Very few Canadian phone plans include calls to other countries in the base price, so you add a long distance add-on to the plan you already have. The cheapest published ones as of October 2026: Virgin Plus sells unlimited calls to the US and six other countries for C$2 a month, Rogers sells 1,000 international minutes for C$5 a month, and Bell's International long distance saver costs C$8 a month. Freedom gives 1,000 long distance minutes a month to 14 destinations with some new lines.

Prices below are in Canadian dollars, as of October 2026, from each carrier's own website. Add-ons can depend on your plan, so check what your account shows before you rely on any figure.

Start here: what does your plan already include?

Before you pay for anything, sign in to your carrier's app or account and check three things.

Is it a "Canada-wide" or a "Canada-US" plan? On a Canada-wide plan, a call to a Seattle or Miami number is billed as long distance. That is why Rogers and Bell both sell separate US calling add-ons.
Does it include international texting? Koodo, for example, says all its plans come with unlimited Canada-wide minutes and unlimited international SMS. Texts are often covered when calls are not.
Is there a long distance add-on already on the account? Old add-ons sometimes stay on after a plan change, and some new-line offers include minutes for 24 months.

If the answer to all three is no, the add-ons below are where to look.

Long distance and international add-ons by carrier

Carrier	Add-on	Price (C$)	What you get
Virgin Plus	Unlimited long-distance	C$2/month	Unlimited calls from Canada to the US, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico and the UK
Virgin Plus	200 long-distance minutes	C$2/month	200 minutes from Canada to 27 countries, including the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Poland and Brazil
Virgin Plus	International long-distance saver	C$6/month	Rates from 5 cents a minute to over 200 countries (calls to the US not included)
Rogers	Long Distance: 1,000 international minutes	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	Preferred per-minute rates to over 100 destinations, plus unlimited US and international texts
Rogers	Long Distance U.S.	C$28/month	Unlimited calls from Canada to the US
Bell	International long distance saver	C$8/month	Rates from 5 cents a minute to over 200 countries
Bell	Unlimited Canada to U.S. minutes	C$27/month	Unlimited calls from Canada to the US
Freedom	1000 Long Distance Minutes Offer	Included with eligible new lines	1,000 minutes a month for 24 months to 14 destinations
chatr	International Talk Saver	See chatr's site	Long distance rates from 1 cent a minute

Sources: Virgin Plus add-ons, Rogers add-ons, Bell talk time and long distance add-ons, and Freedom's international calling page.

The fine print that matters:

Virgin Plus's C$2 add-ons are unusually cheap. Its page did not say which plans can take them, so confirm in your account that they can be added before you count on them. The C$6 saver does not cover the US: Virgin lists calls to the US at 50 cents a minute on it.
Rogers rounds long distance up to the next minute on its US and Preferred Rate add-ons, so a 61-second call counts as two minutes. Its C$28 US add-on does not cover Puerto Rico, Mexico or the US Virgin Islands, and Rogers says it does not apply while roaming.
Bell's saver only covers calls made from Canada, and Bell says airtime charges still apply. The per-country rates are in a PDF linked from the add-ons page.
Freedom's 1,000 minutes are a promotion, not an add-on you can buy any time. Freedom says it applies to new lines or upgrades on plans of C$35 a month and up (after the digital discount) and cannot be combined with other long distance offers. The 14 destinations are Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK.

What about Telus, Koodo, Fido and Public Mobile?

All of them sell long distance options, but their prices sit behind account pages or change by plan, and we could not read current figures on their public sites in October 2026.

Telus sells an International Long Distance Saver that lowers per-minute rates to a set list of countries. The price shows in My TELUS. Our Telus international calling guide lists the countries and the standard rates without it.
Koodo and Public Mobile are Telus brands, and Fido and chatr are Rogers brands. Their add-ons tend to follow the parent company's style, but prices differ, so check in your self-serve account.

Our guides to Rogers long distance and Bell international calls go further on those two carriers, including their rates with no add-on.

Which option is cheapest for how you actually call?

Here are four common calling patterns, using the carrier prices above and BoraPhone's rates at the time of writing (October 2026). Carrier prices are in Canadian dollars and per-minute prices are in US dollars; we have not converted them.

