How to keep your Canadian phone number when you move abroad
The CRA still texts you after you move abroad. So do your bank, your credit card and plenty of the apps you log into. If those codes go to a SIM sitting in a drawer, you're locked out until you can read them.
There are three common ways to keep a Canadian number for those codes: a Canadian carrier line, an app number like Fongo or TextNow, or a forwarding service like Tether Mobile.
What matters most is whether the service will text the number. Before sending a code, many services look up what kind of number it is, and some won't text internet (VoIP) or virtual numbers. Why some services won't text virtual numbers explains how that lookup works.
Which one fits
- A Canadian carrier line if you need to call, reply or use data on your Canadian number.
- An app number if you mostly call and text people, and the accounts that matter already send codes to it.
- Tether Mobile if you only need to receive texts, and you want them in email or your messaging apps without a SIM.
Side by side
| Canadian SIM or eSIM | App number |  Tether Mobile |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Number type | Mobile | VoIP | Virtual (VLN) |
| Calls and sending texts |  Yes |
Yes |
 No, receive only |
| Mobile data | Yes, with a roaming plan |
No |
No |
| No SIM needed | No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Works outside Canada | Depends on the plan | Over Wi-Fi or data | Yes |
| Where texts arrive | Your phone | The app | Email, Telegram, LINE or Discord |
| Cost | Prepaid from about $20 CAD/month, plus roaming | Free app, texting add-ons from about $3 CAD/month | US$15/month with 50 SMS |
A Canadian carrier line
Keeping a Canadian line working from abroad takes some planning:
- Check that it works abroad. Some budget prepaid plans don't work outside Canada at all, not even to receive a text.
- Receiving texts is usually cheap. On some big carriers, receiving a text doesn't trigger the daily roaming fee. That fee runs $16 to $18 a day when it does apply.
- Don't count on Wi-Fi Calling. Some carriers only offer it in Canada and the US.
- Read the terms. Daily roaming passes aren't meant for living abroad, and some aren't available on prepaid plans.
- Keep paying. A prepaid account that stops paying is put on hold, then closed, and the number goes with it.
App numbers
Apps like Fongo and TextNow give you a Canadian number that runs over Wi-Fi or data. They handle calls and texts both ways, and they cost little or nothing.
Codes are the weak spot. TextNow's help center says "Canadian verification codes are largely unsupported at this time." Fongo says some services "actively block VOIP services like Fongo" and doesn't guarantee you'll get activation codes.
Watch for inactivity too. Fongo deletes accounts after 120 days of inactivity, and incoming messages don't count as activity. TextNow recycles inactive numbers on its free plan.
Tether Mobile
Tether Mobile gives you a Canadian number without a SIM. When a text arrives, we forward it to Email, Telegram, LINE or Discord.
Our Canadian numbers are virtual long numbers (VLNs), not mobile numbers. Most services we've tested send codes to them, including the CRA, Wealthsimple, Wise and Air Canada. The service compatibility page lists every service we've tested, so check the ones you rely on.
You sign up online from wherever you are, with no SIM to activate. A Canadian number is US$15/month with 50 SMS included (with additional packs available), and no setup fees. Pay annually and you pay for 11 months.
What the CRA and your bank accept
- The CRA sends passcodes only to phone numbers in North American Numbering Plan countries, like Canada and the US. It warns that some VoIP services may not work, and offers an authenticator app and a passcode grid that don't need a phone. In our testing, CRA codes do reach Tether Mobile's Canadian numbers.
- RBC sends one-time passcodes only to a Canadian or US number.
- TD and Scotiabank accept international numbers, so your local number abroad can work too.
Most banks also let you approve sign-ins in their app. CIBC calls that the most convenient way to get a code while travelling.
When Tether Mobile isn't the right pick
- You need calls. We can't make or receive them, so codes sent by voice call won't reach you.
- You need to reply. Plans receive texts only.
- You need mobile data. Get a local SIM or a travel eSIM.
- A service won't text virtual numbers. Use a carrier line or the service's authenticator app for that account.
Before you switch
Set up the new number while your current one still works. Add it to each important account and trigger a real login code. Keep your old number until codes have come through more than once, and turn on an authenticator app wherever an account offers one.
