The CRTC reiterated this week it has commissioned a study to compare international roaming fees charged by Canadian telecoms versus the world, and it should be out soon.
According to the CRTC, “The study is comparing the fees that Canadians pay with the fees charged in other countries. It will help us decide the best way to ensure the fees that Canadians pay are fair.”
Roaming fees are the rates you pay when you travel outside of Canada. Most wireless carriers have a U.S. or international daily roaming fee.
For example, Rogers chargers $12/day and $15/day for U.S. and international roaming, if your plan does not support roaming. Telus charges $14/day and $16/day, while Bell charges $13/day and $16/day for U.S. and international roaming, respectively.
Now, there’s a limit to how much you can be charged from these daily roaming plans according to the CRTC Wireless Code, which caps it at $100 per billing cycle, unless you agree to pay more. But the problem here? Your travel dates may not align with your cellphone billing cycle, so you could easily pay more than $100.
We are seeing some wireless plans that now include U.S. roaming, North American roaming or international roaming, such as plans kicked off by Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile. These roaming plans can save you money versus paying daily roaming charges.
You could also buy eSIM data through companies such as Airalo or Keepgo to stay online while abroad. The only issue is not getting 2-factor texts, but you could set up a line with the TextNow app for example, to still get them. Or switch to app-based 2-factor codes if possible.
This taxpayer-funded CRTC study won’t exactly reveal anything we don’t already know. One response to the study’s upcoming release on X, tells the tale.
“I could have given you the information you seek for free. I hope you’re ready to find out just how bad Canadians are being raped by the Big 3 and I hope you’re ready to change it,” said @theJMan68.
The CRTC was asked by Industry, Science and Technology Minister François-Philippe Champagne last March to look into international roaming rates. This was because roaming rates were increased by Telus, Koodo, Bell and Virgin Plus. Surprisingly, Rogers did not follow suit.
CRTC CEO Vicky Eatrides replied to Champagne on the same day last March, to say a study on roaming rates would be forthcoming.
“Our preliminary results confirm what many Canadians are feeling — that international roaming rates we pay are higher. We will be commissioning a study to examine this issue in greater detail,” said Eatrides. It’s been over a year and the study has yet to be released, but the final report should be out soon.
We’re not holding our breath though that the study will bring any major changes to the roaming rates Canadians pay. It will just provide optics for the government to say they are “taking action” to try to lower wireless bills. It’s unlikely the government will force private companies to lower pricing with legislation.
What do you do when you travel abroad with your cellphone? Share your roaming ideas in the comments below.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
Foreign eSims are such a better solution over roaming changes if your phone can accept them. I’ve been using one for a few years now, and it’s great! But honestly, regarding the study and the X-Twitter quote in the article, I have no idea what people in other countries are charged for roaming when they leave their home country or region, so I wouldn’t say the study will tell us nothing we don’t already know. Maybe some know how things work in Europe, but as massive, sparsely-populated country with one neighbour, we’re not really Europe.
Check out Orange Holiday eSIM plans that include significant 4G/5G data capacities and unlimited calling and texting within 30 European countries. Some of their plans also include worldwide calling minutes and sent text messages as well. You can get 14 days for as little as approximately CA$30, which is less than two days’ of roaming on your own plan.
These plans to not carry enough data to be useful for most people, but they are an option for some.
WiFi is always your friend when traveling. Unless you’re planning on live streaming your entire trip, you can definitely survive with low-ish data amounts for a couple weeks in most urban centres.
When I am traveling,. I use way more data than I do normally, because I am not using wi-fi calling or able to use my computer during the day. Furthermore, I am constantly looking up things, Although wi-fi is, in theory, a good idea, in practical terms, I could write a book on how many places I’ve been where the wi-fi doesn’t work or gives absurdly low speeds. Not to mention the security risks. I have no need to stream things on mobile when I am traveling, however. I’ve tried using wi-fi exclusively, tried using local SIM cards, travel SIM cards.
I suppose it depends what you’re doing when traveling, but I travel for work (airline job), and have been using the same eSim for a few years. I purchase it for the year at $40, and it has lasted me the full 365 days for two years straight. I’m also constantly looking things up when out and about, as well as using my phone to check public transit schedules. I assume that wherever most people are staying will have wifi, and unless you’re spending all day on YouTube, most packages will get you by. But yes, everyone’s situation is different, just as every solution shouldn’t be expected to work for everybody. If you’re using that much data when abroad, it sounds like what you might need is a local phone plan, not extended home country roaming.
Our plan has 320 gigs for two phones, we’re good. Our bill went down 10% and our data went from 40 to 320.
They make it very difficult to compare the roaming since there are so many little nuances. I expect that the CRTC will hire someone who will have to learn most of this from scratch or they will miss a lot. For exam,ple, data allowances, inclusing of tablets/watches, etc. If I were the CRTC, I would hire the three or four biggest critics of the “big three” amongst the commenters and get them to compile a list of parameters to compile. Once that list of parameters were created and checked, it would then be time to fill in the information. There are some countries, for example, that the green guys have had in place for easy roam for years, and the red guys, who were first out the gate, haven’t increased their list for years. Data wise, the only places that justify (sort of) a high roaming rate would be the Falkland Islands, and that is because they don’t have fiber and their regulatory regime is sufficiently idiotic to not allow starlink. Most everywhere else has a fiber optic backbone coming to them.
At*t in the US has free roaming on their prepaid plan in Canada. The big three charge absurd roaming fees in comparison. But we already knew that lol.
AT&T (and all US carriers) also include visual voicemail for Apple/Android users for free, but this country’s cartel sucks another measly $7 extra per month from Canadian customers for this feature. I can’t wait for the demise of Canadian telco players.
Unfortunately, you’d sooner grow a beard than see the demise of Canadian big telecom companies. Short of some catastrophe on the planetary level. They have their teeth so deeply sunk in, that they will go only if the host goes.
I have been using Keepgo for years and more recently Freedom Canada and US plan.
25$ sez the “study” ( that YOU paid for…) will show that the roaming fees are “reasonable, if not a tad on the higher side of the spectrum. For example, Tuvalu and Vanuatu pay higher costs, so.. nothing to see here. CRTC is a strong supporter of competition in the telecommunications sector, blah blah blah.”
I have higher hopes that Videotron, before getting in bed with the Big There nationally, will trigger some changes. They currently offer an (expensive) 75$/50GB plan that includes roaming in 70 countries. Probably not well advertised, but it’s a start.
time to abolish these tax wasting clowns aka crtc