Incidental Roaming when still in Canada

Workwork — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:14:07 GMT

Why am I getting roaming messages if I m still in Canada?

❗AI Summary:

A Virgin Plus Member in Canada near the U.S. border could connect to a U.S. carrier's tower, triggering a Roam Sweet Roam notification and/or roaming charges. This is simply because the phone has connected to a U.S. cellular tower - regardless if never physically leaving Canada.

Why?

Mobile networks are not like people; as in they don’t stop at or stop functioning at borders. They're signal frequencies that broadcast and flow outwards like a wave. Your phone follows signal strength and will always choose to connect to the strongest signal—a stronger or closer U.S. tower can override nearby Canadian ones.

This especially and most often happens:

Near lakes, oceans, bays, coastlines or open terrain - where water helps bounce or carry frequencies, allowing them to travel farther.
At higher elevations - where line‑of‑sight to a U.S. tower is improved.
If our tower or network signal is weak or obstructed
If your phone is set to 'automatic network selection' - where the setting allows the phone to connect to the most stable or strongest network signal it can.

Keeping in mind that all of these things can and do happen in reverse (i.e. Canada to U.S.) as well.

How to prevent unwanted connections to a U.S. network?

To avoid any unwanted roaming charges, Members should take the initiative and ensure to:

1. Manually select Virgin Plus as the phone's network - turning off 'automatic network selection'.

2. Ensure you have or upgrade to a mobile plan that includes U.S. voice, text and data usage.

3. Add a roaming block at the account level or disable roaming all together. Preventing the phone from connecting to any other network.

Re: Incidental Roaming when still in Canada

VirginPlusAntonie — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:30:52 GMT

Hey there @Workwork,

Welcome to the Community and thanks for your post.

This normally happens when someone is located or traveling close to a Canada-USA boarder as your device may connect to a roaming tower, especially if you're close to a body of water.☺

To avoid any unwanted roaming charges, Members should completed at least one of the following: