Cell Phone Freedom Act


The Cell Phone Freedom Act was a private member's bill proposed twice to the Parliament of Canada which would have required mobile phone providers remove the SIM lock from devices once a customer reaches the end of their contract.
It was first introduced on June 17, 2010 in the House of Commons of Canada as Bill C-560 by Bruce Hyer, then the New Democratic Party Small Business Critic and Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Superior North. Bill C-560 was expired due to the government's defeat in March 2011. Hyer reintroduced the Cell Phone Freedom Act under the new session of parliament on November 3, 2011, as Bill C-343.

Provisions

The Cell Phone Freedom Act, if passed, would have mandated that:
Under the proposed legislation, wireless service providers may still employ such locks on customer phones while under contract, so it is unlikely to impact the common practice of offering subsidized phones on contracts.

Results

announced on December 15, 2010 that they would start offering to unlock all of their customers handsets for a flat fee of $50, in response to public pressure on the issue. The other two major national carriers, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility, and their sub-brands followed suit in early 2011 provided that the device operated on their network as well as having a postpaid account for at least 90 days.
While the bill never became law, SIM locking was ultimately banned in Canada on December 1, 2017 as part of amendments to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's Wireless Code. All new devices in Canada must be sold unlocked, and carriers must offer to unlock existing phones free-of-charge.