US phone # in Canada

July 23, 2017 2:44 PM

My partner is looking for a way to get her US phone number to work in Canada for the next 4 months or so. Verizon is no help, unless she pays $5/day. We've considered call forwarding etc, but can't figure out the best option. Any experience with this?
posted by transient to Travel & Transportation (10 answers total)

Is she on a contract with Verizon? I have to say, $5 roaming in Canada *per day* is really insane. She might just want to switch to a carrier that offers a more affordable roaming plan.

I am not sure if call forwarding would still require your phone to work in Canada or not -- I am guessing that the phone will need to be able to connect to cell towers to forward the call, in which case you'd still need international roaming. If not, however, and it will be forwarded before if even gets to her cell, then you could just set up a free Google Voice number or Skype number to get her calls. The thing is, cell phones and cell plans in Canada are more expensive in comparison to what we're used to in the U.S.
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:46 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Many T-Mobile plans include calls and text to/from/in Canada and Mexico. I'm pretty sure T-Mobile wouldn't be happy if she's living in Canada, but if she's traveling to Canada frequently it might work.
posted by hoyland at 3:48 PM on July 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Is this a landline? A mobile number should just work in Canada. If it's a land line get a T-mobile cell phone and forward the number to it.
posted by COD at 4:03 PM on July 23, 2017

Best answer: Verizon has various international plans. The $5/day one lets you use all your minutes and data, but there are much cheaper alternatives, if you're willing to use the phone sparingly (or will have frequent WiFi access). For example, there is a $25/month one that gives you 500 minutes of talk and 1GB of data in Canada. If your partner need massive amounts of minutes and data, then she might consider getting one of the cheap Verizon international plan, just to know when folks are trying to call her, and then get another phone in Canada with a local plan to do the heavy lifting.
posted by epimorph at 7:17 PM on July 23, 2017

Response by poster: She'll be in Canada and is currently on contract with Verizon. It's a mobile number, but it doesn't work internationally; service basically blinks out at the border.

Thanks epimorph, that's useful info; they weren't able to put her on the $25/month one but we're still working on that! Maybe switching to another carrier is a good idea.
posted by transient at 8:13 PM on July 23, 2017

Best answer: My mom lived in Canada for something like 5 years on that Verizon international plan. Sometimes the clowns at the Verizon store or the online site can't get you that deal, but perhaps a real person can over the phone. I use T-Mobile to travel seamlessly between countries (and it works in Europe, too). But breaking a Verizon contract sucks if you haven't gone month-to-month. She could possibly pick up a T-Mobile phone on a pay-as-you-go basis (contract-free) and port her Verizon number to the T-Mobile phone for the time being. Not sure what the rules are with phone numbers and pay-as-you-go, though.

The other option might be Google Voice plus Canadian PAYG smartphone with data. Use the Google Voice app and skip the sucky voice plan stuff altogether.
posted by Miss T.Horn at 9:11 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have used a US-based T-Mobile account and (more recently) a Cricket account in Canada and Mexico for months at a time. It is seamless, with data at full speed, and no increase in the bill.

The good: T-Mobile will pay your early termination fees under many circumstances (cite), so the Verizon contract may be less of a problem then you think.

The bad: Verizon is a far superior carrier to T-Mobile in the US.
posted by toxic at 9:59 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

I travel globally and I'm on TMobile because they have such great international data plans, and as others have said they treat Canada and Mexico the same. I have had no problem with them as a provider; there may be places where Verizon is better but none of the places I've been.
posted by rednikki at 10:47 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'd probably just get a cheapest-tier plan sim card from e.g. Koodo or Wind, and forward calls from the Verizon account to that one for the duration.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:00 AM on July 24, 2017

My Verizon plan lets me roam in Canada for $2 a day, all services exactly the same as in the U.S. Perhaps call Verizon back and ask WTF? I use it regularly so I know it's not a glitch.
posted by Capri at 10:54 AM on July 24, 2017 [1 favorite]