Canadian Party Policies on Cell Phone Plan Reform (Election 2019)

By Stephen Clark

Last updated 21 October 2019

Text Canadian Party Policies on Cell Phone Plan Reform over image of a voting ballot displayed on a smartphone

In this Guide

Every Party's Cellular Platform
Looking Closer At Policies
Questions For Candidates
Get A Cheaper Cell Plan

Article Summary

Updated October 21. Today is Election Day! Get out and Vote! We look at the policies put forward by the Liberal, NDP, and Green Parties and dig into what changes each policy can make in making Canadian lives more affordable. We also look at potential changes by those who have not included cell phone affordability in their mandate.

The 2019 Federal Election is in full swing, and every political party is releasing their platform to be elected. Canada is a diverse country filled with unique experiences and priorities. Most policies are divisive and lead to a clash of ideals.

Besides complaining about the weather, few topics make Canadians feel more united than a demand for more affordable cell phone plans. Canada has some of the highest data rates for mobile plans in the world, and average prices can even change from province-to-province. WhistleOut's own research has found that Canadians spend between 15%-40% more than our American neighbours on cell phone plans.

While nearly every Canadian agrees prices must be made more affordable, there are different opinions as to the best way to solve the problem.

Every Party's Cell Phone Plan Platform

As of summer 2019, there are six political parties with seats in the House of Commons and all of them will be trying to earn your vote by October 21, 2019. Here are each of their solutions (if any) based on their public platform.

Not every Party has released their full platform, or final details on if or how they would legislate the Wireless Industry to bring down prices. Where platforms have been provided, they are listed below. Where the Party has made official statements, that has been noted before listing their solution.

Note:
Some Parties did not release a platform including telecom afforability. Where platforms or statements have been provided, they are included below.

Last updated: October 21, 2019

Liberal Party of Canada Wireless Plan Platform

As part of their platform to make life "more affordable" for Canadians, the Liberal Party of Canada have released details of how they would tackle wireless plan pricing:

"Work with" the national carriers to provide plans closer in price to global averages. It's not clear if this would include price caps, but the wording would indicate it does not.
Open the market to qualified MVNO carriers
Make it easier for new wireless providers to enter the market with 5G spectrum auctions
Revisit Cell Phone Plan Pricing after two years, potentially make it even easier for MVNO's to compete

Note: Numbers provided by the Liberal Party of Canada for a family of four show savings of 25%, or almost $1,000 per year with these. These numbers come from data spanning back almost five years, so 25% is easily accomplished since prices have already moved down about 12.5% just in 2019.

Conservative Party of Canada Wireless Plan Platform

Criticizing the Liberals for doing little to improve cell phone plan pricing over since taking office in 2015, the Conservatives may choose bypass industry regulations altogether. Solutions the party leader Andrew Scheer have discussed include:

Tax rebates for Canadians (unconfirmed)

National Democratic Party of Canada Wireless Plan Platform

Led by Jagmeet Singh, the NDP has released details of their election platform including Wireless Industry reform. While slim on details about how they intend to accomplish these changes, they have launched a web page with some info on how the NDP plan to make cellular plans more affordable:

Price caps on cell phone bills
Mandatory basic plans from every carrier
Mandatory unlimited data plans from every carrier
Creating a Telecom Consumers' Bill of Rights
Selling airwaves spectrum to benefit Canadians

NDP Canada Statement on Cell Phone Plans

New Democrats know that Canadians count on cell phones to keep us connected wherever we go – but too many Canadians are struggling to afford them. We pay some of the highest prices for cell phones in the world. At the same time, Liberal and Conservative governments have let the five biggest telecom companies rack up enormous profit margins. Canadians deserve better, and New Democrats are ready to make life more affordable.

We’re in it for you - we want to end gouging with a price cap for cell phone bills set at the global average. We’ll also make sure that all providers offer an affordable basic plan for Canadians looking for a budget option, and we’ll require companies to offer unlimited wireless data options at affordable rates. Finally, we’ll introduce a Telecom Consumers’ Bill of Rights to protect Canadians from unfair sales and services practices.

For more information, you can contact us at [email protected].

Bloc Québécois Wireless Plan Platform

The Bloc Québécois and new leader, Yves-François Blanchet, have not released an official platform for the 2019 election yet. WhistleOut Canada will update this section if they have a statement about the Wireless Industry and cellular plan rates.

