ridiculous 911 fee text from PM

[canadave]

I don't mind paying a 911 tax. But it's really shady for Public Mobile to text me and tell me that starting July 31, I'll see an Alberta provincial mandated 911 tax of 95 cents on my bill. We've been paying that tax all along for years now, and PM is making it sound like it's a brand-new thing. So essentially, unless I'm misreading this, they will be separating the tax out on our bill, adding it to the bill total, and making it seem like "we're just doing what the government says with their new 911 tax" (which isn't new), while raising our bills 95 cents a month.

Really disappointed that PM would obfuscate things like this. Like, if you want to raise your plan rates by 95 cents a month, just say so.

[computergeek541]

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@as23 wrote:

it is the government to blame

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These e911 fees existed before.  I do not know of anything that states that Public Mobile must charge this on top of the plan fees, only that the fee has be submitted to them.  Up until now, Public Mobile has been absorbing this cost. I see them deciding to now charge the fee on top of the plan price to be the same as a price increase, something that all carriers can do with prices.

[as23]

it is the government to blame

[eddieO]

@canadave with a bit of luck hopefully it was just a generic message that was sent and that Albertan's will see the amount simply separated out but I would message a support agent to see if they are able to confirm how this will be processed going forward. Here in Ontario, my home phone company is collecting $2.20 a month for emergency 911 service fee. 

[canadave]

"Notably, Alberta has had a 9-1-1 tax for years, so it’s not entirely clear why Public is now messaging customers about it. Alberta raised its 9-1-1 tax from $0.44 to the current $0.95 in September 2021."

This is what's bugging me. We've always paid 95 cents in tax. If PM is raising the total bill by 95 cents under the pretext of "this is a new Alberta thing we have to do now", that would be pretty bad.

Of course, if the total bill stays the same, and PM is simply separating out the 911 tax, that would be fine--but then it's a poorly written text by them, if that's all they're doing.

[BKNS27]

@canadave 

It seems like this is the Alberta Provincial Government requirement but Alberta has been paying for 911 taxes and it seems like this is a reminder.

Other carriers will follow suit.

https://mobilesyrup.com/2025/07/03/public-mobile-9-1-1-tax/?utm_source=MobileSyrup-Antenna&utm_mediu...