Bell charges C$1.50 to C$3.00 a minute to call another country from a Bell mobile with no add-on: C$1.50 to India, the UK, Mexico and Italy, and C$2.50 to the Philippines. The International long distance saver add-on costs C$8 a month and cuts those rates to 5 to 18 cents a minute. It pays for itself if you call abroad every week; for the odd call, skip it and use a cheaper pay-as-you-go service.

All Bell figures below are in Canadian dollars, as of October 2026, from Bell's own pages: the Bell Mobility long distance rates page, the talk time and long distance add-ons page and the home phone long distance plans page. Carriers change rates, so check MyBell before you rely on any of them.

What Bell Mobility charges with no add-on

Bell's support page says Bell Mobility customers pay "one standard rate per minute to call the country of your choice at any time of day." There is no peak or off-peak split, and the rate does not change between landlines and mobiles.

Destination	Bell Mobility pay-per-use rate (C$ per minute)
India	$1.50
United Kingdom	$1.50
Mexico	$1.50
Italy	$1.50
Philippines	$2.50
Pakistan	$2.50
Nigeria	$2.50

Most countries on Bell's list sit at C$2.50 or C$3.00 a minute. A short list of popular destinations (India, the UK, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, China, Australia and a few others) gets the lower C$1.50 rate. Satellite numbers cost C$15.00 a minute, so be careful with any number starting +870 or +881.

If your calls to other countries do not connect at all, Bell's advice is to open your long distance add-ons in MyBell and remove the international calling restriction. Bell also notes that certain credit restrictions may apply.

The International long distance saver add-on

This is Bell's main international calling add-on for mobile. Bell describes it as "our lowest long distance rates to over 200 countries around the world, starting at $0.05/min," for C$8 a month. Two conditions from Bell's add-on page matter:

It only works from Canada. It is "valid only when calls are made from Canada to an international destination." It does nothing for calls you make while travelling.
Airtime charges apply. The Saver lowers the long distance part of the call. The minutes still count against your plan's talk time. On a plan with unlimited Canada-wide minutes that usually means no extra cost, but check your plan if it has a minute cap.

It is a per-minute discount, not a bundle of free minutes. There is no fair-use limit to read because nothing is unlimited: every minute is billed at the Saver rate.

Bell's full list of Saver rates is a PDF that the current add-on page still links to. The file name says December 2020, so treat the numbers as a guide and confirm in MyBell before you buy. Here is what it shows for common destinations:

Destination	Standard rate	Saver rate	You save per minute
India	$1.50	$0.05	$1.45
Mexico	$1.50	$0.05	$1.45
Italy	$1.50	$0.09	$1.41
United Kingdom	$1.50	$0.12	$1.38
Philippines	$2.50	$0.18	$2.32
Pakistan	$2.50	$0.15	$2.35
Nigeria	$2.50	$0.80	$1.70

A handful of countries on the list have no Saver rate at all (for example Bhutan, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea), so the add-on gives you nothing there. The PDF quotes one rate per country, with no separate landline and mobile price.

A 10-minute call, priced three ways

Bell's prices are in Canadian dollars and BoraPhone's are in US dollars. They are not converted here. BoraPhone rates are at the time of writing (October 2026), and the live price is always on each country's rates page.

10-minute call from Canada to...	Bell, no add-on (C$)	Bell with Saver (C$, plus C$8 a month)	BoraPhone (US$)
India	$15.00	$0.50	$1.10, landline or mobile (India rates)
Philippines	$25.00	$1.80	$4.60 landline, $6.50 mobile (Philippines rates)
United Kingdom	$15.00	$1.20	$0.40 landline, $0.70 mobile (UK rates)
Mexico	$15.00	$0.50	$0.40 landline, $1.10 mobile (Mexico rates)
Italy	$15.00	$0.90	$0.40 landline, $1.00 mobile (Italy rates)

Three things stand out:

Never call abroad from a Bell mobile with no add-on. C$15 for ten minutes to the UK is the most expensive option on this page by a wide margin.
The Saver wins for regular callers. If you phone family in India, Mexico or the Philippines every week, C$8 a month plus a few cents a minute is hard to beat. The Philippines is the clearest case: the Saver's C$0.18 a minute is well under BoraPhone's US$0.46 to US$0.65, so once you call there for more than roughly half an hour a month, keep the add-on.
For a one-off call, skip the C$8. One ten-minute call to India with the Saver costs C$8.50 in the month you add it. The same call through BoraPhone costs about US$1.10, and UK, Mexican and Italian landlines cost less still.

When a pay-as-you-go service is cheaper

BoraPhone calls real phone numbers from a web browser on a laptop, tablet or phone, so nothing changes on your Bell plan and there is no app to install. You top up from US$5, see the rate before you dial, and pay per minute, rounded up to the next full minute. Your first call is free, and failed calls are refunded. It makes sense if you call abroad a few times a year, need to reach a landline (a bank, a clinic, a government office) that WhatsApp cannot ring, or want to call a country where the Saver gives no discount. It is not the cheap option for long weekly calls to the Philippines, Pakistan or Nigeria: there, the Bell Saver or a dedicated calling app will usually cost less. For more options, see how to make international calls from Canada and our roundup of phone plans with international calls in Canada.