Green Party of Canada Wireless Plan Platform

Once considered a one-topic party, the Greens led by Elizabeth May have run a full slate of candidates and a complete platform in every federal election since 2004. For the 2019 election, the Green Party of Canada has made disruption in the telecommunications industry a part of their election strategy. A petition for the Federal Government to make cell (and internet) service more accessible for Canadians is on their website, along with details of how they plan to ensure more affordable cell phone plans:

Ensure affordable plans are available for everyone
Open the industry to new Canadian companies
Introduce legislation to make it easier for new companies to compete

Green Party of Canada Statement on Cell Phone Plans

It’s time to close the digital divide. Green Members of Parliament (MPs) are concerned that the regulatory structure governing cellular and internet service results in Canadians paying much higher fees than people in other countries.

The Green Party believes that access to the internet is a key part of both a Green economy, and important infrastructure that, for some, can be their only access to resources for school, jobs, banking, and other critical services. Reliable, affordable, cellular connectivity and high-speed internet infrastructure is as essential today as power and telephone lines were early last century.

To make sure all Canadians have access to this critical infrastructure, Greens will amend CRTC regulations. These amendments will:

Increase competition in the provision of cellular and internet services to consumers;
Bring in antitrust legislation to prevent telecom monopolies, as Australia has done; and,
Mandate affordable cell phone plans.

Thank you for your continued advocacy on this issue.

People's Party of Canada Wireless Plan Platform

Elected in 2015 as a Conservative, Maxime Bernier represents the only seat for PPC in the House of Commons. Their platform has not been released. Policy topics so far have been very narrow and they have not discussed Telecom Industry reforms or making cell phone plans more affordable for Canadians. However, as a candidate for Conservative Party leader in 2016, Maxime Bernier called for:

Phasing out the CRTC (unconfirmed)
Opening the industry to foreign competition (unconfirmed)

A Closer Look at Policies

While almost every party has their own unique strategy to combat cell phone plan pricing, there are some common policies supported across party lines.

Caps on Cell Phone Plan Prices

Supported by: Liberals, NDP

Since this summer's launch of competitive large and unlimited data plans from Rogers, Bell and Telus, the average price of these plans have come down significantly but they're still more than 30% higher than similar plans in the US.

Caps on cellular bills will save Canadians an average of $10 per month but it's not clear how these caps would be implemented or how they would affect the industry.

Mandatory Data Caps and Unlimited Data Plans

Supported by: Liberals, NDP

Before this summer, only three carriers in Canada (SaskTel, Freedom Mobile and Chatr) offered unlimited data plans. Only Koodo blocked data overages by automatically stopping all mobile data transfers once you hit your monthly data capacity, or "data cap". Today, all three major wireless carriers (Rogers, Bell and Telus) offer unlimited data plans and the number of carriers locking out downloads when you hit your cap is increasing.

Low data caps and data overage charges continue to make most Canadians nervous. Even if you've never gone over your cap, most of us think twice about downloading a large file or watching YouTube while on mobile data.

Having recently switched to an unlimited data plan,
I can confirm there's no feeling like travelling across Canada
and never stressing out about how much data I've used.

Introducing legislation to eliminate surprise data overage fees will take that stress off the shoulders of every Canadian.

Requiring all carriers to offer unlimited data might increase the competition and bring down average prices for that type of plan. Forcing low-cost and discount carriers to offer unlimited data plans can also drive up the price of all their packages (including Talk and Text plans). However, Chatr and Lucky Mobile are both discount carriers that offer unlimited throttled data overages yet their cheapest plans are only $15/month, so it is possible.

Canadians have a lot of questions about these plans. WhistleOut Canada has information about how unlimited data plans work in Canada, and who currently offers the best unlimited data plan.

Legislation for Affordable Plans

Supported by: NDP, Green Party

There aren't a lot of details about what legislation would look like around affordable and mandatory base plans. Every carrier already offers Talk and Text plans without data but some start at $30/month. Legislation could help put a lower the price on such plans.

In the meantime, you can use WhistleOut's search tool to help you find the cheapest plan. Some plans include fixed minutes per month and are cheaper than unlimited talk and text.

#1	Videotron	Videotron 65GB All-Inclusive Cell Phone Plan Unlimited data Deal: Holiday Offer! Waive the $50 activation fee when you subscribe to a mobile plan with data + Get $10/mo. off when you bring your own device $5/mth + $50 Upfront Go	$5/mth + $50 Upfront	Go
#2	Fizz	Fizz Unlimited Minutes & Text Messaging Plan No Data Included $12/mth + $5 Upfront Go	$12/mth + $5 Upfront	Go
#3	Freedom Mobile	Freedom Mobile $30 4G LTE 10GB CA-US plan 10GB at 4G LTE speeds up to 100Mbps Deal: Limited-time Offer! Get $15/mo. off for 6 months with new activations on this plan + $5/mo. credit for your next 12 months $15/mth + $45 Upfront Go	$15/mth + $45 Upfront	Go
#4	Public Mobile	Public Mobile $15 Unlimited Canada-Wide Talk + Text + 250MB 250MB at 4G speeds up to 100Mbps Deal: Receive $0.75/mo. in points value with Public Points + Get a FREE eSIM or $5 off on a physical SIM with new activation on this plan $15 + $5 Upfront Go	$15 + $5 Upfront	Go
#5	Bell	Bell Talk & Text 30 No Data Included $20/mth Go	$20/mth	Go

