Canada’s Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is removing the fees for changing or cancelling internet and cellphone plans.
In an announcement posted on Thursday, the CRTC says it is eliminating extra fees to activate, change or cancel a plan, giving consumers more flexibility to manage their plans and take advantage of better offers without the unexpected extra costs.
This decision was made after the CRTC held a public consultation following recent changes to the Telecommunications Act, and heard that fees can prevent Canadians from switching plans.
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“We are taking action to give Canadians more control over their Internet and cellphone services,” Vicky Eatrides, chairperson and chief executive officer of the CRTC, said in a statement.
“Today’s decision removes extra fees to activate, change or cancel a plan. This means that consumers can switch to a better deal without having to pay extra just to get the service that works best for them.”
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The CRTC said that in the coming months, it will make it easier for consumers to shop for, compare and choose the best telecommunications plan for them.
The CRTC created the Consumer Protection Codes, including the Internet Code and the Wireless Code, and said in a statement that Thursday’s changes strengthen those codes.
I just got an offer from Rogers…. (2026-03-21)
Lock in for 2 years, and my internet won’t increase from $122/month to $129/month, instead it’ll go down to $105 (savings of $17 from current). It felt like they were threatening to raise my rate if I didn’t go along.
I asked what happens if I cancel in 60 days.. and they said i would be billed $15/month times the number of remaining months (22).. i asked if that was a penalty and they said yes, i asked why it makes sense to do this, when they’d charge me $330 to make a change.. they said it was so i wouldn’t leave them.
Considering it’s Rogers fibre and I can’t sign up with anyone else (no one else in my area), why would they be doing this?
Isn’t this offer / practice that Rogers is offering going against the CRTC decision?
I guess the Rogers family will have to buy a smaller boat.
What about airline companies charging you for rebooking and cancelling flights with 7 or more days notice?
People shouldn’t be throwing their other complaints on the government into this discussion – stay on topic! Great that they finally did this – but it would be nice if the report actually stated explicitly that this voids fees to cancel contracts – not just cancelling service.
To those complaining about gouging for internet service – Novus is $55/month for gigabit internet – and some of us were able to lock in their Black Friday deal for two years – $40 per month. There IS completion for ISP’s out there.
Now stop them from overcharging and high roaming charges. The moment you buy your phone you are being gouged.
What about mortgage? Banking? Insurance fees? More important, what agency oversees the reduction of property tax, GST, HST, and income tax? I want a refund on these.
About time this happened since we have all been FORCED to lock into contracts that we could not cancel even when prices were dropping every month or year. More business abuse is coming up and I have noticed companies billing people for putting their utility bills on their credit cards. Not the bank charging the extra fee, the companies are. All because of all the mail strikes and not sure when the next one will hit and we do not want our bills being paid late – and having to deal with late charges.
Don’t know how to do this change my.phone hacked to many times police said don’t put.anything on my third phone and different numbers each time.plus ID
Was charged for them to.come and put different things for the internet from xplornet fiber don’t know why as a senior I have to pay 115 and some cent to them now every month for the service I feel it’s not fair for me to pay that much
What about cancelling auto insurance?
One thing they should put a stop to is providers raising prices even if you are under a two-year contract; they have it in fine print that allows them to do this. A contract is a contract.
Anytime the government offers us relief, it costs us more.
Here comes price increases
What about tv?
So that explains why Telus just raised my rate plan by $5. As of March all rate plans just went up? Never happened in 10 years.
But buried on page 9 of policy, rate plans can expire? So CRTC gets rid of penalties for switching, and and Telus raises rate plans….so shady
We’re not going to congratulate you on showing up to the party late. You’re all still gouging us with the highest prices and plans making Canada one of the most expensive telecommunication countries in the entire world.
It also shows that you could have removed it the entire time and it was never anything essential other than greed.
What a relief
Cell phone companies have been ripping off customers for years. It’s about time they also looked at the rates of cell phone plans Canada’s must be one of the highest in the world.
How about rate plan hikes?
Does this cover Virgin plus customers?