To make an international call from Canada, dial 011, then the country code, then the local number (usually without its leading 0). On a cell phone you can press + instead of 011. Calls to the United States are different: they are long distance, not international, so you dial 1, the area code and the 7-digit number, with no 011.

So a cell in Mumbai is 011 91 98xxx xxxxx, or +91 98xxx xxxxx on a cell. A number in Seattle is 1 206 xxx xxxx. Below: why the US and some Caribbean islands work differently, how to dial 15 common destinations, and which carrier add-ons beat paying per minute.

Why a call to the US is not an international call

Canada and the US share country code 1 as members of the North American Numbering Plan. Numbers in both countries have the same shape (a 3-digit area code and a 7-digit number), so the phone network treats a call from Toronto to Buffalo like a call from Toronto to Vancouver: long distance.

What that means for you:

Dialing: 1 + area code + number. No 011, no country code beyond the 1. From a cell, +1 and the 10 digits also works.
Cost: some Canadian cell plans include calls to the US. If yours does not, carriers sell US calling separately. As of October 2026, Bell lists an Unlimited Canada to U.S. minutes add-on at C$27 a month on its long distance add-ons page, and Rogers lists Long Distance U.S. at C$28 a month on its add-ons page. Rogers' version excludes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
Cheaper for occasional calls: paying per minute online costs a few cents a minute (see the US row in the table below). An unlimited add-on only pays off if you call the US for hours every month.

The Caribbean trap: area codes that look domestic

The North American Numbering Plan also covers a group of Caribbean and Atlantic countries and territories, including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Bermuda. You can see the full list on NANPA's territory map.

You dial these exactly like a US number: 1, then the area code, then 7 digits. A Jamaican number is 1 876 xxx xxxx (or 1 658 on newer numbers). But they are separate countries, and carriers bill them as international calls, often at some of the highest rates on their price lists. An add-on that covers "Canada and the US" usually does not cover them.

Before you call a 1 + area code you do not recognize, look the area code up.

How to dial 15 common destinations from Canada

The column on the right is the honest bit. BoraPhone is cheap to the UK, Mexico and most of Western Europe, and it is not cheap to the Philippines, China, Pakistan, Vietnam or Jamaica. For those, a carrier add-on, a calling card or an app usually costs less if you call often.

Rates are in US dollars per minute at the time of writing (October 2026), billed per minute and rounded up to the next full minute. Check the rates page for the live price.

Country	Dial from a cell	BoraPhone landline / cell	Our honest take
India	+91 then the 10-digit number	US$0.11 / US$0.11	Cheap per call; Rogers' C$5 add-on wins for daily calls
Philippines	+63, drop the 0	US$0.46 / US$0.65	Not our strong route: compare apps and cards
China	+86, mobiles are 11 digits starting with 1	US$0.72 / US$0.76	Not our strong route: Rogers' add-on covers China
United Kingdom	+44, drop the 0	US$0.04 / US$0.07	Cheap; see UK from Canada
Mexico	+52 then 10 digits	US$0.04 / US$0.11	Cheap; see our Mexico guide
Italy	+39, keep the 0 on landlines	US$0.04 / US$0.10	Cheap
France	+33, drop the 0	US$0.05 / US$0.09	Cheap
Portugal	+351 then 9 digits	US$0.04 / US$0.11	Cheap
Pakistan	+92, drop the 0	US$0.35 / US$0.40	Not cheap: compare a carrier rate or card
Iran	+98, drop the 0	No rate published	Use your carrier or another service
Vietnam	+84, drop the 0	US$0.40 / US$0.40	Not cheap: compare apps and cards
Jamaica	1 876 then 7 digits	US$0.95 / US$1.03	Expensive everywhere; use WhatsApp if you can
United States	1 or +1 then 10 digits	from US$0.04	Long distance, often in your plan
Hong Kong	+852 then 8 digits	US$0.10 / US$0.13	Fine; Rogers' add-on covers it too
South Korea	+82, drop the 0	US$0.12 / US$0.12	Fine for occasional calls

Two rules cover almost every row. First, drop the domestic 0 that starts many foreign numbers (France's 06, the UK's 07, Pakistan's 03). Second, Italy is the exception: Italian landlines keep the 0, so a Rome number is +39 06 xxxx xxxx. India has its own detailed guide: how to call India from Canada, and current Indian prices are on the India rates page.