Increased Competition and MVNO's

Supported by: Liberals, Green Party

About 90% of Canadians with cellular service use Bell, Rogers and Telus or one of their sub-brands. The question isn't so much about whether there's collusion or an oligopoly but simply whether more competition could help.

Allowing new mobile providers to come in has one big challenge: coverage. Canada is the second-largest country by size. Although most of Canadians live in the largest dozen cities, providing cellular signal to every Canadian requires a huge investment in licencing and building cell towers. Smaller carriers like Freedom Mobile, SaskTel and Videotron build towers in regional areas then partner with the national networks for service elsewhere.

One alternative to building out a cellular tower network includes Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO'S).

What Is an MVNO?

MNVO's buy wireless service
wholesale from major carriers and
resell it as cheaper plans.

In Canada, nearly every MVNO is 100% owned by Bell, Rogers or Telus. This includes Fido, Koodo, Virgin Mobile, Chatr, Public Mobile, Lucky Mobile, Cityfone, SimplyConnect, and more. Canadians are given the appearance of competition without reducing the market dominance for these three telecoms.

Opening the market has been done before with very limited success. Just over a decade ago, the Canadian government enabled smaller companies to buy wireless spectrum (the radio channels cell phone companies need). These companies set up their own towers in order to increase competition. Two ran out of money and were bought out by larger carriers after failing to recoup their initial investments. The third was bought by Shaw (a smaller telecom), was rebranded as Freedom Mobile and now functions as Canada's fourth-largest carrier.

By opening the market to MVNO's, companies can enter the Wireless Industry without paying to install cellular towers. The upfront investment is less likely to bankrupt the company before they can turn a profit.

Open to Foreign Investment

Another way to avoid new carriers going broke to allow for foreign investors to enter the Canadian market. This carries a couple risks.

Bell, Rogers and Telus employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Foreign investors with deep pockets can artificially lower prices to undercut the incumbents.
Revenue collected by foreign investors may leave the country and not be reinvested in Canada for future development including better coverage and 5G.

In the short-term, opening the cellular market to foreign investment could significantly reduce cellular plan pricing. Over the long-term, a lack of investment in Canadian infrastructure could have damaging economic effects. Canada would also risk losing our status as one of the best mobile networks in the world.

Questions For Candidates

If you're like me, I usually can't think of anything good to ask when a political candidate knocks on my door. Having questions prepared in advance can help you to know if that candidate is the best one to represent your interests. Ask these questions to learn if a candidate reflects your values on cellular plan reform:

How would you make cell phone plans more affordable?
Would you make it easier for new carriers to compete?
Should new carriers stay Canadian, or would you open the industry to foreign investment?
Would you cap plan prices and how would that work?
Should 3-year financing contracts be an option on new cell phones?
What risks do these policies have and how would you manage them?

Download a Printable Version of These Questions

WhistleOut Canada created a cheat sheet for you to use when a candidate or canvasser comes to your door. Download the WhistleOut Questions For Candidates Printable. It's perfect for keeping by the door and keeping track of answers about cell phone plan reform in Canada.

Preview of Questions to Ask Candidates Printable — Click to download a printable PDF of
WhistleOut Canada's Questions to Ask Candidates

For even quicker and easier access, you can add this page to your smartphone's home screen:

Android
- Tap the menu icon (three vertical dots) at the top-right of the screen; you may need to scroll up to see it
- Tap Add to Home Screen
- Tap Add, and you'll be ready for any candidate that you meet
iPhone
- Tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen
- Tap on Add to Home Screen
- Pick a name for the link and tap the Done button

What Are Your Questions?

Those are the questions we at WhistleOut think help us understand what policies a federal candidate supports, and how they plan to implement them.

What questions do you have about cellular plan reform? Let us know in the comments below. Keep it on the topic of the telecommunications industry and please keep conversations civil.

Get A Cheaper Plan Today

The election is coming in October and the new government's budget will land early in 2020. If you're spending too much on your monthly plan then WhistleOut's mobile plan search tool helps you compare similar plans across more than a dozen Canadian carriers. Our guides help you unlock your phone for free, move your phone number to another carrier, and find the best cell phone deal with every carrier.