Canadians pay some of the highest rates in the world for phone coverage. Many of us get quite stressed and frustrated when the cell phone bill arrives each month.
Obviously, we can’t and won’t give up our phones altogether. But all the data required to cover our emailing, texting, surfing, and social media posting adds up way too fast and amounts to way too much.
Although we can’t do anything to change the price of the phone companies’ data plans, there are other ways we can save money on the monthly cell phone bill.
We’ve come up with a few sneaky and not-so-sneaky ways to help Canadians save.
1. Negotiate a better deal for your cell phone bill
One of the most valuable ways to cut your cell phone bill is to negotiate.
Keep in mind that negotiating for a lower bill typically only works for long term post-paid customers. Prepaid prices tend to be relatively fixed because customers don’t have contracts, are often light users, and tend to stick to relatively cheap, no-frill plans to begin with.
When negotiating for a lower rate, review your current cell phone bill and see what you’re paying for.
Do some research to see what competitors are offering. If they offer a comparable plan at a cheaper rate, use that information to your advantage.
When calling customer service to negotiate a lower rate you’ll want to speak to a customer retention agent, but this usually isn’t the first person you speak to.
Make sure you are polite and have a specific goal in mind. Mention any aspects of your situation that have benefited the company, such as being a long-time customer, always paying your bills on time, and having no past issues with customer service.
If you mention you’re willing to switch to another provider because of the rates you’re paying – be fully prepared to do that in case you’re not able to get the deal you’re after. Plus, it adds significant authenticity to your claim.
2. Ditch the cell phone bill and switch to prepaid
Another option for lowering your cell phone bill is to switch to a prepaid plan. You won’t need to undergo a credit check, there’s no recurring monthly bill, and no long-term commitments necessary.
How prepaid cell phone plans work
With prepaid plans you pay for your service ahead of time, eliminating the possibility of extra charges popping up at the end of the month.
Prepaid rates can be less than postpaid if you use your minutes and data consciously. Most companies offer a basic plan, such as unlimited texting, for a small monthly amount.
On the other hand, Koodo Mobile offers “boosters.” These can add extra texts, talk-time, or data to the prepaid plan you’ve already paid for. Once added, the boosters don’t expire with your base plan. The unused minutes, texts, or data is carried over every 30 days until they run out.
This is the best value for your money since it means you only pay for what you use and what you don’t use gets carried forward each month.
What’s the cost?
A base plan of $15 usually gets you these features:
- between 75 and 100 talk minutes,
- unlimited texting, and
- no data.
Bumping up to around the $30 mark will usually get you these:
- unlimited talk minutes,
- unlimited texting, and
- between 500MB and 1GB of data.
3. Save on your cell phone bill when travelling
If you’re not a big traveller, or if the COVID-19 restrictions have made you forget, international roaming charges are laid when you travel outside of Canada and your phone connects to a network within the country you’re visiting.
Even though roaming costs for cell phones have come down in recent years, the rates offered by phone companies to their Canadian customers are still expensive when compared to those of other countries.
It used to be all too easy to rack up exorbitant roaming charges, but Canadian cell companies seem to have changed their ways. At least, some have.
Instead of having to pay a huge sum for a roaming package, companies like Freedom Mobile, Fido, and even Bell now have a selection of more reasonably priced packages. And there’s also a per-day option, where you can simply send a text to add roaming abilities for just 1 day.
This can be very convenient if you’re fine with mostly using Wi-Fi on your trip, but randomly find yourself without a connection one day.
What’s the cost?
Here are some of the cheapest roaming packages available right now:
| Bell | Telus | Fido | Freedom Mobile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $10/day | $13/day | $14 | $8 |
| Applicable travel areas | * U.S. * Puerto Rico * U.S. Virgin Islands | * Most areas outside Canada and the U.S. | * Most areas outside of Canada and the U.S. | * Mexico and parts of the Caribbean |
| Features | * Access to the data from your monthly plan * Unlimited outgoing calls within the country and back to Canada * Unlimited texting | * Access to the data from your monthly plan * Unlimited calling * Unlimited texting | * Use the minutes, texts, and data from your regular monthly plan | * Unlimited outgoing calls within the country and back to Canada * Unlimited texting * Extra data (limits not specified) |
4. Bring your own phone and choose a provider for your cell phone plan
One of the biggest advantages of buying your phone outright with no contract is that you can choose a service provider.
Unfortunately in Canada, there isn’t as much competition as other countries and the cell phone market is dominated by The Big 3 – Bell, Rogers, and Telus.
All of The Big 3 companies have similar pricing and different plans based on usage, but the real savings come from choosing a smaller, more competitive company.
Alternatives to The Big 3
Companies like Koodo, Fido, Freedom Mobile, and all offer plans that are different (and sometimes cheaper) than The Big 3.
Koodo is owned by Telus and Fido belongs to Rogers Communications, which means the network coverage for both of these companies is top notch. These 2 offer much cheaper plans than their parent companies, though.
Shaw Communications owns Freedom Mobile – formerly known as Wind Mobile – and is a close competitor for The Big 3. Since Shaw purchased then-Wind Mobile in 2016, the overall coverage, data speeds, and support services have improved considerably.
Eastlink began as a cable company in Nova Scotia, eventually expanded into the high speed internet market, and now offers mobile phone coverage as well. They’ve expanded to offer coverage across the country and their rollover data feature is a great perk.
Keep this in mind
One of the downsides of choosing a smaller provider is that they may not carry the phone you want. So if you’re absolutely set on getting a specific phone, then you’ll want to make sure it’s available first.
Fortunately, it’s free and pretty easy to unlock phones now, so you can bring just about any phone you want whenever you switch providers.
Another downside to smaller providers is that the network coverage may not be great. Companies like Koodo and Fido that are owned by larger corporations are a safe bet for coverage, but you’ll want to check the coverage maps for most other mobile service providers.
5. Choose the right cell phone plan for you
After you have your phone and you’ve chosen a service provider, the next step is to choose the right plan.
You want a plan that fits your needs, meaning you’ll only pay for what you actually use.
Many plans offer a ton of minutes every month, but will you actually use your phone for voice calls? You can use your data to make voice calls instead of using actual voice minutes, or even switch to using magicJack Canada for your calls.
Other plans offer lots of data, but will you actually use that much?
Here are a few things to consider:
- Where will you use the phone? If you’re using it in an area that has Wi-Fi hotspots, you’ll likely be fine with less data.
- Will you call or text? If you’ll be calling rather than texting, you’ll want more minutes, but won’t need unlimited texting.
- How often do you travel? If you plan on using the phone when travelling, make sure you understand what the costs will be.
Final Thoughts
The easiest way to save money on your cell phone? Find a plan that works for you.
By choosing a smaller service provider (other than The Big 3), you can take advantage of lower rates. You can save even more by switching to prepaid.
If you’re stuck in a contract with The Big 3, consider calling them to negotiate a better rate.
Always make roaming arrangements before travel, or at least check to see that you can switch to some kind of roaming plan while you’re away.
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$25 GeniusCash + Delicious meal choices with fresh ingredients + Front-door delivery.Question For You
What are some of the ways you’ve slashed your monthly cellphone bill? Do you have any tips or tricks we’ve forgotten to mention?
Feel free to share any tips, tricks, or additional info in the comment section below.
FAQ
What is the average cell phone bill for one person?
To answer this question, it has to be broken down a bit. If you’re looking at prepaid plans, the average bill is between $30 and $40. For postpaid, most Canadians use between 2 and 5GB of data and their bills range from about $30 to $50.
How can I cut my cell phone bill in half?
First, you can try calling your service provider to switch to a different plan or negotiate a better price. Switching to a cheaper provider is a good option too, especially if you bring your own phone. If most of your charges are for roaming, find a company with better roaming rates, or simply keep your phone on airplane mode and use Wi-Fi while you’re away.
Why is my cell phone bill so high?
There could be many reasons for this. Maybe you’ve bought a new phone and the cost is being incorporated into your monthly bill, or you’ve travelled frequently and been charged for extra roaming. Check your account online or call your service provider to get more detailed information.
What makes a cell phone bill go up?
Roaming charges are one of the biggest reasons for an increase in your bill. And if you buy a new phone, that cost is usually split into monthly payments that are added to your usual bill. Do a detailed study of your bill to see where these charges are coming from and contact your service provider to find cheaper solutions.
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Comments
The data alert is definitely a good tip! Fido sends them out automatically, which is nice.
Surprised they wouldn't just give you a new SIM at the store - that stinks.
I used to do this with PC Mobile. $100 top up for 365 days. It's a great deal if you can limit your usage properly.
Data is the biggest money-maker for the cell phones companies these days so avoiding it will definitely save a lot of money.
I used to do the WiFi hopping thing myself, but I found it got harder and harder to do over time and I wasted a lot of time looking for an open connection when I would rather be focusing on other things. Being a blogger, having an internet connection on my phone all the time is super useful. We managed to get a FIdo plan that costs $29/mth a couple of years back that gives plenty of talk/text + 600MB of data every month. It was only available in Atlantic Canada at the time when Fido launched here. Haven't seen much better since, but I haven't been looking too hard either because I'm happy with what I have.
I've heard lots of positive things about Speak Out over the years - glad to hear they are still going strong.
$60 pear year is a pretty good deal for a bare bones kids plan. I assume that unused balance carries over to future months like most prepaid plans?