Canadian carrier add-ons, compared

Without an add-on, the big carriers charge pay-per-use international rates, and on a cell those can be high. With the right add-on, regular calls to a covered country become very cheap. As of October 2026:

Carrier	Add-on	Price	What you get
Rogers	Long Distance, 1,000 international minutes to select countries	C$5/month	1,000 minutes from Canada to the US, India, China and Hong Kong, the UK, Mexico and Bangladesh
Rogers	Long Distance U.S. & International	C$9/month	Discounted per-minute rates to over 100 destinations, plus unlimited international texts sent from Canada
Bell	International Long Distance Saver	C$8/month	Per-minute rates from C$0.05 to over 200 countries, for calls made from Canada
Telus	International long distance add-ons	Check Telus	Minute bundles and a per-minute saver; prices not confirmed while writing
Freedom Mobile	International calling options	Check Freedom	Varies by plan; check your plan details

Sources: Rogers add-ons and Bell long distance add-ons, read October 2026. Rogers says airtime is billed on top of its long distance add-ons and that they do not apply while roaming. We could not load Telus's add-on page while writing, so we have left its prices out rather than guess.

The Rogers C$5 add-on is the stand-out if you call India, China or the UK for more than an hour or two a month. Our Rogers long distance guide covers its fine print, and our comparison of Canadian phone plans with international calls covers plans that include minutes outright.

Three ways to call, three different bills

Here is what a 10-minute call to a mobile in Guadalajara costs on each path:

A Canadian cell with no add-on: your carrier's pay-per-use rate for Mexico, times 10. Look it up in your carrier's rate finder before you call.
A Rogers cell with the C$5 add-on: no long distance charge, since Mexico is one of the covered countries, until you pass 1,000 minutes in the month. Airtime still counts against your plan.
A browser call with BoraPhone: US$1.10 at the time of writing (US$0.11 a minute to Mexican mobiles), or US$0.40 to a landline. Current prices are on the Mexico rates page.

The add-on wins if you call every week. Paying per minute wins if you call a few times a year, if you call from a laptop, or if you are a student or visitor in Canada without a Canadian postpaid plan. BoraPhone runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox with no app or SIM, starts at a US$5 top-up, shows the rate before each call and refunds failed calls. The first call is free.

Home phones, calling cards and apps

Landlines. Home phone providers still sell international plans and pay-per-minute rates. The dialing is the same (011, country code, number), and it is worth comparing your home phone's rate with your cell's before a long call.

Calling cards. Prepaid cards sold in Canadian convenience stores can be cheap to the Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam, but check for connection fees and maintenance charges that eat the balance. Read the card's terms before you buy.

Apps. If the person you are calling uses WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger or Signal, an app-to-app call over WiFi is free. That is the best choice for long chats to the Philippines, Jamaica or Iran, where paid rates are high. Paid calls matter when you need to reach a landline, a business or someone who does not use the app.

Common mistakes when calling abroad from Canada

Dialing 011 to the US. Not needed. It is 1 plus 10 digits.
Dialing 1 before 011. Never needed. 011 is the whole prefix.
Keeping the 0. France 06 xx xx xx xx becomes +33 6 xx xx xx xx.
Dropping the 0 for Italian landlines. Keep it.
Assuming a 1 + area code call is cheap. Check Caribbean area codes first.
Calling while roaming. Add-ons usually cover calls made from Canada, not calls you make from abroad, which fall under roaming rules.

Frequently asked questions

Do you still have to dial 011 for international calls?

From a Canadian landline, yes: 011 is the international prefix. From a cell, you can use + instead, which works in any country and is the better way to save contacts. You never dial 011 for calls to the US.

Is +1 the same as 011?

No. 011 is the exit code that tells the network you are leaving the North American Numbering Plan. +1 is the country code for Canada, the US and some Caribbean countries. You dial +1 to reach those numbers, and 011 (or +) followed by another country code to reach everywhere else.

How do I make an international call on a cell phone?

Press and hold 0 until + appears, then type the country code and the number without its leading 0. For example, +44 7xxx xxxxxx for a UK cell. Check your plan or add-ons first, since pay-per-use cell rates can be high.

How do you make calls without service?

Use WiFi. A browser calling service or an app such as WhatsApp works over any internet connection, so you can call phone numbers from a laptop or from a phone with no cell signal. WiFi calling on your Canadian plan also works where your carrier supports it, but international rates still apply to foreign numbers.

Is it cheaper to call internationally from a landline or a cell in Canada?

It depends on your plans, so compare the two rates in your providers' rate finders. With an add-on such as Rogers' C$5 international minutes, a cell can be the cheapest option for covered countries. For occasional calls, paying a few cents a minute online is usually cheaper than both.

How to Make International Calls from Canada: 011, +1 and Real Costs