Canadians won't be able to use a Note 7 on any network after December 15

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Samsung Canada is following New Zealand's lead by cutting off network access for all unreturned Note 7 devices as of December 15.

The company has announced that although 90% of the approximately 39,000 Note 7s sold through Canadian channels have been returned, the remaining 4,000 or so outstanding units will lose access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on December 12, along with cellular abilities three days later, on December 15. An update will also include "a limitation on the battery charge," though it's unclear to what percentage. Other markets have limited the Note 7's defective battery to 60% to prevent overheating and expansion.

Samsung implores Canadians holding onto a Note 7 unit to return it as soon as possible:

We strongly urge any customers still using their Note7 to return their device to the place of purchase for a refund or exchange between December 7th and December 15th. We have been in continuous communication with Note7 customers to remind them about the need to return their recalled device and will continue to communicate daily with a push notification about this network deactivation event to ensure they continue to receive adequate notice.As a recalled product, Note7 device owners are legally prohibited from selling or even giving away the recalled device. We would like to remind customers that they need to return their Note7 device.

The company notes that even after the update, Note 7s will still be able to call 9-1-1 for safety reasons.

Daniel Bader

Daniel Bader was a former Android Central Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor for iMore and Windows Central. 

63 Comments
  • It's about time.
  • Why do you want a phone that will probably not have any worth as a collectable?
  • Oh but it will. Especially with its history.
  • wonder when they'll do this in the USA. as soon as i saw them announce it for AUS/NZ i knew i had to swap out. the Note 5 isn't terrible, but damn, the Note 7 was amazing. R.I.P. *tears*
  • Hard to believe you waited that long. Knowing it was inevitable.
  • I have been waiting for Samsung Canada to send me a return box for over a month. I really want to send them my phone back, but they really don't make it easy.
  • one of ours was an online purchase on contract and due to certain circumstances, the only way to regain the subsidy was an online swap so i was refunded the purchase price and sent a replacement three weeks ago. they said i would receive a box from Samsung separately... still haven't received the box here in the US either. not that i particularly care since the money is already refunded and the phone is off.
  • I gave up waiting and hand-returned my to the Samsung store. Total pain in the ass. Have they started calling you yet?
  • A couple of things. 1. That article you linked about NZ only says mobile network access will be blocked via IMEI blacklisting (and even says that Wi-Fi can still be used).
    2. Outside of a firmware update, how can Samsung block the use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on a Note 7?
  • The article mentioned that it would be through an update, presumably a firmware update. Posted from my unlocked S7 Active/ Jet black iPhone 7+/ peerless Note 4/ or iPad Pro 12.9
  • In that case, I thought it would've made more sense to implement the IMEI blaclklisting first as that can be done behind the scenes.
  • I believe it's a combination of a software update and an IMEI blacklist.
  • IMO Samsung have announced this backwards. The IMEI blacklisting can be done without any user interaction required so it should be done first. Cutting off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should be done afterwards as, to my knowledge, that requires a firmware update.
  • maybe they wanted to make the update to the firmware while the phone was still attached to the network... instead of cutting service on a phone and then hoping that they get it connected to wifi so that you can send them an update.
  • By the same token, downloading a firmware update over a mobile network is generally more expensive than downloading over local Wi-Fi. In the end, there's no perfect solution.
  • I wonder what's gonna happen to all those 'abandoned' units in airports. You can't turn it in for a replacement because the IMEI is already flagged as 'returned' (at least in my case that's what they did, they flagged it as returned, told me to leave it at the airport wherever, that it was already taken care of... I can only assume someone grabbed the shiny new phone off of the airport bench), you can't sell it because no one is buying Note 7s anymore, you can't use nearly half the battery, you'd be constantly nagged about returning it, you can't use VR, and now in a lot of regions you wouldn't even be able to use the phone as a phone at all!
