Just beware.. You can call Canadian area codes just like you can US ones from your cell phone without having to do the international dialing mumbo jumbo, but you will still get charged an international rate for the call!

I called a number from British Columbia without thinking anything of it then I noticed a 2 dollar charge on my bill one cycle later. I will make sure if my phone says "British Columbia" or any other Canadian providence. I wont call it. Does this apply to answering a canadian call too? I don't want to get the thread off topic. I am just curious.

No, only the caller should be charged for long distance, you are just receiving a phone call within your service area so you shouldn't incur any extra charges.

In the US on Sprint's network you haven't had to a dial a 1 in front of the phone number for years. In fact I've had Sprint for 7 years. I've never had to a dial a 1 in front of phone numbers. Just (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

1+ calls originated with landline phones for inter and intra lata calls, but means nothing in the wireless world. Wireless companies configure both 1-NPA-NXX-xxxx and NPA-NXX-xxxx into their systems just to make things easy for us. I call Canada frequently without using a 1....not sure about Mexico.