Howto: Google Voice in Canada
15. Jul, 2009 
126 Comments
Update: Check here for invites.
Update 2: No more need for invites! – Skip straight to step 3 below.
Update 3: I made a proxy for you all. Try http://proxy.wifitalk.ca and let me know if it works. -Actually, it seems this proxy doesn’t pass the javascript properly. Can anyone recommend a good php proxy I can host that will do this?
Okay, so I just got my invite and I got Google Voice to work. In Canada. Sorta. Here’s how to get it to work from a non-US location:
1. Getting the Invite:
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/ in case you haven’t already.
2. Wait
You just have to wait for an email invite… I know of no way to speed this up.
3. What to do with the email:
If you just click on the link in the invite email it’ll tell you that google voice isn’t offered in your country (unless you’re in the US) and won’t let you do anything. You need a US IP address. For this, use hotspot shield. Activate hotspot shield and click on the invite link in your email.
Update: According to a commenter, hotspotshield may contain some malware. The point of this step is to make google think you are in the US, so you need a US IP address. I have enabled a proxy through this site which should work. Please try it out and let me know of any problems: http://proxy.wifitalk.ca Use this link only for the sign up procedure.
4. Account setup:
You’re not quite out of the woods yet. In the setup section you have to provide a phone number that will ring when someone calls your google voice number (ie a real phone). You put your number in the google voice setup page and it will call you. You then have to type a 2-digit code on your phone to activate the link. As google voice isn’t working outside the US right now you need a US number. Trying a Canadian (or other non-US) number will not work. There are a few ways around this:
Method 1: Just get a US number.
I have a SkypeIn number based in Rhode Island so I used that. If you want one it’s $18 for 3 months.
Method 2: Get a temporary US number.
You can get a temporary US number from a service like inumbr (currently down) or tossabledigits ($6.99) that will forward to your non-US phone.
Method 3: Get a US SIP number
This method requires a few steps.
- Register for a SIP account at IPTel. You will get an address like sip:username@iptel.org.
- Get a phone number from IPKall. You will have to input your SIP account information from step 1. There will be a bit of a delay before you get your assigned number.
- Set up a new your VOIP router or softphone with the SIP account information. Your username will be the one from iptel (“username” from step 1), and the proxy will be iptel.org
- Test it out by calling your US phone number from IPKall. If it works, then you can use your IPKall US number to activate google voice.
Note: This should in theory work with iPod Touch/iPhone if you set up a new SIP account in Fring. I tried activating this way but could not enter the 2 digit activation code using the Fring client. YMMV
UPDATE: Apparently area code 403 (Alberta) works for google voice natively, so if you have access to a 403 number you can skip step 3 and just use your regular number. Please comment back here with your results if it works.
So yeah, I have google voice with a phone number based in NYC. I also have a SkypeIn number based in Rhode Island.
Even if you get a US number now, you can change your google voice number at any time for $10. Get a US number now, change it to a Canadian (or any other) number later for $10, or just wait until it’s offered and grab a non-US number from the get-go. Of course there isn’t really anything stopping you from getting a US number with one email address now and then getting a number from your home country for free later with another email address (and thus new google voice account) except you wouldn’t have all your old voicemails/settings/etc in your new account.
Once your account is set up, please be sure to click on the “Send Feedback” link at the top of your google voice management page and tell them you’d like to see service in Canada ASAP. Of course be stereotypically polite Canadians when you do it, but don’t spare the enthusiasm!
Freephoneline is now available to BC and Alberta, so if you’re one of those people who had 780 (like me). IT WORKS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also note that firing up a EC2 Ubuntu server at Amazon and using the following command to tunnel port 80 and port 444 through it works fine:
ssh -L 80:google.com:80 -L 443:google.com:443 you.ec2.host.name
Add an entry to your local hosts file (/etc/hosts for Mac/Linux, lmhosts for Windows):
127.0.0.1 http://www.google.com
Remember to remove it and kill your EC2 instance after you finish. Total time involved: about 2 minutes
Total cost: $0.25 of EC2 time
I love the cloud some days!
Just confirming that the 403 area code works!
Texting for free from my HTC Legend from Bell. I have no plan yet, but with Voice, I might not get one at all!
Well i have it all set up. It works to make outgoing calls . But how does someone call me. ???
JAMIE: Just get someone to phone that google voice number. It’ll forward to the phone number you set up.
This is why it’s not such a great option until google lets it work in Canada… no Canadian number that other people can call.
that sux, does anyone know the actual reason google voice and also skype cannot provide this service. I feel it has something to do with the ctrc. Can someone murder a few of them , im tired of feeling like a toddler being told what content i can get on my sattelite and what communication services i can subscribe to. Who’s with me !
Testing forum integration
I’m in Alberta, Canada and google voice works for me on my computer. But I never got any invites or emails from google. How did you guys set up a phone number? I don’t get the option in my google voice account. Also google voice does not work on my iphone but works on my computer. On my iphone the webapp shows up but it says, “Loading…Network request failed” and I cannot make any calls. Anyone else have the same issues as me?
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the update. I’ll be updating this guide to incorporate the new twist that this “gmail voice” has given us.
Basically what you’re seeing is the restricted google voice because you’re in Canada. If you were in the US, you’d see a “get a google number” button in the left panel of google voice which would allow you to set up a number. This is because google voice is geoblocked in Canada, and is also the reason why it doesn’t work on your iPhone.
The solution is to visit google voice from a US IP address. You can try the proxy on this site, but it hasn’t quite worked due to javascript issues I think. It seems like a VPN is needed, so try out hotspotshield.
As for the iphone, try using the opera mini browser as that goes through an opera site.
Thanks George,
I tried the hotspotsheild and it worked great! I set up a google number and i forwarded it to my 403 alberta number. But I am still having one problem, I when I call using my iphone through the google voice webapp it would call a US number using my cell phone and connect me to the number i dialed on the webapp. But this is not free at all because I have to pay long distance to call that US number on my phone. Why is it on the computer it just dials through the internet but on the iphone it would call using my cell phone?
Awesome! Glad to hear it worked out for you (mostly).
So this is one of the failings of the current system and how it works. Until Google starts giving out Canadian numbers this will be a problem.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link