How to add or remove the Saver

You can manage it in the MyBell app. Bell's MyBell app guide gives these steps:

Open the MyBell app and tap Services at the bottom of the screen.
Select the Mobility service you want to manage.
Scroll down to Add-ons and tap MANAGE.
Tap Long distance, pick the International long distance saver and tap REVIEW CHANGES.
Tap SUBMIT CHANGES.

To remove it, follow the same path (Services, your Mobility line, Add-ons, MANAGE, Long distance), deselect the Saver and submit the change, or ask Bell to do it. It renews every month until you take it off, so remove it once you stop calling abroad often.

How to dial an international number from Canada

From a Bell mobile or a Bell home phone in Canada, dial 011, then the country code, then the number without its leading zero (Italy is the exception: keep the 0 on Italian landlines). On a mobile you can press and hold 0 to get + instead of 011.

Calling	What you dial
A UK mobile, 07700 900123	011 44 7700 900123
An Indian mobile (10 digits)	011 91, then the 10 digits without any leading 0
A Mexican number	011 52 then the 10-digit number
A Rome landline (starts 06)	011 39 06, then the rest of the number
A Philippine mobile written as 09xx xxx xxxx	011 63 9xx xxx xxxx

Calls to the US do not need 011. They are dialled like a Canadian long distance number (1 plus the area code), and Bell sells a separate Unlimited Canada to U.S. minutes add-on for C$27 a month.

Bell home phone long distance plans

If you still have a Bell home phone, the long distance options are different and often better value for overseas calls. From Bell's home phone long distance page, as of October 2026 (Ontario prices):

Home phone plan	Price (C$ per month)	What it does for overseas calls
International Plus	$3	Lower overseas rates; combines with Canada-US 500 minutes or Province Wide Unlimited
Unlimited Canada and U.S.	$10 in a three-service bundle, $34.95 otherwise	Unlimited Canada and US calls, plus overseas rates "for less than 10¢ per minute" to France, Italy, Hong Kong and others
Worldwide Unlimited	$36.90	Unlimited calls to over 70 countries

Bell's rate sheets show what that means for the countries in this guide. With Worldwide Unlimited, calls to UK, Italian and Mexican landlines are unlimited, but UK and Italian mobiles cost C$0.29 a minute and Mexican mobiles C$0.14. India (C$0.06 landline, C$0.10 mobile) and the Philippines (C$0.10 landline, C$0.15 mobile) are not in the unlimited group. With International Plus, India and the Philippines get the same rates, UK and Italian landlines are C$0.05 a minute (mobiles C$0.29), and Mexico is C$0.14 a minute.

Ten minutes to an Indian mobile on International Plus costs C$1.00 plus the C$3 monthly fee, which makes a Bell home phone one of the cheapest ways to call India or a UK landline from Canada, as long as you are at home when you call. Bell's basic overseas rates with no plan at all are in its long distance rates finder on bell.ca.

Calling abroad is not the same as roaming

Everything above covers calls you make from Canada to a foreign number. Using your Bell phone while you are outside Canada is roaming, and it is billed differently. Bell's roaming support page lists two options, Roam Better and Travel Passes, with prices set by destination. Roam Better includes unlimited talk and text in the US, over 200 international destinations and back to Canada. Without either, you pay Bell's pay-per-use roaming rates, and phones on prepaid plans cannot roam at all. The Saver does not apply while you are away. If you plan to call home or call local numbers on a trip, a browser call over hotel Wi-Fi avoids roaming voice rates entirely. Rogers works the same way: see our Rogers long distance guide to compare.

Frequently asked questions

Are international calls free on Bell?

No. Calls from a Bell mobile to a number outside Canada and the US are billed per minute, from C$1.50 a minute with no add-on. The International long distance saver lowers the rate but still charges per minute, plus C$8 a month. App-to-app calls over Wi-Fi, such as WhatsApp, cost nothing extra when both people have the app.

What is Bell's long distance saver?

It is the International long distance saver add-on for Bell Mobility, at C$8 a month as of October 2026. It cuts per-minute rates to over 200 countries, starting at C$0.05 a minute, but only for calls made from Canada. You still use your plan's airtime.

Why can't I make international calls on my Bell phone?

Your line may have an international calling restriction. Bell says to go to your long distance add-ons in MyBell and remove it. Certain credit restrictions can also block international calls, in which case you need to contact Bell.

What travel plans does Bell Mobility offer?

Bell sells Roam Better and Travel Passes for use outside Canada, with prices set by destination. They cover roaming, not calls from Canada to other countries. Prepaid plans cannot roam at all.

Is Bell home phone cheaper than Bell Mobility for calling abroad?

Usually, yes. Bell's home phone International Plus option costs C$3 a month and brings calls to India down to C$0.06 a minute for landlines, while a Bell mobile with no add-on pays C$1.50 a minute. Home phone plans only work from the home line, so they do not help when you are out.

Bell International Calls: Rates, the $8 Saver and Cheaper Options