Local Community Advertising
If there was more competition, cell phone prices might be lower in Canada.
Instead, the market is dominated by Telus, Rogers and Bell and, as a result, Canadians are paying more for their cell phone bills than Americans.
For a 2GB data plan, American enjoy prices of less than $40 per month, while Canadians are pushing $50 per month, about 25% more.
Data from WhistleOut found that the lowest discrepancy in pricing between Canada and the United States is for phone plans between 4GB and 8GB of data, since those are the most commonly promoted Canadian plans.
When you get up to 10GB of data or more, however, the average monthly cost in Canada is $180 per month compared to just $72 per month in the U.S.
A National Post report from 2017 found that carriers in Canada price their plans high simply because they can and more competition would bring those prices down.
In Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, there is a strong fourth carrier and it results in lower prices in all three provinces.
Freedom Mobile is Canada’s fourth largest carrier, but it’s only been able to roll out limited coverage in parts of B.C., Ontario and Alberta.
To view WhistleOut’s entire report on Canada’s expensive cell phone plans, click this link.
Local Community Advertising