicemail greeting at any point, voicemail is answering before the forward.
9. Write down the switch-off codes and keep them where the whole team can find them.

Run the checks again whenever you change carrier, plan or phone system.

What are the most common call forwarding problems?

• Voicemail answers first. Carrier voicemail is a forward of its own. Rogers says conditional forwarding won’t work while voicemail is active, and Vidéotron notes that if your voicemail number shows up in your forwarding settings, you need to put it back when you stop forwarding.
• Too many rings. Callers who hear eight rings may hang up before anyone answers. Set the ring count yourself.
• The iPhone switch forwards everything. Use dial codes for conditional forwarding.
• One call at a time. Some landlines forward one call at once (Rogers Home Phone) or two (Vidéotron business busy forwarding). If calls arrive in bursts, ask your carrier.
• Per-minute charges. If forwarding isn’t in your plan, forwarded minutes are billed. When we checked, Bell Mobility listed $0.25 a minute on pay-per-use, Koodo $0.60 and Vidéotron mobile $0.75. Forwarding to a long-distance number adds long-distance charges on Bell, Rogers and Vidéotron lines.
• Where you can forward to. Rogers Home Phone and Vidéotron mobile allow Canadian and US numbers, Vidéotron business lines rule out international numbers, TELUS and Koodo allow North American numbers, and Freedom allows Canadian numbers.
• Prepaid limits. TELUS Prepaid has no forwarding; Koodo prepaid only has “unreachable”.
• Preset destinations. On some business lines, such as TELUS busy and no-answer forwarding, the carrier sets the destination, so changing it means a call to them.
• Loops. If the receptionist transfers to your main number while your main number forwards to the receptionist, callers go in circles.

Where can you find official forwarding instructions for your provider?

These are the official help pages we used. If your provider isn’t listed (Fido, Virgin Plus, Public Mobile, Eastlink, SaskTel or another), search its help centre for “call forwarding” or call business support, and only use the codes it publishes.

• Bell: mobile, home phone and business phone troubleshooting
• Rogers: mobile and Home Phone, no answer
• TELUS: mobile and business office phone
• Koodo: Call Forwarding
• Freedom Mobile: Manage your Call Forwarding service
• Vidéotron: business lines: star codes and mobile (in French)
• RingCentral: Forwarding calls in the RingCentral app and Admin Portal
• Microsoft Teams: Call forwarding, call groups and simultaneous ring
• Google Voice: linked numbers and supported countries
• Ooma Office: How to forward calls
• Vonage Business: Forward calls to a phone number

How does call forwarding work with Infold?

You keep your number. Calls forward to Infold when you choose (after hours, when you’re busy, or always), and it’s one setting with your phone provider. We walk you through it during setup, after you’ve called your receptionist yourself and tried to trip it up. Live in 2 business days once we have access and your approvals.

Before you forward anything to any vendor, it’s worth asking where your callers’ recordings and transcripts will go. Our companion guide covers that: AI receptionists and Canadian privacy law: what to ask before you sign.

Next steps: see how Infold works, check pricing, or book a demo.