Canadians will soon pay even more at Rogers after the company raised its wireless connection fee from $70 to $75 just seven months after the last increase.
Notices on the Rogers website and its flanker brand, Fido, now list the new $75 ‘Service Setup Fee.’ Rogers still offers to waive the fee for customers who sign up online.
“A Setup Service Fee of $75 applies to setup your device and related services. The Setup Service Fee is waived through self-serve on rogers.com (but not through Live Chat and Customer Service). If you require device setup in-store thereafter, a $75 Setup Service Fee will apply. Taxes extra,” reads Rogers’ website.
This is the 11th connection fee increase since Rogers switched to charging a $15 connection fee back in 2013. Prior to the change, Rogers charged separate $35 hardware upgrade administration and $35 activation fees. At the time, Rogers said the fee was not a response to changes in the CRTC’s Wireless Customer Code.
Starting in 2015, Rogers started increasing the connection fee by $5-$10 every year or two, most recently going from $60 to $70 in mid-2024.
While Bell and Telus still charge $70 connection fees, the Big Three tend to copy each other when increasing connection fees. Last year, Telus raised its connection fee to $70 in August, while Bell waited until October to raise its connection fee.
With Rogers kickstarting the latest increase, we’ll likely see $75 fees across the board within the next few months. Meanwhile, Freedom Mobile charges a $45 connection fee, last increased in 2021.
These price hikes come despite the federal government amending the Telecommunications Act in 2024 to prohibit charging fees to customers to switch carriers. While the connection fee isn’t explicitly a fee for switching, it does increase the cost of changing providers.
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
