Back in 2008, I wrote an article about the best prepaid wireless providers in Canada.  My spouse and I were both low volume users, so a prepaid wireless plan made sense to help keep costs low. Since 2008 however, I changed to an employer that provided a cell phone as a perk.  So all we really needed was a phone for my spouse who only wanted a phone to make occasional calls, and the odd text message.  We ended up choosing PC Mobile and have been using their “anytime plan” ever since.

Prepaid wireless providers have changed over the years from offering only “anytime plans” where you pay by the minute/text, to “monthly plans” with a set monthly fee for higher volume users.

Prepaid Anytime Plans

Back in 2008, the prepaid wireless “anytime plan” landscape looked like this:

Company	$/Min	LD$/Min	Refill / Expiry (days)	Text out	Text in	Free Incoming VM	SAF?	Auto Top Up?
7/11	$0.20	$0.30	$25/365, $50/365, $75/365, $100/365	$0.05	$0.05	Yes	No	No, Store only
Bell	$0.30	$0.40	?	?	?	?	$3.95	?
PC Mobile	$0.20	$0.25	$25/60, $15/30	$0.15	Free	Yes	No	Yes
Petro Canada	$0.20	$0.10	$20/180, $50/180, $75/180, $100/365	$0.05	$0.05	Yes	No	No, Store only
Rogers	$0.40	$0.30	Minimum top ups /month	$0.15	Free	No	No	Yes
Telus	$0.25	$0.30	$10/30, $25/60, $50/60	$0.15	Free	Yes	No	Yes
Virgin Mobile	$0.30	$0.25	$100/365, $50/120, $25/90, $15/45	$0.15	Free	Yes	No	Yes

Today in 2016, the same companies look like this for “Anytime Plans” (no more SAF money grab):

Looking at the table, the fees can be quite steep for the occasional user, with the big boys Bell and Rogers being the worst.  PC Mobile is still very competitive with their fees of $0.20/min of voice and $0.15/text (Canada and US).  Petro Canada has the lowest cost for texting within Canada at $0.10/text, but their coverage can be a limiting factor.

The big providers offer much more value if you are willing to pay a set monthly fee.  More details below.

Prepaid Monthly Plans

Over the last couple years, our text and voice usage has been increasing on our anytime prepaid plan.  There are occasions where we use more than $15/month.  Since a number of prepaid monthly plans start at $15/month, I have been on the search for a plan to suit our needs.

Here is what I came up with as the best value prepaid monthly plans for a lowish volume user.  By lowish volume user, I mean some voice, at least 100 texts/month, and perhaps even some data usage.  One thing is to take notice are if there are any extra costs for picture and international messages but only if you use that feature.

1. Koodo 

Cost: $15/month (10% off monthly fee if you auto top-up monthly with a credit card)

What you get:

• Unlimited Text and Picture Messaging (international included)
• Caller ID/voicemail

Why I like it:

• Can add boosters for voice and data which never expire.  For example, pay $25 for 500 anytime Canada-wide minutes ($0.05/min) that you only buy again after you use them up (use double minutes for the U.S ie. $0.10/min).  For data, it’s $10/100MB; $20/500MB; $30/1GB and also never expires.    This is the ideal plan for a heavy text user but occasional voice and data user.

Notes:

• We will likely switch to this plan if we consistently cross $15/month.
• Koodo uses Telus towers, which means extensive coverage across Canada (comparable to Bell and Rogers).

2. Rogers

Cost: $120/year

What you get:

• 50 minutes of daytime local calling (for the whole year)
• Unlimited evening and weekend local calls
• $0.50/min for additional local minutes; $1/min for Canada wide and US calls
• Unlimited Canadian text messages
• $0.35/message for international text messages
• Caller ID/voicemail

Why I like it:

• Extremely low cost ($10/month) that includes some voice minutes and unlimited Canadian texting.

Notes:

• Great plan for extremely low voice users but heavy texters within Canada.  It can get pricey once the voice minutes run out.  Note that the plan does not include picture messages which cost $0.50/msg within Canada and $0.75/msg to international destinations.
• I big advantage of Rogers is the ability to roam (albeit at crazy high rates).

3. Petro Canada

Cost: $15/month for base plan or text a lot plan

What you get:

• Unlimited Canada wide Texting
• 25 Canada wide minutes (base plan)
• 100 Canada wide minutes (text a lot plan)
• Caller ID/voicemail

Why I like it:

• In the base plan, can add $5/100min; $10/200min; $15/300min; $40/1000min for voice and $10/100MB; $15/500MB; $25/1GB for data.

Notes:

• Pay extra for picture messages ($0.50) , US texts ($0.15), international texts ($0.35); long distance ($0.55/min)
• Coverage is less than other carriers, esp in NL.
• Any extras expire at end of month not when you use it all up.

4. Bell

Cost: $20.75/month

What you get:

• Unlimited Text and Picture Messaging (international included)
• 50 local minutes (extra min: $0.20/min, $0.50/min for long distance)
• Caller ID/voicemail

Why I like it:

• Middle of the road plan that provides all the texting you need (like Koodo) but adds a little bit extra for voice minutes ($5 for 50 min).  If choosing, I like the flexibility of the Koodo “booster” concept better.

Final Thoughts

For our purposes, I really like the Koodo “booster” concept as mentioned above.  The base plan covers all text message costs where picture and international messages are covered and voice and data minutes are covered by the booster packs that never expire.  This means that you only pay for what you use, rather than paying for minutes/data then having some left over and wasted at the end of the month.

Otherwise, I think the Rogers plan has a lot of merit or the very occasional voice user.  At $120/year, they offer significant value, but the costs can really creep up once you use up the 50 minutes of voice time for the year (or send picture/international messages).  The Petro Canada is a very good deal as well, but with limited coverage compared to Rogers/Bell/Telus/Koodo and with extra fees for picture/international messages.

I’m sure a lot of you have done a lot of research with cell phone plans.  What are your thoughts?  Which provider and plan are you with?