eSIM in Canada: What It Is and Which Carriers Support It

If your phone supports eSIM, you can switch Canadian carriers in about ten minutes without waiting for a SIM card in the mail. Telus and its flanker brand Koodo are the only carriers that publish a price for an eSIM, and both charge $15 for a SIM or an eSIM, a fee the CRTC has formally ordered Telus to justify. Where the prepaid brands publish a figure at all, it is $0.

The 30-second version

• An eSIM is a SIM card built into your phone. Your carrier sends you a profile you download over Wi-Fi. Nothing physical changes hands.
• Every carrier we checked supports it, including the cheap prepaid brands and both Quebec independents.
• Only Telus and Koodo publish a price, and it is $15. Fizz, chatr and Lucky Mobile each publish $0 for an eSIM and charge for the plastic one instead. Everyone else publishes no eSIM price, which is not the same as free.
• The catch is moving it later. On Public Mobile you cannot transfer an eSIM between phones at all, and on Freedom you get one QR code per billing cycle.
• Your phone has to be unlocked, same as with a plastic SIM.

What an eSIM actually is

An eSIM (embedded SIM) is a small, rewritable chip soldered into your phone at the factory. Instead of a carrier handing you a piece of plastic with your account burned onto it, the carrier sends you a profile and your phone downloads it, usually by scanning a QR code or tapping a notification.

Functionally nothing else changes. Bell’s own support page puts it plainly: all services work the same on a SIM card or an eSIM for voice, data and roaming.

Two practical consequences:

1. Activation is instant. No waiting 3 to 5 business days for delivery, no trip to a store. That matters most when you are switching carriers to save money, because the friction of waiting is what stops most people.
2. You can run two lines on one phone. Most eSIM phones support Dual SIM, so you can keep a work number and a personal number, or keep your Canadian plan running while you use a cheap local eSIM abroad. Bell supports two simultaneous eSIM lines from the iPhone 13 series and iPhone SE 3rd generation onward.

An easy compatibility check that works on any phone: dial *#06#. If an EID appears in the list, your phone can use eSIM. Rogers publishes this trick on its own support page.

Which Canadian carriers support eSIM

All of the following comes from each company’s own site, checked September 18, 2026.

Carrier	eSIM	What it costs	How you get it
Bell	Yes	Not listed on Bell’s eSIM pages	Online, MyBell app, or in store
Rogers	Yes	Not listed, but a shipped physical SIM triggers a $25 fee	Pick eSIM at checkout, or MyRogers
Telus	Yes	$15 SIM purchase required	My TELUS app, instant after checkout
Fido	Yes	Not listed	My Account app, fido.ca, or voucher
Koodo	Yes	$15 SIM purchase required	Koodo eSIM voucher or self-serve
Virgin Plus	Yes	Physical SIM and shipping free; no eSIM charge listed	Online, app, or in store
Public Mobile	Yes	Free to start; replacements conditional	Chosen during subscription setup
Freedom Mobile	Yes	Not listed	QR code in My Account, or automatic
chatr	Yes	$0 online, $10 for a physical SIM	Online per its shop page, in store per its support page
Lucky Mobile	Yes	$0 eSIM, $10 for a physical SIM	Activate online in minutes
no name mobile	Yes	Not listed	Self-serve activation
SaskTel	Yes	Not listed	Any postpaid or noSTRINGS Prepaid plan, set up in mySASKTEL
Fizz	Yes	$0 eSIM, $15 for a physical SIM	My plans, Change my SIM; QR code expires in 30 minutes
Videotron	Yes	Not listed	QR code by email or mailed on a card, single use, valid 30 days

“Not listed” means exactly that: the carrier’s eSIM pages do not publish a charge for an eSIM. It is not the same as a promise that it is free, and it is worth confirming at checkout.

The $15 question: Telus, and why the CRTC is involved

This is the part worth knowing before you sign anything.

Telus’s bring-your-own-phone page, read today, offers eSIM with “instant activation after checkout, or get a physical SIM shipped in 5-10 business days,” and then adds a single sentence: “$15 SIM purchase required.” Its SIM card shop page lists a physical SIM “from $15” and gives no separate eSIM price. As written, the $15 applies whether or not a physical card ever exists. Koodo’s own bring-your-own-phone page carries the identical sentence, so the fee reaches Telus’s discount brand too.

The CRTC noticed. In Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-155, issued June 30, 2026, the Commission records that on June 9 its staff learned Telus “had introduced a $15 fee for the purchase of a SIM card or eSIM as part of its wireless service,” and told Telus the fee did not appear to fall under the exemption for optional products in the activation-fee ban that took effect June 12, 2026.

Telus did not back down. Per the same notice, on June 17 Telus “confirmed that it had not stopped its practice of charging a SIM card fee,” arguing that customers buy SIMs for many reasons, including replacing a damaged one or travelling, so the charge is not an activation fee.

The Commission has directed Telus, along with Bell and Rogers over separate device and shipping charges, to show cause why it should not be found in violation. Exposure runs to $10,000,000 per company, $25,000 per officer or director, and a mandatory order to stop within 60 days. Final replies were due September 10, 2026. No decision had been issued as of the date on this article, and Telus is still charging the fee. News coverage in mid-September also reported that Telus has taken the matter to Federal Court. That filing is not confirmed, so treat it as reported rather than established.

For background on what the June ban did and did not remove, see our CRTC fee ban explainer and the device handling fee guide.

Where eSIM actually saves you money

The saving is not the SIM card. Ten or fifteen dollars once is not what is wrong with your phone bill. The saving is that eSIM removes the last practical excuse for staying with a carrier that overcharges you.

