Marrying and Sponsoring a Sahrawi
Listen to this articleBecause Western Sahara / Sahrawi is a disputed territory partially controlled by Morrocco and partially controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), it represents a special case. If you are getting married in the part of the territory controlled by Morocco – i.e. the Southern Provinces, please click the button below for our page on marrying in Morocco.
| See our page on Marrying a Moroccan |
If you are marrying a Sahrawi from one of the refugee camps in Algeria, and the marriage will take place there, please see our page on marrying in Algeria:
If you intend to marrying within the SADR-controlled area of Western Sahara, we strongly recommend you reconsider and marry either in Morroco or Algeria (or another nearby state). The Government of Canada will not recognize marriages in this part of the world.
List of Moroccan and Sahrawi Consulates in Canada
Calling Western Sahara from Canada
The Morocco-occupied portion of Western Sahara uses Morocco’s phone system:
Dial 011 – 212 – local number, where
- 011 is the exit code for Canada
- 212 is the area code for Morocco
- Morocco does not have area codes: landlines begin with the digit “2”, cellular phones with “6”, satellite phones with “8”
If your Sahrawi spouse is in a refugee camp in southwestern Algeria, dial
011 – 213 – area code / cell code – local number, where
- 213 is the area code for Algeria
- For landlines, the area codes are two digits; for cell phones, the code is 1 digit. For a complete list see our page on marrying in Algeria.
There is no information available at this time for calling the part of Western Sahara that is not occupied by Morocco from Canada.
Calling Canada from Western Sahara
Calling Canada is the same whether you are calling from the Southern Provinces of Morocco or from Algeria:
Dial 00 – 1 – area code – local number
The exit code for the part of Western Sahara not occupied by Morocco may not exist. Trying to call Canada from here may require a satellite phone.
List of Area Codes in Canada
| Province | Code | Province | Code |
| Alberta | 403 / 587 (southern Alberta)
587 / 780 (central and northern Alberta) |
Nunavut | 867 |
| BC | 236 / 250 / 778 (majority of BC)
236 / 604 / 778 (Metro Vancouver) |
Ontario | 226 / 519 (southwestern Ontario)
249 / 705 (northeastern Ontario) 289 / 365 / 905 (Greater Toronto Area) 343 / 613 (eastern Ontario) 416 / 647 (Toronto) 807 (northwestern Ontario) |
| Manitoba | 204 / 431 | PEI | 782 / 902 |
| New Brunswick | 506 | Quebec | 418 / 581 (eastern Quebec)
438 / 514 (Montreal) 450 / 579 (Greater Montreal) 819 / 873 (remainder of Quebec) |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 709 | Saskatchewan | 306 / 639 |
| Northwest Territories | 867 | Yukon | 867 |
| Nova Scotia | 782 / 902 |
Time Difference
The time in both parts of Western Sahara is Western European Time (GMT). See our page on Morocco for more information.
Emergency Information for Canadians in Western Sahara
The Government of Canada does not recognize Moroccan control of the region, nor do they recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic at this time. (Please note, recognition of the SADR is subject to change; countries continually recognize and unrecognize it.)
If you are traveling to this area of the world, you should know look at our pages on Algeria and Morocco, where the nearest diplomatic missions of Canada are located.
