The Fees That Died on June 12

Three of the most familiar line items on a Canadian phone or internet bill became illegal this summer. If you're here because you searched “2026-43” — this is the decision that did it, what it actually covers, and what to do when a dead fee shows up on your bill anyway.

On March 12, 2026, the CRTC issued Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-43, prohibiting the fees providers charge for starting, changing, and leaving a phone or internet plan. The ban has been enforced since June 12, 2026. It applies to every telecom provider in the country — the national carriers, the regional players, the flanker brands, the discount MVNOs, and internet service providers.

What Exactly Is Banned

• Activation fees — charges for turning a plan on. Signing up for service is not a service the provider gets to bill you for.
• Change fees — charges for modifying an existing plan, including changes made through a customer service agent.
• Cancellation fees — charges for leaving, with one carve-out explained below.

The mechanism is an amendment to the Wireless Code and the Internet Code — the rulebooks that govern wireless and internet contracts — flowing from amendments to the Telecommunications Act that came into force on October 30, 2025. The Commission gave providers until June 12, 2026 to update their billing systems, noting that in the meantime the fees could simply be waived manually at the point of sale.

The One Carve-Out Worth Understanding

The cancellation-fee ban applies when no subsidized device is involved. If your contract included a subsidized phone — one you're paying off through your plan — the provider can still collect what's owed on the device when you leave early. That is a device balance, not an exit penalty.

The distinction matters when you're reading a final bill. A remaining device balance is legitimate. A “deactivation charge,” an “early cancellation fee” on a bring-your-own-device plan, or any fee for the act of leaving itself is what 2026-43 killed.

Why the CRTC Did It

The Commission's reasoning is about competition, not courtesy: a fee at the exit is a barrier to switching, and a market where leaving costs money is a market where providers compete less on price and service. Policy 2026-43 was the first of three decisions in the CRTC's Consumer Protections Action Plan, followed by bill-shock notification rules and the self-service cancellation mandate of Policy 2026-78 — together, a framework built on the idea that you should be able to enter, change, and exit a telecom service without friction.

The Ban Is Already Being Tested

Within weeks of June 12, all three national carriers had fees on their books that the ban supposedly did not cover — setup fees, shipping fees, SIM fees, a device-handling fee. The CRTC has ordered Bell, Telus, and Rogers to show cause why those charges don't violate the new rules, with penalties of up to $10 million on the table. We covered that proceeding here — and the public comment window closes August 31, 2026. If you paid one of these fees after June 12, your bill is evidence, and there are four days left to put it on the record.

What to Do If a Banned Fee Shows Up on Your Bill

1. Keep the bill. A charge dated after June 12, 2026 for activation, a plan change, or cancelling a no-device plan is the whole case.
2. Ask the provider to remove it, citing Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-43. Get a reference number for the call.
3. Escalate if they refuse — both Bell and Rogers have management-team escalation forms.
4. Take it to the CCTS if it stays on your bill. The Wireless and Internet Codes are exactly what the CCTS enforces in individual disputes, the service is free, and our CCTS complaint guide walks through the process.

The Asterisk, as Always

Policy 2026-43 is a telecom decision. It covers your cellphone and internet plans. It does not cover television or broadcasting distribution services, which live under a separate statutory framework — one that has no equivalent fee ban and no self-service exit mandate. The gap between how the CRTC now treats a telecom subscriber and how it treats a TV subscriber is the running theme of this site, and it got wider on June 12.

Further Reading

• Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-43
• A $40 Fee for Handing You a Phone — the show cause proceeding
• CRTC Mandates Self-Service Cancellation — Policy 2026-78

Tracking active CRTC consultations on broadcasting consumer protection — see our CRTC consultation tracker.