On a Telus mobile plan with no add-on, calling another country from Canada costs between C$1.65 and C$3.30 a minute: C$1.65 to India, the UK, Mexico and Italy, and C$2.75 to the Philippines, Pakistan or Nigeria. To pay less you need the International Long Distance Saver add-on, which only covers a set list of countries (the Philippines is not on it). Telus Home Phone is far cheaper for overseas calls, at 10 to 20 cents a minute to most popular destinations.

Every Telus figure here is in Canadian dollars and was checked on Telus' own pages in October 2026: the pay-per-use rates page for monthly subscribers, which links the international rate sheet, the mobility long distance add-ons page and the Home Phone long distance page.

Is the call on your Telus mobile or your Telus home phone?

Telus runs two separate long distance systems, and the price gap between them is huge.

Telus Mobility (your cell phone): one per-minute rate per country, the same for landlines and mobiles, unless you add the Saver.
Telus Home Phone (a landline): much lower per-minute rates, a split between landline and mobile prices, and monthly plans that make many countries free.

If you have both, make your long overseas calls from the home phone. The rest of this guide covers each one in turn.

Telus Mobility: the rate with no add-on

The rate sheet linked from Telus' pay-per-use page is dated "Rates effective as of May 17, 2021" and it is still the one Telus links today. It uses three main price bands: C$1.65, C$2.75 and C$3.30 a minute.

Country	Telus Mobility rate (C$ per minute)	Saver add-on available?
India	$1.65	Yes, India is on the Saver list
United Kingdom	$1.65	Yes
Mexico	$1.65	Yes
Italy	$1.65	Yes
Philippines	$2.75	No, not on the Saver list
Pakistan	$2.75	Yes
Nigeria	$2.75	Yes
Poland	$2.75	Yes

Calls to satellite numbers cost C$16.50 a minute, so check unfamiliar numbers before you dial. Texts are cheaper: Telus charges C$0.40 for each text sent from Canada to an international number.

If your plan does not include unlimited talk time, Telus also lists a local airtime charge of C$0.80 a minute on the same page. If your plan includes unlimited Canada-wide minutes, only the long distance rate applies.

The International Long Distance Saver add-on

Telus describes its mobility long distance options in two ways on the add-ons page:

Pay-per-minute with International Long Distance Saver, which lowers the per-minute rate to the countries on its list.
"A fixed number of monthly long distance minutes to call select countries using the local minutes in your current plan", a bundle of minutes for a monthly fee.

Telus lists these countries for the Saver: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, the United Kingdom (including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the US Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Missing from that list are some of the most called countries from Canada: the Philippines, Brazil, Jamaica, Egypt, Iran and most of Africa outside Nigeria. If your family is in one of those, the Saver will not help and you pay the full rate. Telus introduces the list with "Countries include", so ask in My TELUS or on *611 if a country you need is missing.

Telus' public add-on page did not show the Saver's monthly price or its discounted per-minute rates when we checked in October 2026, so see the price in My TELUS before you add it. Because the Saver bills per minute, there is no fair-use cap. A fixed-minute bundle is capped by the minutes in it, so check what Telus charges once they run out.

What a 10-minute call costs on each Telus option

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

Option for a 10-minute call	India	Philippines	UK	Mexico	Italy
Telus Mobility, no add-on (C$)	$16.50	$27.50	$16.50	$16.50	$16.50
Telus Mobility with Saver	Discounted, check My TELUS	Not covered: $27.50	Discounted	Discounted	Discounted
Telus Home Phone, pay per minute (C$)	$1.00	$1.50	$1.00 landline, $2.00 mobile	$1.00	$1.00 landline, $2.00 mobile
Telus Home Phone, World 60 Unlimited	Included	$1.00	Included	Included	Included
BoraPhone (US$)	$1.10	$4.60 to $6.50	$0.40 to $0.70	$0.40 to $1.10	$0.40 to $1.00

BoraPhone's ranges run from the landline rate to the mobile rate. What the table tells you:

A Telus mobile with no add-on is the worst option to every country here. Ten minutes to the UK costs C$16.50.
For the Philippines, the Telus home phone wins. C$1.00 to C$1.50 for ten minutes beats BoraPhone's US$4.60 to US$6.50. If you have no landline and call the Philippines often, a dedicated calling app will usually beat both.
If you call one Saver country for hours every month, the Saver or a fixed-minute bundle will likely work out cheaper than paying per call elsewhere. Price it in My TELUS against how many minutes you really use.
For an occasional call from your cell phone, adding and paying for a monthly add-on rarely makes sense. That is where a pay-as-you-go service fits.

When a pay-as-you-go service is the better choice

BoraPhone places calls to real phone numbers from a browser tab, on your laptop or on your Telus phone over Wi-Fi or data. Nothing changes on your Telus account. You add credit from US$5, the rate shows before you dial, and you pay per minute, rounded up to the next full minute. The first call is free, and failed calls are refunded.

