SpaceX is slashing the introductory price of mobile satellite internet for Canadians, revealing a temporary sale on Starlink Roam that blows standard roam-grade connections out of the water. The offer is aimed at travelers, RV owners, seasonal workers and rural Canadians who need broadband that moves with them rather than a single home address.
What the Starlink Roam deal includes
Starlink’s service pages break down the price of the plan in a few places: 50GB of data is now CAD$39 (down from CAD$70) and unlimited data is now CAD$110 per month (seemingly reduced from around CAD$189). The offer is only valid for new customers signing up for a single service line, and comes with six months of discounted billing. Starlink adds that if you change plans, cancel service or are suspended, the promotional pricing will no longer apply.
You can access service in more than one Canadian destination and while abroad in eligible countries with Roam plans. That portability — along with hardware that can be erected in a few minutes on a tripod or the sign of an outfitter’s store by video-game pioneers — has made Starlink the go-to for job sites, long-haul trips and cabins well beyond fiber or fixed wireless.
Why this is important for rural and remote access
Last-mile broadband is infamously costly in Canada, thanks to the country’s vast geography. Regulators like the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission have established 50Mbps down/10Mbps up with unlimited data as a universal service target, though many rural and northern communities still do not have reliable access. In homes that lie beyond fiber builds or microwave backhaul, a low-cost Roam plan can be the first practical way to receive modern speeds and latency good enough for cloud apps and videoconferencing.
Independent performance measurements have shown Starlink providing median download speeds over 100Mbps in many parts of Canada while latency gets better on newer satellites and with the advent of laser interlinks that densify coverage. Real world performance varies by location and network congestion but the profile is good enough to serve as a patchwork for your cellular hotspots with mobile users.
Roam vs. residential: What sets them apart
Roam is portable; residential is locked to a fixed service address. Roam traffic can be further deprioritized in times of congestion, so performance during peak hours could be worse than residential service on a lightly loaded cell. The trade-off is the freedom to set up at campsites or job sites (or even a secondary residence) without filing a service move.
The discount also comes as Starlink looks to be winding down a separate residential promo in North America. That shift would indicate that SpaceX is overdosing on mobile-use-cases-where-traditional-ISPs-can’t-abide-silliness while its rapidly expanding constellation can help it service seasonal or nomadic demand slowly enough that the truck rolls and local plant upgades remain at bay.
Hardware and the Starlink Mini angle
Roam is compatible with standard Starlink hardware and the smaller Starlink Mini, which is a portable dish that can fit in a backpack, sips power and has built-in Wi-Fi. The Mini with the Roam is especially appealing to overlanders and responders, as it can be set up quickly on low power from backup batteries or vehicle inverters.
Meanwhile other users are finding small and brief nationwide deals on the main dish in Canada, where the CA$499 list price usually maintains firm. Even without equipment promotions, the service-side price reduction significantly reduces the first six months of total ownership per new subscriber trying mobility-based use cases.
Where Canada falls in SpaceX’s larger pricing strategy
Starlink has been offering similar Roam discounts in certain European countries, such as France, Germany and Spain — suggesting a targeted effort where roaming demand is strong despite spotty terrestrial coverage. Industry watchers say those promotions help SpaceX sign up more businesses to use satellite beams and time-of-day windows — a useful way to grow revenue without materially increasing ground infrastructure.
For Canadian buyers, conditions are currently favourable. Government programs being led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada still help finance fiber builds but these take years to complete. A cost-effective plan for Roam provides an instant, portable stopgap or longterm solution to those who work on the water, off-grid or in transit.
Before you sign up
Data tiers are tiered, with the 50GB plan best suited for lighter users or people who take occasional trips and Unlimited better for those on the road more often or in multiuser setups. As with all shared-satellite networks, quality of service depends on location and congestion, and roaming is enabled only in some countries. Potential customers are asked to read over Starlink’s fair use and mobility policies, and confirm that their planned routes or campsites are covered.
Bottom line: By reducing the price of Starlink Roam in Canada, SpaceX is making mobile broadband more accessible for people and businesses that have long paid a premium — or gone without. For a nation defined by distance, that’s a material change.