Discussion de forum
Apple Watch eSIM in Ontario?
I spoke to service. They said I need to be on a helix account in order to activate an Apple Watch with eSIM. Unfortunately helix is not available at my location in Ottawa Ontario. Has anyone figured ...
Hello blibrande !
eSims are now available even if you don't have a Helix account. 🙂
To set up a new mobile account, you need to contact us at 1-877-512-0911 or go in store for security measures.
Have a great day !
-Pierre-Olivier
Can you clarify what’s required or some details on how it should be set up. Of the FOUR people I spoke to on the phone, none were aware of how to make this work and all pointed to needing a helicopter account.
I greatly appreciate the guidance here as I expect I’ll just burn another hour of my time and Vidéotron time if I call again without a more specific lead/guidance than this.
thanks!
Hello blibrande!
You can now activate an Apple Watch with an eSim even tough you do not have an Helix account. It's a new option that just became available on august the 27th 2025. You only have to contact us by phone at 1-877-512-0911 and an agent will be able to help you with that.
Thank you!
That’s awesome and timely news. Thank you!
I called. They indicated that they need to send me to a QR code in the mail to activate the watch plan (or go in store to a videotron location). Should arrive Aug ~3 in the mail. I’ll reply back to share how it works for the benefit of others.
So, a few updates for others that may go through this. When you get your esim, have a second phone handy and call tech support. If at anypoint they tell you to "delete and re-add the esim", DON'T!! the QR is 1-time use and you need to have another one mailed to you or go to a videotron store and get another esim card.
Once you have the esim activated on your phone, you can finally call back to tech support and (I) ask for someone who has "esim training", (II) get them to switch something on your old account so that you have one that allows apple watch to be activated, (iii) activate cellular on the apple watch.
As far as I can tell, *almost* NO ONE has esim training and you will waste an hour or more on the phone before MAYBE you reach someone that knows what they're doing. Only after all of this will you get to step II... maybe, if you're lucky... I'm not there yet. Apple watch on videotron is still a bit of unicorn if you live outside of quebec. fingers crossed that this soon works
when I called technical support they said it wasn't available for my address/account until sometime late in October - they even took several minutes to check with a colleague who "knew about this issue"
Hello gwheron,
I wanted to make sure to give you the correct information regarding the Apple Watch. Yes we currently have the eSIM available, whether you have an Helix account or not. However, to be able to connect an Apple Watch to our service, for now, you need to reside at an address where the wired services are available and have your mobile phone line under Helix.
The availability for the eSIM and Apple watch is pretty new, and it changes fast. I would recommend contacting us in private once in a while to verify if we have new information regarding the Apple Watch and the availability to subscribe in Ontario.
Thank you for your interest in our services ! 😊
To further clarify, when trying to activate an Apple Watch plan I get the message “Your Videotron account is not eligible to enable cellular on your Apple Watch. Contact Videotron for more information.” Of course, my account does meet the stated requirements.
On contacting Videotron by phone, they’ve indicated I need a helix account to have access to (can’t recall exact details here) self-manage(?) my account in the app before I can activate an Apple Watch plan. This can only be done if helix is available where you reside—i.e. can’t be done in Ottawa.
if the actual answer is different from us, I would value specific guidance so that I can inform customer service to successfully navigate to a resolution
thanks!
