Pre-Paid SIM Cards
 

I'm an Aussie travelling to Canada. I wonder if pre-paid SIM cards are available there as readily as they are here? I will have my own phone and just want to buy a $30 card for the few weeks I'll be in Canada.
Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks, Mac

Hi Mac123 - presume you're speaking of mobile phones. The short answer is maybe and the long answer is - well - long.

North America's GSM networks runs on a different frequency than much of the rest of the world. To work in Canada your GSM handset will have to be a so called "World Phone", also called "tri-band".

Even if you have that kind of handset, it's possible it will be "SIM locked" in other words, a Canadian carrier's SIM card won't work. (Do you know if you phone is locked?)

There's another major difference between Australia and North American mobiles - in Canada the mobile owner pays for outgoing and INCOMING calls - unlike Australia where you only pay for outgoing calls. If you were planning to use your mobile to receive a lot of calls be aware that will deplete your minutes.

Depending upon how much you need a phone, you can usually buy a prepaid package including the handset and about 30 minutes of calling for around $125 CDN, or you can rent the handset (I don't know how much that costs but most airports have mobile rental booths). Our major mobile providers are Bell (Ontario/Quebec) Telus, Rogers and Fido (all National).

Hope this helps.

Elizabeth's reply is excellent. To add a bit to it, only two of the 4 Canadian cellular companies have GSM networks, Microcell (Fido) and Rogers AT&T, so those will be the places to look for a pre-paid SIM. Rogers' international text messaging (SMS) service still does not work, but Fido's is good, so if messaging is part of your requirement, you are down to one provider.

Thanks Elizabeth and Ron. I think I'll be buying a phone card instead, much cheaper (not as convenient, but cheaper). Appreciate the advice and I had NO IDEA about Canadians paying for outgoing and incoming calls! Thanks for your help.
Cheers Mac

Just got back, microcell is ok, but signal is quite choppy, on and then off depending on the area in short if your a businessman not so reliable, and if your going to rockies, banff reception is ok but NO reception in jasper and lake louise.