New CRTC rules aim to empower consumers, but will Canadians truly save on bills?

Every couple of years, Marc Nanni makes a call to his home internet provider to see if he can find some savings on his monthly bill.

Unexpected charges always seem to add up within that time frame, he says, whether it's a "system access" fee here or a "basic service" fee there.

Nanni's efforts are usually enough to score a handful of rebates — he estimates he's negotiated $35 worth of charges waived from his current bill — but the Gatineau, Que., man still doesn't know what those charges were meant for in the first place.

"They sort of monkey the prices. There's $2 for this, $2 for that," he said.

"They're dinging you with these fabricated fees."

Eliminating certain "junk fees" is one of several measures recently introduced by Canada's telecommunications regulator, with more to come, as it attempts to reduce barriers it says have long stood in the way of consumers seeking cheaper cellphone and internet plans. New consumer protections for the sector had been required as part of recent legislative amendments by the federal government.

While some say it's a welcome step, others question whether the moves will actually lead to meaningful savings for Canadians, especially as major telecom companies push back on the new regulations.

In addition to a prohibition on activation, cancellation and modification fees that came into effect June 12, the CRTC has implemented rules that give consumers self-serve options to adjust their plans and mandate service providers to notify customers when a discount on their bill is about to expire.

The commission is also planning to soon announce guidelines that would require carriers to publicize key information about their home internet plans — such as price and speed — through a standardized label.

"What we're trying to do is make it easier and to facilitate consumers shopping around for their telecom services," said Scott Hutton, the CRTC's vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy, in an interview.

"Canadians are tired of being nickel-and-dimed."

He said that while costs have been coming down over the past five years, Canadians are still paying "amongst the highest prices in the world for both cellphone and home internet services." Compounding that problem, the regulator said it found from its outreach that consumers share a common sentiment that it can be too difficult to switch providers, keeping them locked into plans even when there are better, discounted offers on the market.

"I don't know of a Canadian who's not frustrated with their telecom bill," Hutton said.

The moves are encouraging, said PlanHub.ca co-founder and CEO Nadir Marcos, whose platform helps shoppers compare offers across telecom providers.

Marcos said consumers may be unaware of options that can help lower their bills, recalling a client who hadn't changed plans in a decade and was paying nearly 10 times the price of current market offers. But calling customer service to make a change can be an arduous process; it's not uncommon to spend hours on hold before finally getting through.

That's why the new self-service and notification requirements could be a "game changer," he said.

"I think people just forget to shop," said Marcos.

"Just being proactive and getting text messages when the promotion's finished will help for sure to make the consumer aware."

He's also hopeful these changes could create a chain reaction in the marketplace. While many promotions are only available to new customers, Marcos said increased competition could prompt providers to offer better deals to existing customers too as part of their retention efforts.

However, some of the new regulations have been met with resistance from major players in Canada's telecom sector.

Earlier this month, the CRTC issued warnings to Bell Canada, Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. after each introduced fees that the regulator says could violate its new ban on ancillary charges.

The companies each argue those specific fees, which range in description from device "handling" or "setup" to SIM purchase, should qualify for exemptions to the CRTC's policy meant for optional services or equipment. They also said the charges serve a purpose — recovering their own costs.

"It costs money to activate a customer," said telecommunications consultant Mark Goldberg.

"There's costs of resources, the assignment of a phone number, the management of that. There's costs associated with activating a new device and loading up the database, costs associated with running credit checks."

Goldberg questioned whether banning activation and cancellation fees would truly save consumers money at the end of the day. For the providers, he said "that money has to come from somewhere" in order to maintain profits.

"Where do the legislators and the CRTC think the money's going to come from? Does it mean that discounts are lower, that the overall monthly rate is a little bit higher?" he said.

"You're ultimately loading all of the cost recovery into the monthly bill."

National Bank analyst Adam Shine said the elimination of "so-called junk fees" comes as no surprise.

"Still, the carriers do have costs involved with the provisioning of devices and setting up of accounts," Shine said in a note published earlier this month.

TD Cowen analyst Vince Valentini estimated lost revenue from the elimination of those fees could total $50 million to $75 million per year.

And with the CRTC appearing "unwilling to budge on its position" to remove those charges, the industry could look to replace that revenue stream with higher base monthly rate plans, Valentini said in a June 18 note.

Hutton acknowledged that likelihood, but he said higher prices upfront at least provide more transparency, while possibly encouraging competition.

"If you have to increase your prices so be it, but do that through the front door. Charge a price, don't surprise consumers with price increases in the middle of the contract, don't have these special little fees that come out of nowhere," he said.

"Canadians need to shop around. So sending a clear message, cancelling your service, going with another provider, exercising your consumer rights are how that will occur."

For Nanni, the CRTC's direction is a good start, but he feels there is still a long way to go when it comes to empowering consumers, especially those less proactive than him.

He said stronger restrictions on what fees providers can charge can help the regulator avoid playing "whack-a-mole" as far as enforcement.

"I mean, you're getting dinged with fees that people never saw before," said Nanni.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2026.