Best Cell Phone Company for travel in Canada

I have and used Verizon last summer. We added on a Canada extra for $15 a month, unlimited text and 1000 mins. We also used data at a rate of $25 per 100MB. We only used the data in an emergency to something while traveling. Most of the time we used the wi-fi, albeit very slow, in the campgrounds.

Coverage for the cell was mostly near the towns along the way. Supposed to be a new bunch of cell towers going in along the Alaska Highway. Not sure how the coverage will be or if it will be part of the Verizon sharing plan or not.

When we traveled to Canada I called Verizon and added international coverage for both cell phone and data (mi-fi). Once I returned to the states, I called and they took the international part off and prorated that month. Very fair price (not cheap). Great coverage while we were there (Banff and Lake Louise area).

Best coverage will be telus. Not up on prepaid though. Month to month with no contract, 60 bucks will get you unlimited anywhere in Canada with 4 gigs of data. You might have to ask for it though as we didn't see that plan on their site.

Just bring your phone and get a sim card when you are here. Using a US cell in Canada or vice versa is cost prohibitve for data.

While campground WiFi may not be available everywhere, most/all communities will have it available for free. A number of years back the Canadian Government put Wifi into every community from tiny on up. It is usually found in one of the town buildings be it the library, town hall, etc. normally works well in the parking lot outside. I can't remember ever going over two days without having Internet access.

Other places, such as schools, churches hotels/motels and other semi public facilities, tend to leave their WiFi running over their wireless routers 24 hours a day. If they don't want me and others using their connection in the evening they should shut it down when they go home. LOL
There is a fiber optic cable running along side the Alaska Hwy for most of the distance in Canada. But I understand the cost to businesses along the highway is somewhat pricy and most roadhouses only use it for their credit card machines, etc.
If I really needed a phone in Canada, I would just buy a prepaid burner at one of the outlets in Canada. We just turn our US phones off while in Canada and use the free WiFi available.

Hi,

The companies with the best coverage are Telus and Bell. They both have "discount" companies that they wholly own. Koodo for Telus and Virgin for Bell.

Prepaid data is not going to be cheap.

As usual some people are not paying attention.
Roy is from Australia asking about cell phones in Canada.
Giving out info on Sprint or Verizon is useless to him.

Sprint offers a Canadian add-on for $2.99 a month. Can be setup for only time you are traveling in Canada.

We just kept our cell phones off while traveling in Canada. Data is prohibitively expensive from U.S. carriers. We notified family that we would have our phones off and to send us email. We were able to check every day, finding wifi in mist if the campgrounds we stayed at, Only once did we have to go to a McDonakds to use their wifi.

$190 for phone and 100 minutes, surely there must be something less expensive.

Verizon offers a tack on for Mexico. 100 minutes for $15, good for a month, there's 100 texts and a little data included. I think they offer something similar for Canada....but you have to ask.