How you call	Cheapest carrier route	Carrier cost	Paying per minute (US$)
2 hours a month to India	Virgin Plus unlimited, or Rogers 1,000 minutes	C$2 or C$5 a month	120 min at US$0.11 = US$13.20
2 hours a month to a mobile in the Philippines	Virgin Plus 200 minutes	C$2 a month	120 min at US$0.65 = US$78.00
One 20-minute call a month to a landline in Mexico	Virgin Plus unlimited, or Rogers 1,000 minutes	C$2 or C$5 a month	20 min at US$0.04 = US$0.80
Two 10-minute calls a year to a landline in Spain	None of the bundles covers Spain; a saver costs C$6 to C$9 every month	C$72 or more a year	20 min at US$0.04 = US$0.80 a year

The honest reading: if you call India, China, the Philippines or Pakistan every week, a carrier add-on beats paying per minute by a wide margin, so take the add-on. Per-minute rates to the Philippines (US$0.46 to landlines and US$0.65 to mobiles) and China (from US$0.72) are simply too high for regular calls.

Paying per minute wins on the irregular calls: a hotel in Spain, a relative in Portugal twice a year, or any country that is not on your add-on's list.

Calling the US from Canada

The US is the call most Canadians make, and the one most likely to show up on a bill unexpectedly. Your options, from cheapest:

A Canada-US plan. If calls to the US are already included, you need nothing else.
An add-on that bundles the US with other countries. Virgin Plus's C$2 unlimited add-on and Rogers's C$5 minutes both include the US.
A US-only unlimited add-on. Bell lists one at C$27 a month and Rogers at C$28, which only makes sense for heavy US callers.
Pay per minute. Browser calling services charge a few cents a minute to US numbers (see below).

Home phone long distance

If you still have a landline, the numbers can be better than on mobile. Bell's home phone long distance plans list, as of October 2026:

Bell home phone plan	Price	Includes
Canada-US 500 minutes	C$13.95/month	500 minutes within Canada and the US
Unlimited Canada and U.S.	C$34.95/month (C$10 in a TV, Internet and Home phone bundle)	Unlimited calls within Canada and the US
Worldwide Unlimited	C$36.90/month	Unlimited calls to over 70 countries
International Plus add-on	C$3.00/month	Lower per-minute rates worldwide

Worldwide Unlimited is good value if your family's country is on Bell's list, which Bell keeps in a PDF linked from that page. One section of the page prices International Plus at C$2 more a month rather than C$3, so confirm the price when you order.

When a browser call is the better tool

Carrier add-ons have three limits: they cover a fixed list of countries, they charge every month whether you call or not, and they only work from Canada. If you travel, call several countries a little, or need to call from a laptop, a pay-per-minute service fills the gap.

BoraPhone lets you call landlines and mobiles in 180+ countries from Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, with no app, no SIM and no subscription. 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. At the time of writing, calls to US numbers start at US$0.04 a minute (the dialer shows the exact rate for the number), Mexican landlines are US$0.04 a minute and India is US$0.11 a minute. The rates pages show the live price.

How to dial international numbers from Canada

Calling	Dial	Example
The US	1 + area code + number	1 212 555 0100
Another country, from a mobile	+ then country code + number	+44 20 7946 0000
Another country, from a landline	011 + country code + number	011 44 20 7946 0000

Drop the leading 0 that many countries use for domestic calls. Our guide to making international calls from Canada has country-by-country tips.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best phone plan for international calls in Canada?

There is no single best plan, because most Canadian plans do not include international calls at all. The best value is a plan you already like plus a cheap add-on that covers your country. As of October 2026, Virgin Plus's C$2 add-ons and Rogers's C$5 for 1,000 minutes are among the cheapest published options.

Which network is best for international calls?

For calls from Canada, the network matters less than the add-on list. Check whether your destination is covered for unlimited calls, capped minutes, or only reduced per-minute rates. Two brands on the same network can sell quite different add-ons.

Who has the cheapest international calling rates?

For regular calls to one big destination such as India, China or the Philippines, carrier add-ons at C$2 to C$5 a month are hard to beat. For occasional calls, a pay-per-minute service with no monthly fee usually costs less overall. Compare by how many minutes you actually use each month.

Do Canadian international add-ons work when I travel?

Usually not. Virgin Plus says roaming charges apply when you call from another country, Rogers says its US add-on does not apply while roaming, and Bell's saver is valid only on calls made from Canada. While abroad, use a travel pass or call over Wi-Fi with an internet calling service.

Phone Plans With International Calls in Canada: Add-Ons Compared