Editing SIM lock (section)

=== Canada ===
Under revisions to the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) Wireless Code of Conduct effective 1 December 2017, all new devices must be sold unlocked, and carriers must offer to unlock phones purchased prior to this date free of charge.<ref name="crtc-simlockban">{{cite web|title=Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-200|date=15 June 2017|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-200.htm|publisher=CRTC|access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> Fees may be required if the customer was not under a contract or prepaid plan with the carrier.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2019/2019-169.htm|title=Wireless Code – Request to clarify the device unlocking rules|date=2019-05-23|publisher=CRTC|access-date=2019-06-05}}</ref>

After the implementation of this rule, [[Bell Canada]] initially refused to offer unlocks for users who were not customers of the carrier (in contrast to [[Rogers Communications|Rogers]] and [[Telus Communications]]), but reversed course in February 2018 due to public backlash.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-telecom-free-phone-unlocking-crtc-1.4517373|title=Bell offers free phone unlocking for all following protests|work=CBC News|access-date=2018-08-13|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-crtc-free-phone-unlocking-1.4446825|title='It's ridiculous': Critics blast Bell for not unlocking all phones for free under new CRTC rules|work=CBC News|access-date=2018-08-13|language=en-US}}</ref> In a filing to the CRTC in August 2018, Bell also stated that it had begun to reimplement SIM locks on unsold phones as an anti-theft and safety measure (the phones are unlocked during the activation process when sold to a customer), citing increases in theft from store stocks since the implementation of the prohibition.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/08/13/bell-returns-to-stocking-carrier-locked-phones-at-retail-locations/|title=Bell returns to stocking carrier-locked phones at retail locations|date=2018-08-13|work=MobileSyrup|access-date=2018-08-13|language=en-US}}</ref>

Under the original version of the Wireless Code implemented 2013, carriers were required to offer unlocks no later than 90 calendar days from the start of a contract for subsidized devices, or immediately upon purchase of an unsubsidized device. The Code, however, did not expressly prohibit carriers from charging an unlock fee.<ref name="crtc-simlockban">{{cite web|title=Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-200|date=15 June 2017|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-200.htm|publisher=CRTC|access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2013/r130603.htm#.Uee_cl3D-00|title=Canadians can cancel their wireless contracts after two years under new CRTC wireless code|publisher=CRTC|access-date=2013-06-03}}</ref>

Prior to the introduction of the Wireless Code, [[New Democratic Party]] MP [[Bruce Hyer]] first attempted to mandate SIM unlocking at the end of cell phone contracts when he introduced a [[private member's bill]] entitled the [[Cell Phone Freedom Act]] in 2010. The act would not have banned SIM locking but would have required wireless carriers to unlock phones at no charge at the end of a cell phone contract. The bill was introduced in two sessions of parliament but failed to pass either time.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}