905
The area code covering the suburban ring around Toronto — Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Pickering and more. Used to describe someone from "outside the city," sometimes as light shade.
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How it's used
Words like this are about place — the specific streets, boundaries and nicknames that tell you exactly which part of the GTA someone means.
“Nah he's 905, he needs GPS to find the subway.”
Where it comes from
Origin: Suburban GTA area code. It's geography slang — shorthand locals use instead of the official name. More GTA geography terms are in the Geography & Identity category, or see how it maps onto real places in Toronto Slang By Neighbourhood.
Sources
This entry was compiled through general research into Toronto/GTA slang rather than one single citable source — see the full bibliography in SOURCES.md and the wider context in our history of Toronto slang.