As soon as I was under a roof, one of the most obvious things to do is getting a cellphone. A lot of people like to keep their home country number, but the truth is it is a new country. Local people, including the office, will need to call; friends and family can keep in contact thanks to social media.
Looking for the Right Cellphone Company
When I arrive, my boss told me to go to Rogers. Since I didn't have any references I took his advice. I wish I would do a little more research on this. Rogers' service was excellent but it was crazy expensive. The pay-as-you-go plan billed me for everything, sometimes I thought it was cheaper keeping the cellphone off. Later I found that Rogers had some packages (I ignore if it still has them), so by 30 $ (plus taxes), I was able to have 1 GB of data monthly without voice service.
Later I found Freedom, a new company that seems to give unlimited data and voice service for a monthly flat fee. The catch is that freedom doesn't support roaming and the signal was very weak. Because of this, when I went out of town I had no service at all, and in y own home (in the basement) I ran out of service frequently. So Freedom was not for me, it was more for those who do not get out of the city and they live in the urban area (close to the antenna).
Later, I found Fizz, the little brother of Videotron. Since then I have been a customer of Fizz. Because I was a beta user, there was a time I was paying 2 or 3 dollars monthly per cellphone line. Now, I pay a cheaper rate because I have been with them since the beginning. Where is the catch with Fizz? You need to be close to Quebec. So, because I was close to Quebec, this was the perfect cellphone company for me. Another thing I love from Fizz is that they reward you for many things, including new customers referral. If you want to get benefited from this, you can use my referral code https://fizz.ca/en?ref=UK9WT.
Some Things You Should Know About the Mobile Telephony in Canada
I will put some that come to my mind right away, please note that these are different things based on my home country, maybe your country has it already.
- There is no anonymity in a pre-paid phone. You cannot go and hire a cellphone line without giving your name.
- There are way too many companies with many plans, very difficult to compare. Some have a high price with all-inclusive, others will give you unlimited SMS, others voice, others data and a mix of them.
- Rates do not include tax.
- By law, all devices must be unlocked. If you have a Canadian locked device, you can request to unlock it (some may bill).
Good luck looking for your best cell phone company.