Before you start
- An unlocked handset
- Photo identification
- An Ontario address, for postpaid billing
- Consent to a credit check, or a deposit, or an immigration document instead
Step-by-step
- 1
Ask specifically for a newcomer postpaid plan
Carriers waive the credit check on presentation of a passport plus a work permit, study permit or PR card. That is the difference between paying a deposit of several hundred dollars and paying nothing. It is the immigration document that does it, not the passport — bring both.
In personWho: YouWeek 1 - 2
Start on a flanker brand if you have no credit file and no permit yet
Public Mobile, Fido, Koodo, Chatr and Virgin run on the same networks as their parent carriers with a lighter or no credit check. Across the built-up part of London the practical coverage difference against the premium brands is negligible.
OnlineWho: You - 3
Get quotes from the independent internet resellers, not only the incumbents
The CRTC's wholesale framework lets independent providers sell service over the incumbent cable and fibre networks, and southwestern Ontario has an unusually active set of them. The service is the same physical line; the price and the customer service are often better. Check what is available at the exact civic address before you assume a package.
OnlineWho: You - 4
Check coverage and fixed internet against the actual civic address
London's municipal boundary reaches well past the built-up area into farmland, and the surrounding townships start immediately beyond it. A cheap 'London' address can be a farmhouse with no fibre. Check the carrier's map for the specific address and ask what is physically installed before you sign a lease.
OnlineWho: You - 5
Bring your own handset rather than financing one
Device financing folded into a plan ties you to a carrier for two years at the moment you know least about the market. An unlocked phone keeps you month-to-month and free to move when a better offer appears.
OnlineWho: You - 6
Diarise the day every promotional rate expires, and time it around the student cycle
Canadian telecom pricing is heavily promotional and reverts without notice at term end, often by twenty or thirty dollars a month. Calling to renegotiate is entirely normal. In a university and college city the aggressive offers cluster around late August and early September, which is a good moment to renegotiate whether or not you are a student.
OnlineWho: You - 7
Keep a mobile data fallback for ice storms
Freezing rain and heavy squalls bring lines down across southwestern Ontario most winters and restoration in the rural fringe can take days. Anyone working remotely should have enough mobile allowance to actually work on, and should know that during a wide outage the mobile network degrades too as tower batteries run down.
Mobile appWho: You
Documents you’ll need
- Photo identification
- Work permit, study permit or PR card, for a newcomer postpaid plan
- Ontario address, for postpaid billing
- Banking details for pre-authorised payment
Things most newcomers don’t know
A postpaid plan is a credit product, and the immigration document is what waives the check.
This surprises almost everyone arriving from Europe, where a phone contract is simply a contract. Canadian carriers are extending credit and check for it, asking newcomers with no file for a deposit of several hundred dollars. Presenting a work permit, study permit or PR card under a newcomer plan removes it entirely. Carrying only the passport is the common mistake.
Source: Carrier newcomer plan terms
The flanker brands are the same networks at a much lower price.
Public Mobile runs on Telus, Fido and Chatr on Rogers, Koodo on Telus, Virgin on Bell. In the built-up part of London the practical coverage difference is nil and the price difference is often half. Newcomers arrive with a mental list of three carrier names and never discover the cheaper brands those same companies own.
Source: CRTC — wireless code of conduct
The independent ISPs are a real option here, not a fringe one.
Southwestern Ontario has an unusually established set of independent internet providers selling over the incumbent networks under the CRTC's wholesale rules — including one headquartered in London itself. The physical line is identical; what differs is price, contract terms and whether a human answers. Most newcomers only ever see the two incumbent brands advertised in the shopping centres.
Source: community-reported, consistently corroborated
Renegotiating at term end is expected behaviour, not cheek.
Canadian telecom is priced on the assumption that most customers will not call, and the gap between the promotional and reversion rates is where the margin lives. Retention offers exist and are given routinely to anyone who asks. Not asking is a quiet, permanent tax on your household budget.
Source: community-reported, widely corroborated
Common mistakes to avoid
- Signing a lease at the rural edge of the municipality without checking mobile and fixed internet at the exact address.
- Paying a postpaid deposit that a newcomer plan would have waived.
- Signing a two-year device financing agreement in your first fortnight.
- Never getting a quote from an independent provider on the same physical line.
- Arriving with a handset still locked to a foreign carrier.
- Letting a promotional rate revert silently and never calling retention.
- Having no mobile data fallback when an ice storm takes fixed internet down for days.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.
Make it your personal checklist
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Sources
- Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — official, Verified August 2026
- CRTC — wireless code of conduct — official, Verified August 2026
Last verified August 2026. Government processes change — always confirm critical details against the official source before acting.