A frustrated Canadian cellphone user’s recent complaints about the country’s mobile plan charges when travelling have sparked a larger discussion on social media.
“So sitting at the airport, I have two cellphones. I have an American cellphone with T-Mobile and I have a Canadian cellphone with Rogers,” explained the man, who goes by @shanelink87 on TikTok.
@shanelink87 Why do Canadians get absolutely screwed on cell phone prices and plans?? #Rogers #T-Mobile #bell #Verizon #telus ♬ original sound – shanelink87
“I’m going to be travelling out of the country, so I phoned each carrier … to see what’s the deal if I use my phone in another country.”
In the comments, he clarified that he was travelling internationally to Europe.
He said that T-Mobile told him his $70-per-month plan doesn’t come with additional charges for international usage.
According to T-Mobile’s website, the carrier doesn’t charge extra for international roaming costs. Calling costs US$0.25 per minute.
However, the poster said he was left disappointed with Rogers.
“I phoned Rogers for my Canadian number and it is $15 a day for a certain amount [of time],” he said.
When travelling internationally, Rogers offers “Roam Like Home,” which charges customers either $12 or $15 per day depending on whether they’re travelling to the US or eligible international destinations. The rate is only applicable for a set number of days.
Rogers
Canada’s other main cellphone providers, Bell and Telus, also offer similar plans.
Bell charges its customers $13 per day when travelling to the US and $16 per day for eligible international destinations. Telus’s US plan is $14 per day and $16 for international roaming.
Bell
Telus
“So, what’s the difference? Why can’t Rogers do the same thing that T-Mobile is doing? Why are Canadians getting absolutely screwed when it comes to cellphone plans? ” asked the frustrated TikToker.
The video has been flooded with comments from other Canadian mobile customers.
“Because there’s no competition… There really are only three: Bell, Rogers, and Telus,” wrote one commenter.
“Yup. Us Canadians always get ripped off!” wrote another.
“Corporate greed,” stated one person.
While people were going off in the comments, it’s important to note that the TikToker was only speaking about one aspect of Canadian mobile plans compared to a US plan.
On the whole, are US plans really better or cheaper than Canadian ones? We reviewed some data and spoke to the Canadian Telecoms Association (CTA).
Cellphone data plans in Canada
Canada is known for its pricier mobile data costs than some other countries.
According to a report from HelloSafe published earlier this year, Canada placed 10th among countries with the most expensive cellphone data in the world.
The ranking is based on the average price of 1 GB of data per country on September 2023. In Canada, the average price per 1 GB is $7.36, making it the 10th most expensive country in the world.
However, when comparing Canada to countries with an equivalent standard of living, only Switzerland ($9.99 per 1 GB), the US ($8.22 per 1 GB) and New Zealand ($8.07 per 1 GB) pay more for their mobile data than Canadians.
Canadian consumers have expressed some concern about mobile plan pricing. Earlier this year, two of the country’s largest wireless providers were criticized for raising cellphone bills depending on customers’ plans.
But even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tried to assure Canadians that the cost of plans has significantly decreased.
In April, he took to X, claiming that his government has cut the price of cellphone bills “by half” over the past five years.
We’ve cut the cost of cell phone plans in half since 2019 — in part by increasing competition.
Next, we’re going after the junk fees on your phone bill, so you can do things like cancel your plan or switch to a cheaper one with no added charges. #Budget2024
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 18, 2024
At the time, a federal government spokesperson told Daily Hive that the government had “made significant progress to reduce the cost of cellphone plans and to increase access to these services.”
“To achieve this, we introduced measures to support competition, including spectrum policies and a new policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission,” they stated.
What are the cost-cutting policies?
The “spectrum of policies” included the CRTC approving the terms and conditions for a policy called the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to increase competition and lower prices for cellphone plans in 2022.
The policy aimed to allow more companies, like smaller regional providers in rural areas, to access the cellular networks of Canada’s telecom giants, such as Bell, Rogers, and Telus.
In August 2023, MNVO agreements were reached, requiring large wireless providers to negotiate “in good faith” with small wireless providers to agree on MNVO access rates.
The spokesperson also pointed to Statistics Canada data, which shows a nearly 50% price drop in cellular services from March 2019 to March 2024.
However, a Globe and Mail report claimed that StatCan reporting may “overstate the extent to which people are paying less” on their bills.
The publication noted in February that the agency does not have access to month-to-month data on what Canadians are paying for their bills and instead bases its data on price plans listed on wireless companies’ websites.
In response to the Globe and Mail’s reporting, the CTA highlighted Statistic Canada’s methodology.
“As mentioned, the StatCan data is showing the movement in prices from month to month, which clearly shows that prices are going down,” said Nick Kyonka, a spokesperson for the CTA, in a statement to Daily Hive.
“Obviously, if someone is on an older plan and hasn’t shopped for a new plan, they would be paying the cost of their old plan. But competition in the market is driving prices down and StatCan’s tracking shows that pretty clearly.”
What does the CTA have to say?
Kyonka also referred to the federal government’s latest pricing study of Canadian wireless plans from 2023.
Kyonka said that the report shows that wireless plans in Canada “are, on average, cheaper than comparable plans in the US.”
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“The Canadian wireless market provides a wide range of options for consumers, with plans that include roaming in the US at no additional charge,” he stated.
What are your thoughts on how much Canadian phone plans cost? Let us know in the comments.