I’ve just completed the yearly chore of trying to lower my Canadian smartphone bill.
It didn’t work at all, again. My provider, Videotron, almost laughed at me. I can’t possibly pay less and get more out of my plan! Silly me!
Since I wasn’t talking to the CEO but to a call centre minimum-wage slave somewhere in the world, I bit my tongue and didn’t argue. I’ll pay. What else can I do? Smartphones are not optional, especially when two-factor authentication is required to just check your bank account.
It’s 2025. Cell phone plans have been a complete rip-off in Canada for decades. Why are we still paying way, way more than in Europe, Asia or Latin America?
- A decade without a phone
- What’s the deal with Canadian telco providers?
- How I manage to pay “only” $37.65 a month
- Meanwhile, in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and France…
A decade without a phone
I got my first cellphone in 1998 or 1999, when I was in high school. I wasn’t an early adopter; we just all had a flip phone back then.
While I was working on my textese—the 160-character standard limit turned out to be great training for my future copyediting career—and using an elaborated “I’ll beep you once, you’ll beep me twice” system with my friends to avoid using our precious minutes, Feng was using a pager at work. Across the Atlantic, people who weren’t CEOs didn’t have cellphones, they were still glued to the landline in their giant North American suburban houses. Apparently, for once, Europe was ahead of the game.
I cancelled my French cellphone contract in October 2001, a few days before flying to Mexico to travel with this weird guy I had met in Beijing in 1999. I put my green sticker-covered Nokia 3310 in a box somewhere—it would be almost a decade before I used a cellphone again.
In Canada, in the early 2000s, we weren’t pulling a personal phone out of a bag but putting a quarter in the nearest public phone. It wasn’t exactly convenient, but at least it was cheap. Calls weren’t billed per minute, and there was no surcharge for calling mobile numbers, while France added an extra per-minute fee.
Devices and plans were expensive back then. The only people I knew who had a cellphone were my students—I was teaching French to Government of Canada executives, aka “CrackBerries,” as each of them would proudly announce when sneaking out of the classroom to read a “very important email.”
I eventually joined the BlackBerry cult by accident in 2009 when I was hired at the Parliament of Canada. My very first permanent job came with my own office, a dress code, a security clearance, an annual salary, benefits, and a fancy device.
“… Can I use the BlackBerry to make a few very occasional personal calls?” I ventured.
The IT guy laughed. “Have fun! It’s the least they can do…”
Later, I learned that I had my own office because I was pretty much expected to sleep there, and I was expected to sleep with the BlackBerry as well because the comms team was issuing press releases 24/7 to be translated by yours truly…
What’s the deal with Canadian telco providers?
A few years and two jobs with mandatory BlackBerry and no sleep later, I took the freelance route. On the plus side, no more unpaid overtime. On the downside, I had to pay my own phone bills.
This is when I realized that cellphone plans were still ridiculously expensive in 2011. The big three, affectionately known as “Robelus” in Canada, were the worst—Rogers, Bell and Telus are invariably the most expensive providers, and surprise surprise, they all pretty much charge the same.
Rule number one: there is almost no competition in Canada because these three big players use their market dominance to steamroll local providers. Too few players, too much power and not enough competition mean high prices, tons of “we charge it because we can” fees, and shitty service.
Rule number two: in Canada, providers charge you for everything, including incoming calls and texts—in 2025, most plans offer “unlimited” talk and text, phew. Other popular junk fees are the activation fee (around $70 across the board in 2025!), the connection fee, the system access fee, the hotspot data sharing fee, the 911 fee…
Rule number three: expect rising fees and questionable service. Guess what, there’s nothing you can do because you signed a contract. And if you didn’t, there’s still nothing you can do because all providers eventually charge the same new rates or fees under a different name, skilfully brainstormed by the marketing team.
I signed up with Virgin Mobile, the newest player (… but a subsidiary of Bell Canada) and the only provider that didn’t charge a system access fee. I switched to Videotron a few years ago for a cheaper plan but similar bullshit.
How I manage to pay “only” $37.65 a month
I tried to find out how much Canadians pay for their cellphone plans on average—good luck, even MPs are arguing about it.
According to the CRTC, telecoms averaged $67.26 in mobile phone revenues per user during the second quarter of 2023. As far as I can see, plans range from $30 to $170, and some sources say the average bill is $100.
This is my plan, and it’s “cheap” by Canadian standards:
I “bring my own phone”, which means I’m using an unlocked phone I bought on Amazon. I started with a Blackberry and eventually switched to a Samsung phone, always old models.
I don’t have much data, so no streaming. I download podcasts at home and I transfer them to my phone…
Meanwhile, in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and France…
Over the past six months, I bought SIM cards and prepaid plans in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and France. Roaming isn’t exactly an option with Videotron’s “lowest rate on the market” of $10/day.
