Contrary to Ottawa's claims, cell phone bills in Canada have not decreased

As the federal government looks for ways to lower the cost of Canadians' cellphone bills, some say there's a big gap between what people are paying and what's being said about the price cuts. On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a post on X (formerly Twitter) that sparked outrage among social media users. "Since 2019, we've cut the cost of cell phone plans in half due to increased competition," he wrote. "We're looking to reduce unwanted costs on your phone bill, so you can do things like cancel your plan or switch to a cheaper plan without extra cost." They don't pay less for their cell phone bills than five years ago.

According to the CRTC report, carrier revenue per user averaged $67.26 in the second quarter of 2023, up from $64.33 in the same quarter of 2016.

"While progress has been made in reducing prices, Canadians are still paying too much and there is very little competition," Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in January.

Following reports that some companies plan to increase rates this year, he urged operators to put customers first and think about their profits later.

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