Canada Is Comparing Phone Bills Across The Country & Quebec Is Winning

How much do you pay for cell service? Is it a lot? Cell phone costs in Canada are being compared by the government and Quebec is winning. Data plans are less expensive there than anywhere else in the country.

The federal government is tracking the cost of phone plans in every province and on July 28, the first data from that endeavour was published.

It covers 2 GB to 6 GB data plans from February to June of this year from the three major wireless providers in Canada (Bell, Rogers and TELUS) and their brands.

All the information is based on prices that are advertised on company websites each month.

When it comes to the lowest 2 GB data plan, Quebec comes out on top.

Fido, Koodo and Virgin all had prices for those plans at $35 this year.

Canada has outlined a 25% reduction in costs for data plans to be done over the next two years and that's the only place and only plan where the target has been met in the entire country.

That target was actually met in the province before January 2020.

Even without meeting the target for the 4 GB plans, the price of those in Quebec is still the lowest in all of Canada at $45 across all the providers.

Also, that price had been lowered before January, just not by 25%.

For every province in Canada, the 25% reduction for 2 GB plans would be $37.50.

It would be $41.25 for 4 GB plans across the telecom companies.

There wasn't enough information about the costs of the other data plans from February to June for the government to say what the reduction would be and if the target has been met in some provinces.

This price monitoring will continue and the data will be updated every three months.

Bell, Rogers and TELUS have been told to offer plans that range from 2 GB to 6 GB for 25% less over the next two years.

The government hopes that will reduce costs for Canadians and increase competition.

If these telecom companies don't offer cheaper plans, the government will look at other ways to reduce prices.

During the 2019 federal election, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had said his government would put a price cap on cell phone plans to make them more affordable.

He had claimed at the time that Justin Trudeau's government had been lobbied by telecom companies which had driven up costs.