SIM cards and phone plans in France
In France, I signed up with Free and I pay 8.99/month for 200 GB of data. I used various Lycamobile prepaid plans before that, and the price was similar.
SIM cards and phone plans in Mexico
Mexico offers the easiest access to SIM cards ever. All you have to do is go to the nearest convenience store, pick a provider (Telcel, AT&T Mexico, or Movistar) and insert the SIM. That’s it! No ID required, no registration.
Last year, I bought a Telcel SIM for less than CA$8 and I had 1.5 GB of data, unlimited calls and text messages.
SIM cards and phone plans in Argentina
In Argentina, technically, most kioskos sell Movistar, Claro and Personal Flow prepaid SIM cards, but some travellers report issues trying to activate them online. I went to a Claro retail store with my passport and bought a 5 GB package with unlimited calls for 4,500 pesos, so about CA$4.
SIM cards and phone plans in Brazil
Getting a SIM card is trickier in Brazil because, technically, you need a CPF. Your mileage will vary, but we couldn’t get a SIM card activated without it. I applied for my own CPF number, so now, it’s easy.
The three main providers are VIVO, Claro and TIM. I used VIVO over the past few years. Last winter, my R$30 (CA$7.40) plan included 8 GB of data, plus 4 GB for YouTube, unlimited calls and texts—and I was always “winning” extra data randomly.
So again, why are we paying so much for so little in Canada?
Canada is a rip off at its best.
In USA I have 3 lines(plenty of ppl bundle lines) and pay total US$105, period(TAX is included and always my payment is flat). no junk fees or whatever bullshit corporation can come up with. 5G speed in NYC translates 1.5Gb/s. This is Tmobile. But these lines are real beasts.
I virtually have no limit on internet (after the first 100Gb it is not 5G speed but starts throttling, like I do not know, I never made it to 100GB). All the rest is unlimited, even internet when roaming in the world. Tmobile has 210 destinations where you can have data varying from 10Gb in 5G speed to unlimited 3G (mexico and canada are pretty much the same like USA when I travel there). I noticed that 3G was good enough to place calls through VOIP clients WhataApp, Tel, Signal, Viber, stream Spotify non stop and browse web/google maps. I tend to have the maps downloaded as many times being outside of USA coverage isn’t the best depending on the operator facilitating for Tmobile. Hotspot data 10Gb which i almost never use … only activate when ‘poor’ friends visit NYC… and it goes on and on.
Have Netflix from Tmobile and other perks. If Tmobile makes mistakes in billing or otherwise they always give me credits “to make things right” and I dont believe anymore they are evil as a corporation (mind me I hate the corporate to death). Seems they want me to stay. They have relatively a good coverage and good customer service.
Getting devices also is a sweet deal: they give you at the right moment, which you have to look for, $700 credits on a 1K device(thats the price of Samsung when it releases) and after a $150 payment upfront you have to pay the rest of $150 in two years … it is what … $6/month. Yes I have to stay with them for 2 years as a condition for this to happen, but where else would I go?! And believe me having the latest Samsungs makes a difference as they are real powerhouses in any possible angle. Oh and F Apple who doesn’t let you do anything after you pay ~1K on their hardware.
I also get with a minimal insurance up to 5 phones for a $249 deductible, if I lose the phone – no questions asked. It has happened to me quite a few times. I cancel it usually.
Looking at your plan … my jaw is dropping : 2GB data?! what do you do first with 2Gb??? reminds me of AT&T in the years 2000s.
if they mention 2 times on the plan that your data is 2GB thats seriously F-ed up. I mean … I download all sort of movies and shows on the go through VPN on my 512GB phone and 2Gb is like saying hello and not being able to address that person by its name.
10Gb data add-on? whats that? … that you can buy extra data when you run out of them but they charge an arm and a leg for that extra?
Putain … activation fee?! they tried it only once with me for sim activation (it was my mistake as I went to a store while I should have called their dedicated customer 611 line). Of course they reversed after I called and they talked to the store. Now I use esim and those fees dont exist as they were claiming the card cost back then, and now with esim it is just a bunch of electrons.
good for France plans which are so reasonable in EU. 350Gb it is tough to consume in their MAX plan, given that there is wifi everywhere.
hope this numbers comparison makes clear the pit canada is in.
Oh, gosh, yes. Thank you for the details, we *are* getting screwed!
I hear Americans (and Australians) complaining about their high phone bill all the time, so I thought it was the same as in Canada. You clearly got a good deal.
Yeah, I basically don’t use my phone for anything data-hungry. I’m used to it in Canada. I don’t check my data usage at all in France, Brazil or China because it’s always much, much less than what my plan offers!