Before eSIM, switching meant ordering a card, waiting for the post, and having a day where your phone might not work. Now you pick a plan, download a profile over Wi-Fi, and you are on the new carrier before your coffee gets cold. Since June 12, 2026 there is also no activation or cancellation fee to pay on the way out. The barriers are gone; what remains is inertia.

Every carrier in that table supports eSIM activation for bring-your-own-phone customers, confirmed on their own sites. If you are paying a Big 3 postpaid price for a plan you could get here, the switch is now an evening’s work. Our guide to lowering your phone bill covers the renegotiation route if you would rather stay put and pay less.

The catches nobody mentions

eSIM is better than plastic in almost every way, but the fine print differs sharply by carrier, and the cheapest brands have the tightest rules.

Public Mobile will not move your eSIM to a new phone. Its own eSIM FAQ says transferring an eSIM from one device to another “is not supported,” and that if you switch phones you must request a new eSIM. A replacement is free only if your current eSIM was installed on a device, has been active at least 15 days, and you are going eSIM to eSIM. Go from a physical SIM to an eSIM, or delete your profile first, and the replacement fee applies. Deleting an eSIM profile is permanent: Public Mobile states you cannot restore the same profile on any phone. Public Mobile also does not support eSIM on smartwatches.

Freedom rations QR codes. Freedom’s support page says eSIM QR codes are available once per billing cycle, though you can use on-device transfer up to three times per cycle. Only account holders and authorized users can make eSIM changes.

chatr contradicts itself, and you should plan for the worse version. chatr’s shop page advertises a chatr eSIM at $0.00, “free online,” while its eSIM support page says to visit a chatr retailer to buy an eSIM, and that switching devices means buying a new eSIM or physical SIM in store. Both pages are live on chatr’s own site today. If you are counting on activating from your couch, confirm before you buy.

Fizz and Videotron put a clock on the QR code. Fizz gives you 30 minutes to install the eSIM before the code expires and you have to start over. Videotron’s code can be used once and is valid 30 days; miss that and you need Customer Service or a store to issue another. Fizz will at least move you between a physical SIM and an eSIM in either direction, which Public Mobile will not.

On SaskTel, deleting the eSIM does not cancel the plan. SaskTel states plainly that your wireless plan keeps billing after the profile is gone, and that cancelling means phoning them. The same logic applies anywhere: removing a profile is a device action, not an account action.

Your phone still has to be unlocked. eSIM changes nothing here. Canadian carriers have been required to unlock phones free of charge since 2017, so ask your current carrier before you start.

eSIM-only phones are fine in Canada. Bell states that an unlocked eSIM-only device bought outside Canada can be activated on its network, and chatr says the same for eSIM-only iPhone 14 models. iPads launched in 2024 or later have no physical SIM slot at all.

Travelling is where Dual SIM earns its keep. Public Mobile confirms you can run a foreign carrier’s eSIM abroad while your Canadian subscription stays active and your renewal date stays put, which is usually far cheaper than a daily roaming pass.

Which phones support eSIM

Carriers publish slightly different lists. Bell’s is the most detailed we read today:

• iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, iPhone 11 or later (two simultaneous eSIM lines from the iPhone 13 series and iPhone SE 3rd generation onward)
• Google Pixel 3a, Pixel 4 series or later
• Samsung Galaxy S21 series or later, Z Fold3 / Z Flip3 or later, Note20 and Note20 Ultra, A54 / A35 or later
• Motorola Edge 2023 or later, Moto G 5G 2024 or later
• iPad 7th generation 2019, iPad Pro 2018, iPad Air 2019, iPad mini 2019, or later

Lucky Mobile’s list is narrower on Pixel, starting at the Pixel 6 series rather than the 3a. chatr states a software floor instead: iOS 12.1 or newer, or Android 10 or newer. Bell also warns that compatibility can differ on models bought outside Canada. The *#06# check is more reliable than any list.

FAQ

Does an eSIM work the same as a regular SIM? Yes. Voice, data, texting and roaming all behave identically. Bell says so outright on its support pages.

Can I have two numbers on one phone? On most eSIM phones, yes. You can usually combine a physical SIM with an eSIM, and newer iPhones support two eSIMs at once. Only one line can use cellular data at a time on both Apple and Android.

Is an eSIM more secure? Rogers argues it is, because the profile is tied to the phone and can be disabled remotely if the phone is lost or stolen, and cannot be popped out and moved by a thief. That is a reasonable claim, but it cuts the other way too: you cannot rescue your number by moving a card to a spare handset.

What happens if the download fails? Retry on Wi-Fi. Public Mobile allows three attempts before routing you to an agent. Most failures are a weak connection or an eSIM that has already been installed.

Do I need internet to set up an eSIM? Yes. Bell, Fido and Freedom all state you need Wi-Fi or mobile data to download the profile, which is the one genuine drawback versus a plastic card.

Should I switch my existing line from a SIM to an eSIM? Only if you have a reason, such as freeing the slot for a second line or a travel eSIM. On Public Mobile specifically, think twice: converting a physical SIM to an eSIM does not qualify for the free replacement, and once you are on eSIM you cannot move it to another phone without buying a new one.

Last verified

Carrier eSIM support, pricing and terms verified September 18, 2026 from Bell, Rogers and its administrative charges, Telus, Fido, Koodo, Virgin Plus, Public Mobile, Freedom Mobile, chatr, Lucky Mobile, Fizz, Videotron, SaskTel, and no name mobile. The regulatory section comes from Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-155.

Bell, Rogers, Fido, Freedom, Virgin Plus, Videotron, SaskTel and no name mobile publish no eSIM price on the pages checked, which is recorded above as “not listed” rather than free. The one item in this guide that is not verified is the reported Federal Court filing by Telus, flagged as such in the text.

Plan prices update from our tracked dataset and can change without notice. Always confirm on the carrier’s site before signing up.