Switching phone plans is free as of June 12. Here's how to do it without losing your number.

This Friday, June 12, 2026, it stops being legal for a Canadian carrier to charge you a fee for activating a new plan or moving to a new provider. We wrote about the CRTC ruling behind it last week. The short version: the $80 toll for switching is gone, but the ban doesn't pick a cheaper plan for you and it doesn't do the switch for you. The savings were always in choosing the right plan, and you still have to make the move.

So this post is the move itself. Switching carriers is less of an ordeal than most people expect. Your number comes with you. You don't phone your old carrier to break up with them. Most of it happens on the new carrier's website. Here's how to do it cleanly.

First, the one thing that still costs money

Before anything else, check whether you still owe money on your phone.

If you bought your device on a financing or instalment plan and haven't finished paying it off, the remaining balance comes due the moment you leave. That's not a cancellation fee and the ban doesn't erase it — it's the rest of what you owe for the hardware. Switch carriers mid-financing and that balance lands as a one-time charge on your final bill.

So step one is to open your carrier's app and find your device balance. If it's zero, nothing stands between you and a better plan. If it isn't, you have two choices: pay it off first, or factor it into the math before you decide the switch is worth it.

Before you switch: five minutes of prep

A port goes wrong in a few predictable ways, and all of them are avoidable.

Confirm your phone is unlocked. Since December 2017, the CRTC has required every phone sold in Canada to be unlocked, so this is almost never a problem anymore. If you bought your phone before then, ask your current carrier to unlock it — they have to do it for free.

Have three things ready. To move your number you'll need your phone number, your account number with your current carrier, and — if your carrier uses one — a transfer PIN. Some carriers now require this PIN as an anti-fraud step; you'll find it in the app or get it by calling in. Have all three in front of you before you start so you're not hunting mid-signup.

Do not cancel your current plan. This is the mistake that actually loses people their number. When you port your number to a new carrier, your old line cancels automatically as part of the process. If you cancel it yourself first, the number is released and you may not get it back. Leave the old account alone and let the port close it for you.

Pick the plan — this is where the money is

The ban removed the friction, not the decision. A free switch into a plan that's barely cheaper isn't worth your Friday afternoon. Two places to look before you commit:

1. Your own carrier's app, first. We say this in almost every post because it keeps being true: carriers park cheaper plans in their own self-serve catalog without telling existing customers. Open Plans → Change Plan and compare. Sometimes the right move isn't a port at all — it's switching to a cheaper plan you're already eligible for, in about 60 seconds, with the same number and no new SIM.
2. MVNOs and flanker brands on the same network. Public Mobile, Fizz, Lucky Mobile, Chatr and the rest run on the Big 3 networks at lower prices. "Same network coverage" generally means what it says, with some fine print on speeds and roaming worth reading.

One thing to watch on any new plan: promotional pricing with an end date. A plan advertised at "$34 for 24 months" becomes a different plan in month 25. Note the regular rate before you sign, not just the promo rate.

The switch itself, in about 15 minutes

Once you've picked the plan, the mechanics are quick:

1. Sign up with the new carrier and choose the option to bring your number — it'll be labelled "transfer your number," "port-in," or "keep my number."
2. Enter your number, your old account number, and your transfer PIN when asked. This is what authorizes the move.
3. Activate the SIM. An eSIM activates in minutes, right from your phone. A physical SIM means waiting for the mail or a store pickup, so order it a day or two ahead if you can.
4. Wait for the port to land. A number transfer usually completes within a few hours, and often a lot faster on an eSIM. Keep your old SIM in until your new line has signal and can make a call and send a text.
5. You're done. When the port completes, your old line shuts off on its own. You don't need to call anyone to cancel it.

Check your final bill

Your old carrier sends one last bill after you leave. Most of it is normal — a prorated charge for your final partial month, and your remaining device balance if you were still financing. Both of those are legitimate.

What is not legitimate, as of June 12: an activation or connection fee on your new line, a fee for changing your plan, or an early-cancellation fee where no subsidized device is involved. If one of those shows up, push back. Name the rule — CRTC Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-43 — and ask for it to be removed. If the carrier won't, that's a complaint to the CCTS, the telecom ombudsman.

Two more things to look at:

• Bundle credits. If your wireless line was bundled with home internet, porting the wireless out can quietly kill a bundle discount on the internet side. Check this before you switch — a $10/month bundle credit lost on internet can wipe out the savings from a cheaper phone plan.
• Autopay. Set up automatic payments on the new line if the plan earns a discount for it. On a lot of plans, autopay is the difference between the advertised price and a few dollars more.

If the hold time is the blocker, not the bill

Most of the work above is doable in an afternoon. But if your hesitation isn't the steps — if it's the device-balance math, the bundle question, or just not being sure which plan is actually the right one — that's the part we built Rightward for. The free audit reads your most recent bill, tells you whether there's a cheaper plan you should switch into, and flags whether you're mid-financing in a way that changes the calculation. No account, no fee.

Starting Friday, the carrier's last excuse for staying put is gone. The only thing left is picking the right plan and spending fifteen minutes.