Hello,

Can anyone offer advice on options for a Canadian PAYG SIM for a six week trip? It’ll be used in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Golden and Calgary.
I need a bit of data and calls, not so fussed about texts.

I’m assuming coverage is limited and I’ll have to find wifi anyway.

What to avoid is just as useful as what to go for. Do I just get the basic one from 7-eleven or wherever?

thanks
T

edit – already checked roaming charges, they are extortionate.

Found this really difficult when I lived out there- they really don’t do PAYG like we do!!

Best deal I found (a couple of years ago) was from Fido, but I still had to top up $10 a month to keep my number, otherwise my account simply shut down and I had no phone to make or receive calls. Hopefully the North Americans are more enlightened these days!

Yep, Canadian PAYG is pretty hopeless. I’ve tried Rogers and Virgin (runs on Bell Network). Both reliable but pretty extortionate by European standards, and good luck getting enough data included for anything more than the basics.

This is really useful:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Canada

You usually can’t top up online with an overseas credit card, and have to buy vouchers in store / gas stations etc.

Wish Canada was on 3’s “Feel at Home” list…

Currently using Public Mobile – Prepay and pretty cheap for Canada. You need a Canadian card or voucher to top up though for some reason.

Hopefully the North Americans are more enlightened these days!

Nope!
I live in Vancouver and I use Koodo. I pay $15 per month for my monthly access fee and unlimited texts. Additionally, I buy topup packages of airtime minutes and data which don’t actually expire.
I’ve been using this deal for about two years and it was pretty unusual at the time.
I don’t know whether it still exists so you’ll have to check their website but I find it’s the most economical package for me…just buy the appropriate topup amount you need.

I have no idea about any other PAYG deals though… I’m not exactly an expert in this area!

There are three main operators in Canada (Bell, Rogers & Telus) and each also has a “cheap” sister company (Virgin, Fido and Koodo) and there’s some other random companies which piggyback on the main cell network but there really isn’t that much competition. The headline prices may seem ok but by the time you add on all the extras (voicemail and caller ID for example) plus tax, it’s not cheap
Oh, and you pay for incoming calls. And calls are billed in whole minute increments….

Also tried & failed to make this work when I did a summer there – I had a spare phone but it didn’t work with the network signal.

I ended up relying on a lot of wifi, which thankfully was plentiful (Vancouver & Whistler).

Koodoo,chat’r and other start ups will be no use as, iirc, they keep rates low using the tower networks within city scapes. Once you move outside the city you are roaming onto the big boys networks and the big boys don’t play nice even with their subsiduraries
Fido/Rogers bell/virgin and Telus are you best options for wide coverage.
Payg next to useless so look at month to month prepay. $40 will get you 500min, unlimited Intl text and 500gb data. That’s on Fido.
Wifi when you stop for everything data intense and cache your map data.

Having just moved to Calgary – mobile contracts are crazy expensive!

Me and the Mrs both pay $60 a month each for Sim only deals on Fido. I guess the country is so big that the infrastructure isn’t there.

Might be better keeping your current sim and just doing everything on wifi if possible.

I guess the country is so big that the infrastructure isn’t there.

That’s being charitable…more likely the three main providers operate like a cartel…

Once you move outside the city you are roaming onto the big boys networks and the big boys don’t play nice even with their subsiduraries

Not strictly true. My Koodo works fine when roaming and I don’t pay any extra, may just be my package though

Thanks folks, advice appreciated, but the rates are pretty horrific.
Guess I’ll just have to suck it up. Koodoo looks promising, but I’ll double check coverage and network usage in the mountains too.

I bought a 7-eleven SIM in the shop in Vancouver airport; I just wanted a local number I could be contacted on, without getting into roaming. I think it was $15, plus $20 of credit, or thereabouts. The SIM works fine in my Z3.