Hi Friends.

I am flying to calgary this week and will need a local pay as you go simcard.
My querys are:

1.Do you have O2 mobile phone network in Canada. so can i can still uuse my phone and just buy SIM.

2. Where can I buy a prepaid Sim card.

Many thanks.

The main providers of pre-paid cell phones are Rogers, Telus, Bell and Virgin and there are other companies by different names but owned by one of the larger companies such as Koodoo which is Telus owned.

I found this website that says to sell SIM cards for use in Canada.

http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?ID=LSIM-CA01

As far as I'm aware only Rogers use the same system as Europe and are the only provider that uses SIM cards, the others such as Bell use a different system that doesn't require SIM cards.

You'll find plenty of Rogers stores around but I think that the PAYG is different too. A friend has a Rogers PAYG phone and he has to pay $100 up front and that credit lasts a year.

It's not cheap to get a PAYG sim. Unlike in the UK where you can get one from the corner shop for a fiver, here you need to properly register and buy one from Rogers/Fido. There's a large connection/admin fee ($35) and all kinds of other subject to's etc which make it more hassle than it's worth.

There's only 2 networks that run on the GSM network - Rogers and Fido (who i think are owned by Rogers anyway).

As you can tell Canada is well behind the rest of the world when it comes to mobile phone technology

Hey I bought mine from the website that Jsmth321 suggested. When I went in to Rogers to enquire about a SIM card I was told I need to be an existing customer hmm?! Even tho my hubby has an account with them I decided just to get one through this website. You can buy top up vouchers at convenience stores and gas stations etc. $10 up to $100.

If you don't find PAYG works for you, I would recommend Koodoo.

Its a type of monthly contract, only you are committed to them, you can cancel anytime you want. Only catch is you have to buy the phone if you leave
The text and talk combo gives you unlimited texting and you can text internationally on it to the UK which is included in the $25 month fee. So long as the people in the UK are on O2, Vodafone, Orange or T-mobile you can text as much as you want.....its great at keeping in touch, I'm always texting family/friends at home. Using my Uk phone it cost 50p per text to text home so the Koodoo phone is saving me a lot.

Thought I'd just throw that one is as a option....

Good luck.

:thum bup:

Koodoo does do a credit check, so may not open a plan for a visitor, and the contract cancellation fee can be several hundred dollars to cancel early.

Contract would not be ideal for anyone just visiting or not wanting the phone long term.

(I am assuming the OP is visiting since they dont mention moving or living in Calgary.)

We got a Rogers Pay as you go sim, cost us $70 to begin with and we forever seem to be topping it up, unlike back home with 02 where £10 and 300 free messages would last for ages. Don't be too shocked when you discover you have to pay to recieve calls either...

Hi,
I brought a fido PAYG phone from Walmart, they have sim and are a subsidory of Rogers,usethe same network.Points to note!you have to pay for incomming calls as wellasout going although you can sign up and pay for a different tariff. unlessyou buy a certain amount of credit if you dont use it in a month it doesnt rollover!!!!! yes you lose it,however if you but $100 it last for a year before its lost.... i found it very expencive just on recieving callsand in the end signed up for a contract phone which even though i have sign up for 3 years! andambackin the uk it still works out cheaper!

I got mine from bell who aloud me to sign up with my passport and credit card, Telus wouldnt do it.I wouldhowever recommend Rogers as their phones have sims....

Fido is pretty straightforward. You can usually get some kind of promo when you buy a phone and card to get the amount you pay back in airtime so shouldnt cost more than a few bucks.
IIRC just the SIM card is $35 should you choose to use your own unlocked phone.

It will roam in the UK should you need it, but as far as I can tell will only work on vodaphone network here.

You don't need to register if you are happy with using top up vouchers. Ive had a few FIDO cards and they just stick the postcode for the shop on the form. There are no checks, ID etc etc.
If you want to use a credit card to top-up it is more hassle, and it needs to be Canadian issued with a Canadian address (in my experience).

True. However the advantage is that it only costs the same for someone calling a cell as for a landline (unlike the UK). I have unlimited calls to Canada from my UK landline so my wife was able to call my Canadian cell for free from her end, it was just costing me instead.

There is no contract with Koodo, you can cancel out at any time you want, just have to pay off the phone if you want to leave....thats the only catch, but I don't plan on leaving so its not a problem.
I think $25 for unlimited text messaging (including international texting) free calls after 7pm and weekends and 100 anytime minutes isn't bad. Its cheaper than my old contract back home......just a pain that I pay to receive a call, but thats standard practice here so gotta live with it.