The cellphone is not expensive without a subscription. In fact shop on Ebay and you will find deals, shipping charges included. When you find your phone, you can shop the different companies.
Be careful! The phone industry is not that wide. In Canada, three big names share the market creating a monopoly. The prices and conditions are not determined by the offer and the demand, but simply on the discretion of the company.
The cellphone with subsription is generally given to you. But is it a good deal? First, the indicated price for the phone with subscription in stores is two times higher then the one on the internet. Then they give you the cellphone with no charge if you sign a contract with a letter of a value ten times the price of the cellphone. Finally, the phone given to you is attached to a division of the company that gives you the service. Resiliation of a contract is not an easy task.
Today, the price of the cellphone is the same as the regular phone with no subscription, but the conditions of the market are almost all the same.