I'm a Canadian that works/lives in the US, but due to COVID-19 I'm stuck in Canada for a while. I wanted to keep my US number since it's what I use for work, so I decided to switch to Google Fi.

Following advice here (and here), I got ExpressVPN to change my phone's IP to Los Angeles in order to activate my Google Fi plan in Canada. The app says it was successful. Calls over Wifi work, but I get no data or can't send or make calls without Wifi. Every network here, Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Freedom, are all listed as forbidden.

After working with Google Fi support, I eventually got an email response saying:

"Unfortunately we can’t grant you an exception at this time. Your international capabilities will remain suspended until we're able to determine that your service is being primarily used in the US as per our Terms of Service. Please make sure to prepare an alternate course of action."

I completely understand this, however I've seen a lot of opposite accounts online from people saying they were able to activate Fi in Canada without issue by using a VPN. Is Google Fi now cracking down on this or did I just get unlucky? I'm on a Pixel 4.

Has anyone successfully activated Fi outside of the US using a VPN?

I often travel to Canada, i would say 90% of my time are in Canada instead of USA, previously i called Google Fi and they mentioned that as long as i am in USA, Canada or Mexico my data plan won't be affected. I am hearing that lots of people mentioned that their data will be disabled once they are out of USA for too long, so i am wondering if i will be affected in Canada. I been using Google Fi for 6 months without issues for now but as you know that Google Fi help desk is pretty useless so wonder if anyone is in the same situation as me who stays in Canada most of time without their data being disabled.

Just to add, i do travel back to USA at least once a week.

Hi everyone, I’ve been a loyal T-Mobile customer for 10+ years. I recently moved to Canada, but still want to keep my U.S. number for personal and professional reasons. Also, my parents (who don’t speak English) are still on my plan in the U.S.

Unfortunately, I only get 5GB of high-speed data in Canada with T-Mobile. After that, it drops to unusable 2G speeds — I can’t even load Google Maps or basic search. I spoke to several T-Mobile reps, and unfortunately they all said there’s no more Retention or Loyalty team, and that nothing better could be offered for my Canada usage. One even suggested I should switch to a Canadian carrier, which doesn’t work for me since I want to keep my U.S. number

Now I’m considering Google Fi, especially the Unlimited Plus plan. Does anyone here live in or frequently visit Canada and use Google Fi? How’s the high-speed data there? Any throttling? And is it really unlimited or are there hidden limits?

Would love to hear your real experiences before I make the switch.

Thanks in advance!