Simply owing money to a carrier does not automatically disqualify number porting eligibility.
Phone number ports can also often (but not always) be done seamlessly even when the porting out the number causes the account balance to have a high amount owing on the final bill due to a high oustanding device subsidy amount. But I know that in the case of Wind Mobile, they have sometimes/often refused to let a phone nubmer to port out until after the remaining WINDtab was paid off.
Even being past due does always prevent poritng a number out. The amount of time that the account is past due and whether or not the account has been put in the non-payment suspension can come into play.
The OP can still try to port the the Bell phone number in. The request's success will have to do with whether or not Bell actually anything to actively block the transfer of the this phone number.
Keep in the mind that even if Bell allow the phone number to be transfered to Public Mobile, the Bell bill still needs to be paid. If it is not paid, they will likely send it to debt collection eventually. If you believe that Bell has made a mistake in the amounts that they have billed you, you will need to contact Bell customer service to discuss.