  • you can downgrade the firmware and regain 100% charging. we did that while waiting on the blue GS7 Edge to release. you would think they would blow an efuse or something on an update like that to prevent an easy downgrade...
  • Have to treat ya'll like children it seems. ...lol.
  • I know. People act like they'd die without it.
  • Out of my cold dead hands! Note 7 Rebel for life. Join the Note 7 Rebels on Facebook. We have been able to get around everything they have done so far and we have plans to get around IMEI blockage. Sorry Samsung when you make a phone as good for this you can't ask for it back.
  • You would risk it catching fire, and possibly causing bodily harm to you or anyone around you?
  • Apparently he's into self maiming.
  • He did say "cold dead hands". But in this case, it would be "charred dead hands".
  • My thoughts exactly!
  • Given there's pretty much zero room to accommodate for battery swelling, it's likely more a case of "when" the battery will explode, rather than "if."
  • says some 3rd rate analyst, but Samsung's cadre of engineers just overlooked this? strangely, looking at ifixit photos of several other phones, they also have tight battery fits, hrm, wonder if they just wanted clicks.
  • Actually, Samsung engineers obviously overlooked this.
  • If they confirm this is the true cause i suppose...
  • LOL...you sir, won the idiot award of the month...
  • /sorry...double post
  • Don't be sorry. He probably is that stupid.
  • Mine has the original firmware and haven't had an issue. Besides not using Samsung pay which I don't use.
  • Just the fact that a group like that exists just gives me a massive facepalm.
  • There's really a group?? I still have my a Note 7 and blocked the firmware update, but I never thought about joining a group for this lol...I will be parting with it sometime before June of next year though since I'll be flying and the phone is banned from flights. If they block it here in the US soon then I'll definitely have to switch sooner than expected.
  • ROFLMAO
  • Good. I hope they do this in the US.
  • This is good.
  • I hope these note 7 hold outs in Canada have to sit through hours of Nickelback torture while smelling bacon they can't eat.....
  • Lol, Nickelback. I would rather go to the dentist for a root canal and they ran out of laughing gas.
  • The magnitude of this cruelty is very un-Canadian haha
  • I love how R* added note 7s to gtaV as explosive weapons lol
  • It wasn't Rockstar but a random gamer, sadly it was removed by Sammy's request. No sense of humor on their end lol
  • U are absolutely correct, that was an error on my part
  • No worries at all
  • Wonder if that is what tracer throws in overwatch.
  • Why can't they just make the note 7again but build it right this time or just be done with and get on with the note 8 but BUILD it right this time!!!
  • Obviously coming from someone who has no idea how phones are designed and made. The Note 8 was probably being designed before the 7 even hit.
  • Would take a lot more money to rebuild it. By that time you might as well just cut your losses and start from scratch and move onto the next model if the Note 7 failed.
  • I don't have a N7 myself (Pixel XL ftw), but does the dev community have any custom ROM bypass that? I'm pretty sure it would be very easy for them to build something from a previous SS build!
  • Begun, so it has
  • Toast
  • Still going strong with my N7 with no issues at this point and still rocking 100% battery. Got a N5 ready to go just in case.
  • I am not vety happy with Samsung. I temporarily got the 32gig Note5 with the prmise 64 gig on backorder. Received nitificatoon from Verizon Samsung retired the Note5. Two months on backorder to find this out
  • The fact that it has to be recalled for safety concerns and some people are refusing to turn it in shows how stupid and selfish some people are.
  • Every carrier in the world should do this for customers safety at Samsung's expense.
  • Now they know that the battery was too large for the space within the phone, why don't they just offer a battery replacement programme and fit a slightly smaller battery.
  • Let it go man, the phone is all done.
  • Canadians shouldn't be able to any networks anyway so, this is a good thing lol!!
  • Well the Note 5, wasn't rushed to market like written articles stated. I will wait till the Note 8 or even 9 with out rushing out to get the latest.
  • oh my gawd just DEAD this phone and all its 'news' jeezus this is so tired issue the kILL switch - people have had plenty of time to exchange the faulty product if they didn't OH WELL miss me with your excuses
  • Dead is an adjective which can also be used as an adverb. Not a verb.
  • Good, we don't need people walking around with pretty bombs in this heavily forested country.
  • Tony salinas must be pretty salty