Mobile Phone Plans in Canada

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The consolation prize for moving countries nowadays is how fast people can get back online and in contact. Mobile phone plans in Canada are quite a few and easily available. There are many low end service providers with cheaper plans and there are a few big guns in the market leading the industry.

Mobile phone plans in Canada offer connectivity locally as well as globally. I will explain the services in this industry and what is available to new comers to Canada. So let’s get in to it.

The Problem:

In 1990 if someone asked me if I had a mobile phone, I might have said what mobile phone. It wasn’t as common even then although a few were seen here and there with those huge antennas and the worst interface that you could imagine. In this era of technology and advancement, everyone is connected and online. Talk and text doesn’t work anymore, now we need data too. We need to be connected to the www (whole wide world). No! www doesn’t actually stand for that, it means the World Wide Web.

When a new comer to Canada lands in Toronto, you are yet to see premium mobile service providers at the airport and that creates an issue. You don’t get online and connected right away once you land in Canada. Let’s delve in to the options and ways to do so.

Service Providers:

There are many premium, mid-grade and low-end service providers who are catering to the communication needs here. Mobile phone service providers are ample and are as follow:

1. Telus
2. Bell
3. Rogers
4. Koodo by Telus
5. Fido by Rogers
6. Virgin by Bell
7. Chatr by Rogers
8. Freedom by Shaw
9. Lucky Mobile by Bell
10. Public Mobile by Telus
11. Sasktel

The ranking is based on industry prevalence by these companies. As you can see, almost all competition is owned and operated by the industry kings here which are the three companies Telus, Bell and Rogers.

Why? Because of a Federal Government initiative to encourage competition in the wireless sector in 2009-2010. The Originals decided to create their own competition.

Just to give a short history, the first company on the block was Bell (1880), then Rogers (1960) and then Telus (1990). Networks were initially laid down by Bell across Canada so hail to the Originals.

Mobile Phone Plans:

So let’s move forward and talk about the Mobile Phone Plans in Canada. Plans are created considering the following conditions mostly:

• Voice and Data Plans
• Talk, Text Plans
• Prepaid Plans
• Bring your own device Plans (BYOD)
• Mobile Internet Data Plans

Other than the above plans, the wireless companies don’t have other services to provide to customers. As a new comer, you need to decide what you are looking for. Majority of new comers come to Canada with their own devices and would just require a SIM and a plan. But the industry works based on the customer’s need of new technology as it comes out.

The plans are priced according to the benefit that it brings the service provider. So where do lie as a customer? Get to a store and they will tell you, depending who you bump in to. The Super Salesperson or I just need a job salesperson. But guess what, generally, all sales persons in Canada will not upsell without valid reasoning.

“You go in with a Samsung S21 Ultra 5G, they will not be selling you the Voice and Data Plans. Because they don’t have a better device in yet. You will get the BYOD plan explained in detail.”

My Experience:

I came to a ready home as I told you in my blog landing in Canada and Day1 of an immigrant. Coming from U.A.E. we have a knack of getting good phone numbers, nice number plates, latest phones and bling cars (naming a few habits we took up growing up). Not saying these are great habits though. Moving forward.

My first service provider in Canada was Fido. Didn’t have the immigrant telling me then who the best service provider in Canada is. Well, the best part about Fido is finding the right phone number for yourself. You can choose the right number that you would love to keep for life in Canada.

You can easily port your SIM and number to any service provider after the fact. It is free to do so if you own the number in the first place.

We moved from Fido to Bell in the next 6 months. Why? They have great coverage across Canada although they are on the expensive side in the industry. And also because my brother got a job with Bell Canada then and we received family discount of 35%. Great eh!

I am still with Bell and we are still going strong!!!

As a New Comer:

Your plan in the beginning is to get online and in contact with your family. Getting online will take you at least the same day as you arrive. Don’t get in to any plans from the airport. Once you are in the city, find the nearest Fido store and get a $10 prepaid SIM card that can get you online. You can review how to use prepaid refill and credit here.

Anyways, the best plan is the basic $15 monthly plan for Talk and Text to get you going. Just add credit to your sim card and buy the plan as needed. Then you can buy Talk and Text or add Data according to your needs.

You need a valid credit card to get any postpaid plans from Bell, Telus or any service provider. Just check out the coverage area for all service providers before you move forward with choosing one.

Once you are settled in, found the job that you have been looking for, applied and received your first Credit card in Canada and started building your credit history. You can now go for a better wireless plan as needed. Most people can’t live without data like me, I need Google Maps to go to places. I would suggest reviewing the websites as linked above for all the service providers and finding the best suited service provider to your needs.

What Happened Next?

Writing this article I thought why am I paying so much with Bell. Guess what, in-between lines we tried our luck at a lower rate. Almost at the brink of jumping ship, Bell retention team decided to give us better rates and lower our bills. There is nothing better than researching and aiming for a better service provider for lower rates. We saved a total of $200 per month due to this plan change. Big family big bills I tell you.

Hope we helped you understand the wireless service providers and the mobile phone plans in Canada. We will continue to bring you more details in savings, information and help as needed. If you have any comments or questions, leave them below and I will get back to you. In the meantime, is your service provider the best? Do let us know why?

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