topic Re: Roaming in Canada in Roaming

Roaming in Canada

Clomo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:37:25 GMT

Hi EE community, i'm hoping someone can help as I am getting different information on the EE app and when phoning customer services. I was looking into pre booking a Zone 1 Daily Charge roaming pass for my two week trip to Canada. I do not have any intention of using my plan's minutes, texts or data whilst there as I will just buy an esim for data, however I would like the back up of not being charged almost £3 a minute should i need to make an emergency call, which is what happened recently when I was in the USA.

On the pre bookable pass description it says the pass reoccurrs each time you use your plan, suggesting that i will not get charged the £6 a day unless I make a call, text or use data. However customer services said I will be charged as soon as I land and my phone connects, even if I have data turned off (turned on on my esim) and do not make calls texts or use data. Is this actually correct? With this pre booked pass I am going to be charged £6 a day simply for having a phone not actually accessing any of my plan? I understand there is a 24 hr pass you can activate when you land that is active from the point of purchase so i'm trying to work out what my best and safest option is, in the event of needing to make a call. Would really appreciate any help on this please. Thank you

Re: Roaming in Canada

XRaySpeX — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:45:46 GMT

Where is this pre bookable pass description? Linky please? Roaming passes are only purchasable once you arrive in country. It says so on the Roaming pages:

24-hour Zone 1 Pass
£6 for 24 hours
You can only buy a roaming pass once you arrive in Canada. We'll text you instructions on how to buy it when you land.

You'll receive a Welcome text upon arrival at a country giving your roaming options & the opportunity to buy Roaming Passes.

If you are on contract, you may use your usual UK allowances in the EE ROW Zone 1 with up to 50 GB data per billing month if you have more, when you buy the Zone 1 Pass for £6 / day, £30 / week or £50 / 15 days or already have it as an Inclusive Extra or you have an EE Full Works or EE Max Plan. Otherwise you will need to pay the charges or buy roaming add-ons as set out in https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/roaming/roaming-costs/. None of these Roaming Passes auto reoccur; you have to explicitly buy them.

Just remember to text ROAMING to 150 before leaving UK to ensure the roaming ability is enabled on your no.

Re: Roaming in Canada

Clomo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:53:15 GMT

Hey, thanks for the reply. These are screen shots from my ee app... hope that helps explain my confusion about the messaging being given out about when you are charged! Thanks

Re: Roaming in Canada

XRaySpeX — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:57:41 GMT

Yes, & linky please?

Are you on a business a/c? Things could be diff there. We user forum members are mainly consumers.

Re: Roaming in Canada

Clomo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 21:04:15 GMT

Hiya, can't provide a link from my app? And no i'm a regular daily customer on a monthly sim only contract not business. I can't believe it is this hard and expensive to use a phone abroad if you need when other networks allow you to add add ons that only activate when you actually use your plan! Thanks

Re: Roaming in Canada

ee_user14 — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:27:09 GMT

@XRaySpeX wrote:
Yes, & linky please?
Are you on a business a/c? Things could be diff there. We user forum members are mainly consumers.

OP has provided a screenshot from the app... unless you know differently (and if so, please explain how) you can't provide URL links from apps.

I'm on a personal account and also see the same as the OP.

By means of answer to the original question... connecting to a foreign network and receiving texts is free. It's chargeable usage that incurs cost. By means of value, if you can guarantee you're not going to make or receive any voice calls, then a local/roaming SIM (whether electronic or physical) may well provide cheaper pure data usage. The EE roaming pass allows use of all your UK allowances - voice, text & data (with FUP), and it will only take a few minutes of calls each day for the roaming pass to (very likely) provide a much better value option overall.

From a quick check of VF, O2 & 3's prices, EE's £6/day or £30/week compares pretty favourably.

Re: Roaming in Canada

Michael_D — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:39:26 GMT

Hi @Clomo

Thanks for coming to the community.

The pre-purchase passes are a new addition, but you would only be charged on the days when you use the allowances.

It will sit in the background, and charge on the days that you make or receive a call, send a text or connect to data. If the phone is off or on airplane mode, this should prevent charges.

Michael

Re: Roaming in Canada

Clomo — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:51:53 GMT

Hi Michael_D thank you for your reply (and also the other contributors!)

This is what I had hoped and seemed logical and in line with other networks offerings but an advisor on the phone last night said that as soon as I land and my phone is on in Canada I will be charged every single day, and they also confirmed it with another colleague, so i'm sure you can appreciate that i am now even more confused and concerned i could be charged! They said as soon as my phone tries to connect to a local network that is me enabling roaming, regardless of whether I do anything on my plan.

I do not want to have my phone off or on airplane mode, I want to use an esim to use data (maps and whatsapp etc), and have no intention of making/receiving calls or sending texts, it was more in the event of an emergency, being able to make a phone call without being charged through the roof. Does that make sense, sorry if there's a lot there, it's just all very difficult to navigate! Thank you

Re: Roaming in Canada

ee_user14 — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:05:02 GMT

Putting aside the wrong info being given by the CS person...

@Clomo wrote:
They said as soon as my phone tries to connect to a local network that is me enabling roaming, regardless of whether I do anything on my plan.
it was more in the event of an emergency, being able to make a phone call without being charged through the roof.

As per my previous post...

A local/roaming SIM (be it e or p - that's irrelevant) will likely provide cheaper data usage... if that is all you will want, go for it.

If you have an emergency or any other "must call" situation, then voice calls will get expensive on a pay-per-use basis. The roaming pass will cover both internet, voice & SMS usage on a flat-rate basis... or you can pay-per-minute/per-text message and not have data access.

You need to compare the price of a roaming/local SIM against the EE roaming option, and see what the difference is. Then decide how much you're willing to pay for the convenience & comfort-factor versus "taking the risk" of being caught out.

Re: Roaming in Canada

Michael_D — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:03:04 GMT

I can appreciate the confusion and wanting to make sure that you aren't charged @Clomo.

The key part I'm looking at is from the description in your screenshot from the app above, which says "The pass reoccurs each day you use your plan's data, calls or texts abroad" so if you aren't using the allowances there would be no charge.

Michael

Re: Roaming in Canada

Clomo — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:00:14 GMT

Hi again and thanks all. Ok so by 'pre-booking' the pass it sits in the background, not charging me, until such a time as I need to access my plan's data (I shouldn't as will have an esim with data) or make a phone call, kicking in the £6 charge. If I have the pass on my phone and only make the one phone call on the one day I will only be charged one time £6? Thanks

Re: Roaming in Canada

Michael_D — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:21:54 GMT

That is correct @Clomo.

Michael