Not much you won't already know when it comes to long distance as the large American providers have had service in Canada for a long time now. There are a lot of choices, and the competition is fierce. 10 cents a minute across the nation is very common, so is 10 cents to Canada and the U.K. Most of the regular package deals are 12 cents to Canada, and you have to keep checking the web sites to catch the promotions. For example I have 5 cents to Canada on Sundays from Sprint. Best thing to do is call up and ask them what kind of deal they can hook you up with. When you're in California you'll notice the incredible amount of area codes. It took a long time for Toronto to have the need to split the area code, but most of the time there's no long distance charge. That's not the same in California. From calling one city to another you'll pay a small fee (like 2 cents a minute), gone are the days of only having to remember 7 digits. Here, you always have to remember the full 10. You dial a one in front of the number, you're paying for it. The just recently opened up local carrier competition. So you don't necessarily have to be signed up with Pacific Bell for long distance or local calling. When you sign up for phone service, Pac Bell will actually ask what long distance carrier you want. MCI has been very agressive in promoting air miles with their service, up to 10 000 miles for signing up. You can also use this competition to your advantage, once you have a long distance provider, call up another one and tell them your plan and they'll most likely beat it. Then your original provider will call you up and ask why you changed, and you tell them about your new plan, and then they'll try to beat that. Link To Check LowerMyBills - Has a Good Long Distance Plan Finder Long Distance Rate Check Smart Price LD Finder I saved this article in the newspaper that talks about the long distance arena, check it out.