Telus Corp. is set to begin charging customers up to $25 when they switch to a new SIM card, but the company insists the fee doesn’t violate new rules that ban activation charges.
In a memo distributed to employees late Monday afternoon, Telus says it will be introducing a $15 SIM purchase fee for all new activations across its channels, except web purchases.
The one-time, $15 charge, which takes effect Thursday, cannot be waived, the memo says. Customers would see it on their first bill, both for physical or eSIM purchases.
The memo tells staff not to encourage customers to call in to have SIM cards refunded or credited “for any circumstance.”
An additional $10 shipping charge would apply in some cases.
It comes just as new rules are set to kick in preventing telecommunications companies from charging customers when they cancel, change or activate plans.
That policy was announced by the CRTC in March in a move meant to make it easier for consumers to switch internet and cellphone plans. The commission said it hoped to empower Canadians to take advantage of better offers without having to worry about unexpected costs.
The rules come into effect this Friday. They apply to individual and small business customers of all mobile providers, along with individual home internet customers of mainly large providers.
The CRTC said activation fees have ranged from roughly $30 to $80, acting as a barrier to Canadians being able to take advantage of competitive offers.
But Telus says its SIM charge “is not an administrative fee.”
“A SIM card or an eSIM has always been a physical or digital product for purchase, rather than an administrative fee,” said Telus spokesperson Martin Nguyen in an emailed statement.
“The sale of a SIM product is not new. Customers have always been able to purchase a SIM card or eSIM on its own or as part of a plan, and our approach remains unchanged.”
The memo said the charge is meant to cover “real costs” associated with providing a new SIM product to a customer, such as those related to manufacturing or licensing, procurement, warehousing, packaging, shipping and distribution, retail handling, network provisioning and customer support, among others.
In the document’s FAQ, Telus added that it has eliminated an $80 connection fee it had previously been charging customers, which bundled manufacturing and provisioning costs.
“Now that it’s been eliminated, we’re charging for the actual SIM-related costs separately — which is $15,” the memo said.
“A new SIM card or eSIM is required for your phone to connect and enjoy the benefits of Canada’s largest and most reliable 5G network.”
It added that eSIM activations also involve “real backend work even though there’s no physical card.”
Last month, the CRTC warned Bell Canada that a new $40 “device handling” fee could be in violation of its upcoming rule change.
A letter from the regulator said the charge, which applies when customers choose to purchase a device along with their wireless service plan, would “not appear” to fall under the list of exemptions to the policy.
Such exemptions are in place for fees related to optional services and products that consumers agree to purchase, whereas the CRTC letter said a fee associated with providing a phone “may be considered to be an activation fee that is prohibited.”
Bell’s website has described the $40 fee — which applies to purchases made in stores, online or by phone — as a “one-time device handling charge” that is designed “to cover fulfillment costs associated with your device order.”
The CRTC has unveiled a handful of consumer protections this year, which also include new rules that give consumers self-serve options to adjust their plans and mandate service providers to notify customers when a promotion is about to expire.
But some of the major providers appear to be irked by certain new measures. Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto last month, the head of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, which does not represent Telus, took aim at the regulator’s direction.
President and CEO Robert Ghiz said prohibiting fees meant to cover the cost of delivering services is an example of regulation that moves “beyond setting the rules of the market and further into managing its day-to-day operations.”
“Providers are being asked to take on new responsibilities that extend beyond their traditional role, frequently without a clear mechanism for recovering the associated costs,” he said.
“Some of these decisions attempted to solve problems that really did not exist.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.
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