Just wanted to share some frustrations and open this up for discussion.

Unlike in Europe or parts of Asia, Canada has virtually no true pay-as-you-go (PAYG) mobile plans. Most so-called “prepaid” or “PAYG” options here are just monthly bundles with expiry dates — not actual usage-based billing. You’re often paying $15–30/month whether you use 100 MB or not at all.

To make things worse:

  • The minimum postpaid plan is now often 60 GB or more — which is total overkill for average users who don’t stream or game constantly.

  • Vacation suspensions are restricted or unavailable unless you upgrade to expensive plans and limited to a minimum of 30 days.

  • Text-to-911 is still not available to the general public, only for those registered as Deaf or hard of hearing — despite many emergency scenarios (hostage, abuse, low signal) where calling isn’t possible.

  • CRTC and CCTS don’t help. The CRTC says they can’t intervene in pricing or service terms, and the CCTS (per Section 4.3) won’t challenge carrier policies themselves.

Please note that I’m not asking for charity or free service — just fairer options that reflect actual usage, more flexible policies, and access to emergency support.

Has anyone here had better experiences with MVNOs or alternatives? And why do we seem so far behind compared to other countries?

  • LNRDrone@sopuli.xyz
    4·
    2 days ago

    Yeah Canadian prepaid plans all seem to have the scammy expiring bullshit built in.

    I use my phone basically just for maps and being reachable in an emergency. Best one in Canada I’ve found that actually works is $99 a year or $119 if I want data (which I do need). A couple of the “budget” options have the exact same plan, but I went with Freedom to not have to deal with Rogers bs. These have unlimited calls and texts, data is limited to 15GB / year, but it’s just goes to slow speed after 15GB at no extra costs. Very pricey for what I need it for still.

    I used to have shitty prepaid plan sold by petrocan where the cheapest option was $25 for 3 months, but with very limited amount of data and the whole thing just didn’t work half the time (no calls, texts or data).

    Comparing these to Nordics is pretty rough. We go to Finland every couple years and we get a package with SIM card and enough data and calls for the 2 to 3 weeks we stay there with 15 euros. You just go to convenience store to pick it up, no signing anything needed. Just need to bring a phone that’s not SIM locked.