Question about changing phone number after moving province

[ryi]

Hi, 

If I change my number from ON to AB, will the people calling my Ontario number be redirected to my new AB number? Is there anyway to ensure I can do this or is this just not possible?

Thanks

[maximum_gato]

@Andmidori 

The change number feature will pull up phone numbers based on the province chosen. If no province is chosen its based on the address on file.

@softech 

No worries it's almost impossible to get a family doctor here.....so you head straight to emergency or wait a week for an appointment at a walk in clinic.

[softech]

@Andmidori 

Ontario number when you are in BC.

Yes, your BC friends need to call your Ontario number to reach you .  If they have Canada wide calling (many current mobile plans have it), then even they call a Ontario number, it is free.  However, your BC friends who have older landline or older plan would then need to pay long distance fee to call your Ontario number.  This could be an issue for medical offices (in BC) as they tend to have traditional plans and need to pay LD charge calling your Ontario number

Your friends in Ontario will still be calling a Ontario number to reach you,  so it would be like before, no long distance charge

[Andmidori]

Ahh...I think we have touched on the real issue here.....when I move to B.C. 

correct me if I am wrong  but i think you got it backward...  I initiated my account and number in Ontario...so when I move to B.C....wouldn't it be that my new friends in B.C. would be calling long distance...(even though they are technically physically closer to me)  and it would be my family and old friends in Ontario that would not have to pay extra ( even though I am farther away) because I still have my number initiated in Ontario .....am I wrong   is it me that has it backward ?  

[softech]

@Andmidori   sorry, I got the direction wrong earlier, you are moving from Ontario to BC 🙂

No, there is no mandatory phone number change requirement.  PM is a prepaid provider and they don't really care where you are and what number you got as long as you pay the bill🤣

So, in short you don't have to change the number just because you move.  It is a more a personal preference that if you are ok your friend, or some important businesses in your home town, able to call you long distance (they might or might not need to pay LD charge depends on their plans).  But for you, no extra charge for receiving calls from out of province

[Andmidori]

Yes ,  I have unlimited Canada -wide minutes....which I am assuming most people would ( maybe some wouldn't)  which is why I was confused when seeing other people being advised they need to change their number if they change province.  I would much rather leave everything as is since it took some work getting everyone my new number. Yes b.C has a 1% lower tax rate than Ontario, but that amounts to pennies...so ...No , I wouldn't change just for that. I was just hoping it wasn't mandatory that I get a so called " B.C number" . I was always confused by this because people talk about area codes..but I'm in a 613 area code in Ontario...when you get a cell #  it's not 613  ...so I don't know if cells have a separarte , different area code...because people here dont all have the same  first 3 digits on their cell....many do  but many don't...not sure how it works for cell phones.  

[softech]

@Andmidori   Usually you won't get "roaming" or Long distance charge if you keep your BC number but move to Ontario.  But check if you have  a Provincial calling plan or Canada Wide Calling plan.  Most of us should have a Canada wide calling plan

So, I guess you don't have to worry about changing number.  But note 2 things:

1. PM charged tax based on the province of the phone number and not your location.  So, you would be charged BC rate rather than Ontario rate (which is 12%, better than Ontario's 13%)
2.  Your friends in Ontario will be calling your BC number.  Many of us in different carriers already have Canada wide calling plan, so, it shouldn't matter.  But some landline might still have traditional calling and hence need to call long distance to reach you.  Medical office usually like that, so be aware of that

[Andmidori]

please ..speak to me as if I know nothing. How is it if i am able to log in and change the number ( because I am moving Ontario to B.C. )  will B.C. numbers automatically come up  just because I log in in B.C. ? I dont understand if in fact it is necessary to change my number when moving out of province ( I would rather not have to do that )  but I also dont want higher roaming charges or whatever..How will logging in and changing my number ensure that I get a B.C. number ??? 

[Nezgar]

Before you change your number, try to figure out / disable any authentication services you use for authentication via SMS. Once you change your number, you cannot receive texts sent to the old number. For many popular sites like facebook, twitter, linkedin, paypal, etc you can use a TOTP App instead of SMS which generates a random 6-digit code for each service within the app, and is not dependant on your phones connection to the internet. As such it is considered more secure since a thief cannot gain access by port-out or sim-swap fraud. some App examples are Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator.

One positive of switching your phone number to an Alberta number is you will pay 0% PST on all future top-up payments, since they base the sales tax on the province/territory of your phone number.

If you DID want to keep your ON number, you could sign up for a cheap VoIP-based service with an Alberta number that just forwards to your ON number... (TextNow App, freephoneline.ca, Fongo Mobile, NumberBarn.com, etc)

[darlicious]

@ryi 

Then plan ahead pick a voip provider phone number from either fongo or textnow. They both can offer a better selection of desirable area codes that can be difficult to obtain thru pm like the 403 area code. You can call forward a selection of your conditional or unconditional call forwarding options to the voip provider before the move and keep the Ontario number for the first month or so that you are in Alberta. Then cancel all the call forwarding and port in the voip provider phone #. This coud take 2+ business days to complete.

Info about call forwarding can be found here by @Nezgar ....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Out-of-service-area-or-on-Airplane-mode/m...

textnow porting info supplied by @softech 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Saying-calls-rejected/m-p/712009/highligh...

And finally porting from fongo...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Fongo-Port-to-PM-quot-cancelled-quot-but-...

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info

[ryi]

I'm planning to move to AB forever so I think it would just be better to change to an AB number 

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@cellphoneuser1 

Actually I was trying to work this out in my mind but you are correct however especially if planning ahead getting a fongo or textnow Alberta phone number that you call forward the pm number to for a month or two or three while still in Ontario even....then once the majority of contacts are familiar or updated you port in the fongo or textnow number into your pm account. This way you only pay for one service.

@ryi 

Your answer perhaps?

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info

[ryi]

Yes it's a permanent move that's a shame but oh well I guess. 

[esjliv]

@ryi  - once you change your phone number, the number you previously had is gone.

Is there a reason you cannot keep the Ontario number when you are in AB?

You can change your phone number up to 4 times every 30 days after you’ve activated.

To change or transfer your number after activation, go to your Self Serve Account here and:

• Select the “Plans and Add ons” tab
• Click on “Change Phone Number”
• Then, you can choose to select a new phone number 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/port-fraud-protection

[cellphoneuser1]

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@ryi wrote:

Hi, 

If I change my number from ON to AB, will the people calling my Ontario number be redirected to my new AB number? Is there anyway to ensure I can do this or is this just not possible?

Thanks

---

Yes, it's possible if you open a new account and pay for two accounts.  Forward your Ontario number to the Alberta number.  You'll be paying for two plans.

[darlicious]

@ryi 

No....I remember when that was a service offered for landlines but it's not something offered anymore and not offered for mobile lines. Is this a permanent move to Alberta? Of course the advantage of an Alberta phone # is you only pay gst on your phone services. Or keep your Ontario phone # and pay by vouchers bought in Alberta. Nearly everyone has Canada wide calling these days.....maybe send out a group text updating your phone #?

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info