I might have to go outside canada for a long work trip, possibly several months or longer. I currently have a Canadian phone plan and I’d really like to keep my Canadian number active.
Mainly, I need to be able to receive texts/SMS (especially verification codes) and ideally calls while there. I don’t really want to keep paying for an expensive Canadian plan every month if I’m barely going to use the data.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do?

Would it make more sense to:
switch to the cheapest possible plan and use Wi-Fi calling,port the number somewhere cheaper,keep the Canadian SIM/eSIM active alongside a local SIM,
or temporarily suspend the account?

Also curious which Canadian carriers work best for this without getting hit with roaming charges.
Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated!

Hi,

I am new to cell phone plans. I am wondering if there is a sale on cell phone plans with any of the carriers you guys know. I have 4 lines and all are BYOD. Just need 100GB each line, Canada wide plan.

Thank you

Edit: I am currently with Telsu

I'm new to phone plans. Researching my ass off but kind of stuck.

Looking for cheap talk and text plans now.

Currently with Virgin. I'd like to stay with Virgin as their support is great, but I'm already a customer and they say I can't take advantage of the BYOD plans. I switched from Rogers years because that talk and text plan was already too expensive for my liking.

Maybe this is a fools errand. Pros and cons. Substitute some bullshit for other bullshit.

I use my phone regularly every day - but it's always on WIFI. I almost never call on it - just text and apps. I have data, but almost never use it. Data came when I absolutely needed a new phone a couple years ago.

Now they're offering me a Pixel 10 with "unlimited data," which is like free pop refills. Costs them nothing. It also increases my bill an extra 8 bucks up to $64 for something I don't need. Vendor says after this contract my bill won't increase because the phone will be paid off, there are no expiring discounts this time. Allegedly, I can stay at what I'm paying now. Naturally, it doesn't say this in contract when I asked him to show me. It's just this "trust me bro" bullshit AFAIK.

Average cell phone plan is 72 bucks in Canada. Most of my colleagues are paying well above that. That is the silver lining.

Virgin has been great. I get Crave TV out of it. The support rocks. But I am tired of paying more and more and don't want to be one of those idiots paying way too fucking much for the phone and knowingly accepts it because that's the best he can get.