It suits three kinds of caller: people who call abroad a few times a year, people calling a landline such as a bank, embassy or hotel that cannot be reached on WhatsApp, and people calling a country the Saver skips, as long as BoraPhone is cheap there (UK, Mexico, Italy and most of Western Europe are a few cents a minute). It is not the cheapest route for long, regular calls to the Philippines, Pakistan or Nigeria. See how to make international calls from Canada for every other route, and the Koodo version of this guide if you are on Telus' sister brand.

Telus Home Phone long distance plans

Telus Home Phone has its own rate sheet, dated "Rates effective as of July 5, 2024", linked from the Home Phone long distance page. It shows two price columns.

International Rates apply to customers on Pay-per-minute Long Distance, 300 minutes in U.S. and Canada Long Distance, Asia Long Distance, Unlimited India or Long Distance Philippines 100.

World Value Rates apply to customers on World 60 Unlimited Long Distance or Unlimited US and Canada Long Distance. World 60 Unlimited also makes calls free to Canada, the US and 60 international destinations, "for calls originating from Canada landlines and terminating on landlines and mobile numbers."

Country	International Rates, landline / mobile (C$ per minute)	World Value Rates, landline / mobile	Free on World 60 Unlimited?
India	$0.10 / $0.10	$0.10 / $0.10	Yes
Philippines	$0.15 / $0.15	$0.10 / $0.10	No
United Kingdom	$0.10 / $0.20	$0.10 / $0.10	Yes
Mexico	$0.10 / $0.10	$0.10 / $0.10	Yes
Italy	$0.10 / $0.20	$0.10 / $0.10	Yes
Pakistan	$0.15 / $0.15	$0.10 / $0.10	No

The monthly prices for these home phone plans were not shown on the public page when we checked, so confirm them in My TELUS or when you order. Telus also offers named plans for single corridors: Unlimited India, Asia Long Distance and Long Distance Philippines 100. If almost all your calls go to one of those places, compare that plan with World 60 Unlimited before choosing.

How to add or remove a Telus long distance add-on

Telus gives three ways to add long distance to your mobile plan:

Online: log in to My TELUS, open your mobility account and go to add-ons.
By phone: call *611 from your Telus phone.
In store: visit a Telus store.

Removing an add-on works the same way. Since it is a monthly charge, take it off once you stop calling that country regularly. Home Phone customers log in to My TELUS to add long distance to the home line.

To dial from Canada, use 011 + country code + the number without its leading zero (keep the 0 for Italian landlines), or + in place of 011 on a mobile. A UK mobile such as 07700 900123 becomes 011 44 7700 900123.

Calling from abroad is a different bill

Everything above is about calls made from Canada. When you take your Telus phone outside Canada, you are roaming, and the long distance add-ons do not apply. Telus sells Easy Roam, which charges a daily fee to use your plan abroad. Telus' pay-per-use page lists daily roaming charges of C$14 in the US and C$16 in other countries as of October 2026; confirm on Telus' travel page before you go, because roaming prices change more often than long distance rates. Over hotel Wi-Fi, a browser call avoids roaming voice charges. For Canada-wide comparisons, see phone plans with international calls in Canada and our Rogers long distance guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do you still have to dial 011 for international calls from Canada?

Yes, from a landline. From a mobile you can also press + instead of 011, which works from any country. After 011 or +, dial the country code and then the number without its leading zero, except for Italian landlines.

How much does it cost to call the UK from Canada on Telus?

On a Telus mobile with no add-on, it is C$1.65 a minute, so C$16.50 for ten minutes. The UK is on the International Long Distance Saver list, which lowers that rate. From a Telus home phone, UK landlines cost C$0.10 a minute and are free on World 60 Unlimited.

Does the Telus Saver add-on cover the Philippines?

No. The Philippines is not on the Saver country list on Telus' add-ons page, so calls from a Telus mobile cost the standard C$2.75 a minute. Telus Home Phone has a Long Distance Philippines 100 plan and charges C$0.10 to C$0.15 a minute.

Are calls to mobiles abroad more expensive on Telus?

On Telus Mobility, no: one rate covers landlines and mobiles in each country. On Telus Home Phone, sometimes: the UK and Italy cost C$0.10 a minute to landlines and C$0.20 a minute to mobiles on the International Rates.

Does the Telus Saver work when I am travelling?

No. The International Long Distance Saver covers calls made from Canada to other countries. Once you are outside Canada you are roaming, and Telus charges a daily roaming fee instead (C$14 a day in the US and C$16 elsewhere on its pay-per-use page, October 2026).

Telus International Calling: Rates, Saver Add-on and Home Phone Plans