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I am looking into getting a new phone and have been waiting for months for Bell to switch MTS tours in my rural community, but it hasn't yet happened. That being said, I am wondering what the service and such is like with Telus or if it would be smarter to wait for Bell...

It's the exact same towers almost everywhere due to the government forced sharing agreement. There is another discussion on here about the towers.  
 
They pretty much all share the same towers so it comes down to a better deal or contract agreement.

Has anyone else heard about receiving a welcome package from Telus, sending you a new SIM card to transition from MTS? I read about it on the the Telus mobility website but it doesn't explain why this is happening or to whom..

As part of the Bell MTS merger, the CRTC required that MTS sell a number of its customers to Telus. Those customers who were sold (and No, you don't have any say if you are mid contract) are to receive a welcome package advising them they are now Telus customers.  
 
But not everyone will be getting the package because only a portion of MTS's wireless customers are affected.  
 
MTS also had to sell some of its dealers so you will note that Myphone.Ca in the Mall is now a Telus dealer.

Bell made a deal with Telus transitioning 100,000 existing MTS users over to Telus. Not sure exactly who is affected but Telus will send out new SIMS out to those who will be on Telus now.

Today in the mail I got one of those letters from MTS. With the frustration I've been having with MTS I'm going to check it out. I'm going to see if I can borrow a telus phone and see if I have service at home or at the lake.

Well they are certainly annoying. Phoned me a few times already trying to get me to sign up for TV and then they phoned me wanting to get me to sign up for home phone. Beat it already. Telus will be no better service. Just waiting for the bills to increase. Also the service has been crap, not that MTS was anything to write home about it.

They're all the same pile of crap, just with different names.  
A bit irritating really.  
Am I the only one that is bothered by the fact that all smartphone plans start at $45, then taxes and other fees, and yet you can't use your phone in certain areas. What's the point of having, and paying for something that you can't use on a consistent basis?  
 
Edited by Mauve, 2017-06-07 00:40:39

It all depends how you use your phone. Yeah, if you use a lot of data, they pretty much all bleed you dry.  
 
That being said, if you are someone who doesn't use data, or do not use much, you can shop around some of the "secondary" brands or MVNOs and find some decent plans.  
 
For example, we use Koodo prepaid. $13.50/month on pre-authorized top-ups gets us unlimited messaging. We then have a talk add-on that keeps rolling over every month (I barely use the phone to talk), and if we want it, a data add-on that rolls over every month (again, we barely use data, so 1GB lasts us months). Koodo runs on the Telus network and looks like it just got the expanded BellMTS network because of their sharing agreement.  
 
Public Mobile (another Telus company) has a plan that works out to about $26/month for unlimited messaging and unlimited PROVINCE wide talk. Like Koodo, add-ons are available for data and long-distance to other provinces (or when you are in another province).  
 
Cityfone is a division of Rogers. It sells under many brands (ScotiaBank, BMO, Sears, Zoomer, and Cityfone) Their best deal is under their Zoomer brand (aimed at seniors but anybody can get). Currently $36 Promo Plan gives 400 Canada-Wide Minutes, 2GB of LTE Data, UNLIMITED Messages (Canada & International)  
Unlimited Evenings and Weekends 6PM-7AM, UNLIMITED Zoomer-to-Zoomer calling Canada-Wide, Free LG F4NR, LG K4, Samsung J1, Samsung J3, or Huawei GR5 with 2 year term. Zoomer also has some pretty good deals for couples plans.  
 
Then there is always 7-Eleven Speakout, an MVNO that runs on the Rogers network. If you just need a phone for emergencies, a $25 top up doesn't expire for a year. Works great if you have an old number that you want to "park" for awhile (ie, moving to new city, want to take old landline number with you).  
 
The big message is that there are options if you shop around, and if you don't need big gulps of data. I have a smartphone, but use it 99% of the time on WiFi because I refuse to pay crazy data rates.  
 
There are some other options out there. A good place to look for deals is Redflagdeals.com forums. Look in the Cell Phone Subforum in the Computers and Electronics section.