Canadian phones in Mexico

Canada is known to have very high cost cell phone plans. We are quite used to paying close to $100 a month for cell phone plans that include unlimited calling, texting and enough data to meet our needs. Coverage is typically good for these full service plans and it’s hard to imagine not having good access. With limited options we just grumble and bear the cost.

But this high cost does not provide for usage once you leave Canada. Unlike US plans that allow phone use in US/Canada/Mexico, once you leave home the costs escalate further. To have your phone continue to function as it does at home costs $12 per day in the US or $15 a day in Mexico. We can grin and bear it for a few days but longer than that I typically just put my phone on airplane mode and only connect when wifi is available.

However, with more frequent and longer trips to Mexico now and in the future we decided to do something about the phone situation. It turns out that with the right advice and direction, it is actually quite simple and blessedly inexpensive!

After a cab ride to TelCel and a few minutes wait, we were speaking to a representative who immediately started the process of issuing us a new SIM card and Mexican phone number, using our existing phone. She sent us to a cashier where we paid 79 pesos ($6) for the new card and activation, and 200 pesos ($14) for a 30 day plan that includes unlimited calling including Mexico, US and Canada, unlimited texting, and 4 GB of data. So for $20 Canadian we were set up and ready to go in about 10 minutes. We only pay for the months we need, and reactivate the phone online before we return to Mexico next year, keeping the same phone number.

So far so good, as we placed and received our first calls before we even left the building! Now if only we could get a Canadian plan for $14 month!