Fizz vs Public Mobile: Plans, Networks, and Both Referral Programs

Updated 2026-07-17 · fact-checked against official Fizz sources

Two networks, two territories

Fizz is Vidéotron’s digital brand and sells plans in five provinces: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, on Vidéotron’s network extended by partner agreements outside its home territory. Public Mobile is TELUS’s prepaid brand and runs on the TELUS network everywhere in Canada — all ten provinces and the territories.

Geography is therefore the first filter, and often the only one. In Saskatchewan, Atlantic Canada, or the territories, fizz.ca simply won’t sell you a plan: Public Mobile wins by forfeit. Inside the five provinces, though, the game is genuinely open — and we’ll say plainly where each side wins.

On speed: Fizz offers 5G in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and B.C., but its Manitoba service is LTE-only. Public Mobile sells 5G on its $35-and-up plans and 4G below that, coast to coast.

The two referral programs, side by side

You’re on a referral-code site, so here’s the heart of it, no detours. Full disclosure: the same small independent team runs both guides — this one and our Public Mobile guide — and holds an active plan with each carrier. Everything below is lived on both sides, not copied.

Read honestly, that table crowns nobody. Fizz’s bonus is clearly bigger: $40 outside Quebec — verified in a real Ontario cart on July 16, 2026, “Referral: -$40 applied to your 3rd payment”; the whole story is in $25 or $40 — and $25 in Quebec, against Public Mobile’s $10. If the welcome amount is your only criterion, Fizz pays more, full stop.

But almost everything around the amount favours Public Mobile. Timing is now a wash: Public Mobile’s posted terms say 4–8 weeks after activation, against a Fizz payout that only arrives after your second monthly payment. Forgiveness: a forgotten Public Mobile code gets added retroactively by support ticket; a Fizz code forgotten at first activation is lost forever — one referral per person, ever, and the field never reappears. Stacking: at Public Mobile, promo code and referral code apply together; at Fizz, it’s one or the other. If you’re going with Fizz, enter the code in the right place, on the first try — there is no second chance.

Plans: build-your-own versus a fixed menu

Fizz hands you a plan builder: choose your coverage (provincial, Canada, or Canada–US), your data, and your minutes, and the price assembles itself. Three Fizz advantages with no equivalent across the aisle: your price doesn’t move as long as you keep your plan; unused data rolls over for two months; and you can gift data to other members. Add the 15-day free trial with no credit card, the free eSIM, no activation fee, and the My Rewards program. One reminder that matters here: the $14–17 talk-only plans don’t qualify for the referral bonus — you need a plan of at least $20 a month; the details are on the plans page.

Public Mobile sells a fixed menu. In August 2026 it runs from $20 for 1GB to $50 for 175GB of 5G data, with Canada–US–Mexico coverage from $35/25GB up, and the lineup gets reshuffled almost monthly. After activation, Public Points accrue: 2% back on payments, plus 5 points on each anniversary. And at Public Mobile, every plan qualifies for the referral credit, even the $20 entry tier.

On SIMs it’s nearly a draw: eSIM on both sides, and Public Mobile also sells physical SIM cards at Walmart and on Amazon.

Where Public Mobile wins, honestly

• All of Canada. The TELUS network everywhere, versus five provinces — with 5G in each of them, where Fizz stays on LTE in Manitoba.
• Referral mechanics. A code that’s recoverable after the fact, and stackable with a promo code. Fizz’s program is unforgiving and exclusive; on timing the two are now a wash — 4–8 weeks at Public Mobile against Fizz’s two-month anniversary.
• Recurring referrer rewards. $1 every 30 days per active friend, forever, versus $25 once.
• Cross-border data. Its upper tiers cover Canada–US–Mexico; the Fizz builder stops at Canada–US.

If you live outside the five provinces, if a credit you can still recover after the fact puts you at ease, or if you plan to refer loyal friends for years, Public Mobile is a sound choice — those are real needs Fizz doesn’t serve.

Where Fizz keeps the edge

• The welcome bonus. $25–40 versus $10: the single biggest number in this whole comparison.
• The price lock. Public Mobile’s lineup changes almost monthly; at Fizz, stability is an explicit promise.
• Data rollover and gifting. Your unused gigabytes live for two months and can be given away. At Public Mobile, they die with the cycle.
• The free trial. Fifteen days, no credit card. Nothing comparable across the aisle.
• In Quebec: the whole household. Home Internet and TV, and the referral code works for Internet too.

What the two have in common

Both are digital by design: no stores, no phone support — chatbots, tickets, and community forums on both sides. Neither offers Wi-Fi Calling: Fizz never has, and we checked a live Public Mobile line in July 2026 — the option doesn’t exist there either. And both run on real big-carrier networks — TELUS on one side, Vidéotron and its partners on the other. The savings come from the missing service layer, not missing towers.

Referring friends: $25 once or $1 a month

The two programs pay the referrer on different clocks. Fizz pays $25 per friend, once, about two months after activation, with no cap. Public Mobile pays $1 every 30 days per active friend — about $12 a year, for as long as the friend stays, with no cap.

The crossover point sits around 25 months. A friend who leaves after a year: Fizz’s $25 beats Public Mobile’s roughly $12. A friend who stays five years: Public Mobile’s roughly $60 comfortably passes Fizz’s single $25. Fizz pays better right away; Public Mobile pays better if your friends stick around. Both sentences are true — pick the clock that looks like your circle.

The bottom line

Geography first: outside the five provinces, Public Mobile wins without debate. Inside them, it’s a genuine matter of preference. If national coverage, an instant credit that forgives mistakes, and recurring rewards weigh more for you, Public Mobile is a sensible choice — our guide linked above covers its program end to end. If the bigger bonus, the locked price, data rollover and the free trial speak to you more, stay with Fizz: build a plan of at least $20, enter the code on this page in the single field before submitting your order — where to enter the code shows exactly where — and remember the one rule that never forgives: never retroactive.

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