These are the best Canadian phone plans

If you’re reading this list, odds are you are considering the move to Canada and want to research your options ahead of time. Let’s be honest, Canada doesn’t have the best options for mobile coverage. Like the United States, it’s dominated by three main carriers: Bell, Roger, and Tuls. Thankfully, there are a few smaller options that are quite popular as well. 

Canadians won’t find the same unlimited data deals or shockingly low prices as you’ll find in many other countries including most of Europe. With that in mind, you still need a mobile plan in the Great White North. Here’s a look at the best cell phone plans in Canada.

The best cell phone plans in Canada:

We’ve gone through the current offerings from major providers available across the country, and we think we’ve landed on the best Canadian phone plans you might want from each one.

Many companies offer plan customization, including family plans and service bundles, so don’t treat this as a complete and unabridged breakdown of offerings.

Editor’s note: We’ll be updating this list of Canada’s best cell phone plans regularly as new ones launch.

1. Bell

When it comes to finding the best cell phone plans in Canada, we have to level with you — Bell plans aren’t great ways to save money. In fact, they’re among the most expensive, but at least you can bundle your mobile service with internet, TV, and more to save money.

Bell continuously revamps its lineup, launching and ending plans almost monthly. The most affordable option now goes by the nameEssentials 120, and is priced at CA$55 a month. You get full 4G and 5G access, and 120GB of shareable high-speed data. After you use this up you’ll get throttled speeds of around 512Kbps. If you need more you can upgrade to Essential 125, which costs $5 more and gives you 5GB of extra data. 

Coming from the United States and plan to visit back home regularly? The Ultimate 150/155 plans are a good fit, priced at $70 and $75, respectively. You get either 150 or 155GB of shareable data as well as unlimited calls, texts, and data in Mexico and the United States. 

2. Rogers

Call it the curse of the major Canadian providers: Rogers plans won’t save you much either. Roger’s cheapest plan is 5G MObile 60GB, which gives you 60GB of non-shareable data at speeds up to 250Mbps. There is also unlimited talking and texting throughout the country. 

At $85, 5G Infinite Essential gives you 120GB of data, and unlimited data thereafter at a reduced rate. You also get unlimited international texting, making it easy to stay in touch with friends back home. You also save $20 on every extra line you add.  Need even more? The 5G Infinite Premium plan gives you 150GB of data, as well as unlimited calling, texts, and data in Mexico and the United States. 

3. Fido

Fido plans are the way to go for everyday smartphone use. They offer talk and text or talk, text, and data at very reasonable prices. If you want a way to avoid the Canadian provider curse, Fido might be the way to go.

Like Rogers, Fido has recently revamped its plans, and it now offers a build-your-own approach to phone service. You can choose from Data and Text, Talk and Text, and Talk, Text, and Data plans, and kick things off by selecting your data cap. All plans include unlimited texts. You can get up to 40GB of data for CA$45 a month for 24 months, and CA$60 after the introductory rate. The cheapest plan is the 2GB tier, which will run you CA$37.50 per month.

Need a new device? For a few extra bucks or more per month, you can get a significant discount on a slew of smartphones that Fido has on offer. Fido also has different promotions running throughout the year that are worth exploring.

Fido is also currently waiving long-distance and SMS charges to Ukraine and roaming fees for customers in Ukraine in order to contact loved ones.

4. Telus

Telus tends to rank alongside Bell and Rogers, though its presence is slightly smaller in Eastern Canada. As such, it has those big-name rates, unfortunately. 

There are just two plans: Unlimited 120 5G+ for $95 for one line or as cheap as $80 per line for 4+ users, and Unlimited CAN-US 150 5G+ which starts at $105 and gets as cheap as $90 per line. The former plan has 120GB of data, while the latter plan has 150GB data and unlimited data, talk, and text in the US. There’s also unlimited messaging to anywhere in the world from within Canada. 

5. Freedom Mobile

Freedom plans are known for being very cheap. Formerly known as Wind, Freedom has limited coverage, but the company is refreshingly candid about its shortcomings. It recognizes it’s not perfect but seeks to offer an affordable alternative to Canadians.

The cheapest cell phone plan Freedom offers Canadians gets you 250MB of LTE-only data for CA$19 per month, though plans scale as high as $65 for its Unlimited 60GB 5G option, which gives you unlimited talk, text, and a 60GB of data. You’ll also have unlimited talk to the US and Mexico from within Canada. 

There are quite a few plans overall, though we’d say its mid-end tiers are better deals. After all, you’ll pay just CA$15 more for 10GB of data, versus the CA$19 price on a measely 250MB. 

6. Koodo

Koodo cell phone plans are another way to save money without sacrificing data or coverage. If calling isn’t too important to you, you can get Koodo plans for as little as CA$15 per month and get 250MB of data and 100 minutes. For CA$39 per month right now, you can sign up for a pretty solid standard plan with unlimited calling across the country, unlimited texting, and 10GB of LTE data.

Koodo also offers “shock-free data” on all its data plans. That means you can’t go over your data limit and rack up overage fees. Instead, your data shuts off automatically when you reach your limit. You do get a heads-up before that happens, though, and Koodo will offer you the chance to buy more data. It may not be a game-changer, but shock-free data can avoid some nasty surprises when your bill reaches your inbox at the end of the month.

Koodo is also emphasizing its Tab on each of its plans too. It allows you to put a certain amount of money on your plan towards your next new device, up to $492 per year.

And the winner is…

There’s no easy calculation to tell you which of these is the best cell phone plan in Canada because these companies offer some seriously different levels of service.

Freedom wins the bargain basement award for its ultra-affordable plans. Freedom Mobile is also the least likely to work everywhere you go or to have as fast of an internet connection — but maybe that’s still worth it to you.

Then there’s the question of service bundles, family plans, and savings on new devices, which can complicate your choice. That doesn’t mean we can’t make a few overarching judgments.

For most Fido and Koodo are going to be the best value, but it really comes down to what you’re looking for.

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