Telus wants the CRTC to let carriers finance phones for longer than two years, including a four-year option.
Telus made the case in a CRTC filing back in August, as part of the regulator’s review of the consumer protection codes that include the Wireless Code. Under today’s rules, the early cancellation fee on a subsidized phone has to fall to $0 by month 24. Telus says that limit should go entirely, or at the very least be raised to 48 months or longer.
If this sounds familiar, it should. Canadians used to sign three-year phone contracts as a matter of course, until the CRTC’s Wireless Code arrived in 2013 and made cancellation fees hit $0 after two years. Rogers and Telus later tried 36-month financing too, but pulled it when the CRTC asked carriers to stop.
Telus argues the two-year window no longer fits what phones cost. Using CRTC data, it points out that the cheapest iPhone sold in 2025 ($999) cost more than the priciest one in 2015 ($769). It says that $999 phone works out to $41.63 a month over 24 months, but $27.75 over 36 months. Telus also says it typically offers financing at 0% interest, so a longer term wouldn’t add interest.
Telus says other carriers are already finding ways around the limit. It points to Rogers Bank’s 36 and 48-month 0% Equal Payment Plans on a Rogers credit card, and to Bell’s Flex Option, which Telus says stretches financing to 48 months. Both are listed on the carriers’ own websites. On Bell’s Ultra plan, customers can pay off a deferred amount over a second 24 months after the first two years, or return the phone.
Here’s what that could mean for an iPhone. The 256GB iPhone Duo costs $2,999, and it arrives on October 23. Over 24 months, that’s about $125 a month. Over 48 months, it’s about $62. That’s plain division, before taxes, interest and fees, not an offer from any carrier. For comparison, here’s what the carriers are charging for the Duo right now.
Telus also wants the same flexibility for tablets and smartwatches, so an iPad or Apple Watch could be financed over a longer term too.
There is a catch, and Telus says so itself. Longer financing only works if carriers can charge an early cancellation fee past month 24. That means leaving for another carrier could cost you for longer. And as a carrier, Telus has its own reasons to ask for this.
Nothing is decided yet. The CRTC’s public hearing on the codes starts November 30 in Gatineau. The same Telus filing also asks the CRTC to scrap the $100 roaming cap.
By month 48, Apple will have released four new iPhones. Would you sign up for a four-year plan to pay less each month?
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