Hello, if I want to call a friend in Vancouver, BC from where I live (USA) do I have to dial anything besides the area code+phone number? Thanks.
Dial it just like you’d call someone in a different area code in the US.
Call up the Vancouver Operator and say, “Can you please connect me to my friend, eh?”
With apologies to Mark Knofler 
Calling Canada - is anybody home
Calling Canada - I’m here all alone
Did it leave the continent
Or can it come to the phone
Calling Canada - I’m here all alone
Well tell it I was calling just to wish it well
Let me leave my number - heartbreak hotel
Oh love me tender - baby don’t be cruel
Return to sender - treat me like a fool
Just ask your local operator to call Canada and ask if your friend is there.
He’ll be easy to find because there are only, like 12 people here.
Seriously, though: somewhere among the first pages of your white page phone book should be a list all the area codes for North America. Vancouver has 2 codes, 604 and 778, which you can use exactly as you would for a long-distance call within the U.S. You might have to dial “1” first.