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Moving from Ontario to Nova Scotia

suekitchoo
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

Hello,

 

I am moving from Ontario to Nova Scotia at the end of the month and want to keep my Toronto number (I've had it for 13 years).

 

Questions:

  1. Can I keep my number and plan as-is, or would I need to change to a Nova Scotia local number and plan? 
  2. I have Canada-wide calls on my plan, so if I kept my number and plan, I would not be charged long-distance for calls, texts or data use, right? 
  3. If people in NS did not have Canada-wide calls on their plan, would they be charged long distance to call me if I kept my number and plan?
  4. If me keeping my number and plan from Ontario is considered long-distance for people in NS who don't have Canada-wide calls: if I switched to a local plan there, could I still keep my Toronto number and therefore people wouldn't be charged long-distances (due to local plan)?

I have years of contacts, official institutions have my number etc: it will be a nightmare to change so I am hoping to find a painless way to keep my number.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

1 REPLY 1

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello Suekitchoo,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  I can understand wanting to keep a phone number; I've had mine for a while now as well. There are some considerations in doing so, especially if you're moving out of Province.

 

  Yes, you can keep your phone number and plan in your new Province. However, you should note that the taxes on your bill are related to your phone number, not where you reside. So you would be paying Ontario taxes, not NS taxes on your services. Since your plan includes Canada-wide calling, keeping your phone number from a different Province would not incur you long-distance charges. However, you should also note that for people from NS calling your phone number, their calls would be considered long-distance, even though you might be in NS. They're still calling an Ontario phone number. It's not possible to have a NS plan with Ontario phone number. Even if it were possible, your phone number's area code and prefix will always be a Toronto number.

 

  Further, in addition to people in NS having to incur long-distance charges if you kept your phone number, some services are simply unable to make to make the calls. For example, I only moved between cities within the same Province and kept my phone number. However, my building's intercom buzz system cannot dial my phone number because it's considered long-distance. Rather than change my phone number, I opted to get a local pre-paid phone number just for the intercom system.

 

  As alluded to above, you should also note that your current mobile plan is linked to your phone number and may not be available in other Provinces. Even if the plans appear identical, there might be cost differences between the Provinces. If you would like to change your phone number between Provinces, you'll likely also need to change your plan to one available in your new Province.

 

  I'm not sure if there is an easy solution for this situation. You're right, many institutions use phone numbers for verification purposes so changing phone numbers can be a hassle. For myself, I acknowledge that people in my new city might have to incur long-distance charges in order to call me.  And, I got the pre-paid number for my building. Others have opted for a second line and had calls to their old number forwarded to the new phone number. However, that involves additional cost and having to manage two phone numbers. There might also be some IP forwarding services as well. Unfortunately, none of the solutions I can think of are ideal.

 

  If you would like to change your phone number and plan, you will likely need to contact customer service so they can access your account to perform the change. I don't think My Account will allow both changes at the same time. Alternatively, you might consider sending @FidoSolutions a PM. Once they verify some information, they'll also be able to access your account.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers