If you want to switch from your current provider which is Telus, do NOT cancel your phone number. If you call and cancel your phone number, you will have to pay to have the number reactivated (usually within 30days), and it's also possible you won't be able to get the phone number back. It will be returned to the original carrier that you first obtained the phone number from.
To port over your phone number, you'll need your current Telus Account # (Usually 8 to 9 digits depending on when you activated with them), and your current cell phone number. There's an option to have your number ported under My Account when you wish to transfer in a different provider's phone number.
You can sign up with Public Mobile and also have them submit the phone number port request when you're completing the activation in store or online, or you can also port the phone number from Telus when wish to do so through the self serve menu. Personally, if you're not comfortable doing the port yourself, you can ask a Public Mobile representative in person when you're signing up to submit the port request for you; they'll assign you a temporary phone number to use until the phone number port is successful.
Also, Telus should owe you prorated credits based on the number of days remaining in your billing cycle assuming you're on a post-paid/monthly plan, or you'll have to pay them if you haven't been keeping up with your payments. If you're on a prepaid plan, this won't be applicable. By Prorated, I mean in other words, if you've overpaid based on the number of days of service because you pay one month in advance for almost all of the postpaid plans for the telecommuncation companies in Canada, they'll owe you a refund in the form of a cheque, otherwise don't forget to pay off your final bill, it simply depends on how much your balance is overthere. Telus will send you a final bill once you've successfully transferred your phone number away if you're on a monthly plan, assuming there are no other active phone numbers on that same account.
