Ottawa - Post Report Question and Answers
Do you have any recommendations regarding mobile phones? Did you keep your home-country plan or use a local provider?
Many US plans include Canada roaming. Check yours before coming - Sep 2023
We use Fido, which has been fine. - Aug 2015
Verizon USA has a Canada/Mexico plan with 1000 minutes which was fine. - May 2014
Bell, Rogers, and Telus are the big ones up here. Many Americans keep their plans and add a "North America" plan. - Jul 2013
The embassy issues phones to officers. There are a variety of prepaid options and contract options available through the embassy, too. I have heard that you can get a U.S./Canada plan through AT&T or Verizon if you want to, but I just use Vonage for calling back to the U.S. - Jan 2013
There are little stores at the malls. They are a pain here just like in the States. Our son has a pay-as-you-go plan and it has worked out fine, though is not fancy. - Dec 2010
The embassy provides employees with a BlackBerry, and offers family members (at your personal cost) extra phones as part of their overall agreement with our service provider. The price for the personal phones seems to be pretty good. Otherwise, many companies offer pay-as-you-go phones and a wide array of plans. They tend to be extremely expensive, compared with U.S. prices, given the comparative lack of competition and the high exchange rate. - Aug 2010
Impoverished countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have better plans than we do! We are getting robbed because of the Rogers/Bell Canada Monopoly. The actual telecomms infrastructure is good and reliable. However, my iPhone 6GB plan costs me 70 bucks a month with voice and data combined...comparable to most other countries...again, you need to do some research to find deals comparable to normal wireless markets abroad. - Nov 2009
