Situated on a vast prairie not far from the towering Canadian Rockies, Calgary has grown into Canada’s third-largest municipality—and with good reason.
The city boasts clean air (consistently topping lists of the the world’s cleanest cities), a rowdy cowboy character (see the city’s annual Stampede festival), and great professional sports (the Flames and the Stampeders).
Sure, the winter’s are cold—it’s not uncommon for it to snow all 12 months of the year here—but there’s plenty of fun ways to distract yourself in “Cow Town.” Plus, all that snow makes for world-class skiing nearby.
While not quite as world class as the skiing, Calgary also boasts generally solid cell phone coverage from Canada's major cell phone carriers. This means you'll have more options when it comes time to pick a plan. Read on to learn the ins and outs of coverage in Calgary.
Coverage in Calgary At-a-Glance
Winters may be cold in Calgary, but the cell phone coverage is not. Calgary earns a strong coverage score of 94 out of 100. Here's the coverage rundown for the entire province of Alberta.
What we love
- Rogers, Telus and offer great coverage in Calgary
- MVNOs that run on Rogers and Telus offer similarly excellent coverage
- 4G LTE widely available
What could be improved
- Coverage less reliable the further you travel from the city
- Freedom the weakest of the four networks by far
94/100
Carrier Network Coverage in Calgary
While no carrier's perfect, three of the major networks perform excellently throughout Calgary. This means you can join any of to get great coverage--or the multitude of smaller carriers that run on their networks.
Best Coverage in Calgary by Network
| Network | Covered Area % |
|---|---|
| Bell | 99.87% |
| Rogers | 99.82% |
| Freedom | 69.32% |
| Telus | 99.87% |
Cell Phone Coverage in Calgary by Area
The Calgary region encompasses 2,781 square kilometers and the most robust local carriers, Telus, Rogers and Bell, cover nearly all of it.
Geographic Area Covered in Calgary
Big Carriers vs. Small Carriers in Calgary
When choosing a cell phone providers, there's no need to limit yourself to the big companies. There are dozens of smaller carriers that run on the major networks, but charge a fraction of the price for service. Known as Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs for short), these carriers purchase network service from the major providers at wholesale prices, then pass the savings on to consumers.
Getting the Best Plan & Coverage
WhistleOut's industry-leading coverage check feature supercharges an already robust comparison engine by allowing you to instantly see what coverage is like at your location. Just punch in your address, and we'll do the rest.
In addition to showing you a map of your area with the coverage from all four major carriers, we filter through the available cell phone plans and present only those from carriers who provide good reception to you.
Cell Phone Carriers in Calgary
Here's the list of wireless carriers (big and small) in Calgary, and the network that each belongs to. Note that the smaller carriers—PhoneBox, Fido, etc.—utilize the networks of the major carriers.
| Carrier | Network | Available in Calgary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Mobility | Bell | Yes | |
| Chatr Wireless | Rogers | Yes | |
| Fido | Rogers | Yes | |
| Freedom Mobile | Freedom | Yes | |
| Koodo Mobile | Telus | Yes | |
| PC Mobile | Bell/Telus | Yes | |
| Public Mobile | Telus | Yes | |
| Rogers | Rogers | Yes | |
| SaskTel | Bell/Telus (Partner) | Yes | |
| Telus | Telus | Yes | |
| Videotron | Rogers (partner) | Yes | |
| Virgin Mobile | Bell | Yes | |
| 7-11 SpeakOut | Rogers |
Yes |
One More Thing: Using Public WiFi in Calgary
Calgary offers free WiFi in a variety of public spaces, including libraries, museums, and parks. Check out some of the places offering free WiFi below. This is handy when you want to save your cellular data.
- Devonian Gardens
- Olympic Plaza
- Shaw Millennium Park
- Foothills Aquatic Centre
- Murray Copot Arena
- North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre
- Shouldice Aquatic Centre
- Shouldice Arena
- Sire Winston Churchill Aquatic & recreation Centre
- Henry Viney/Stew Hendry Arenas
- Village Square Leisure Centre
- Stup Peppard Arena
- Wildflower Arts Centre
- Calgary Soccer Centre
- Ernie Starr Arena
- Inglewood Aquatic Centre
- Max Bell Centre Arenas
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