Anyone know a good emergency/low-usage prepaid option that will work in the US?

I think the only Canadian prepaid service that can roam in the US is Chatr. There may be others, but I am unaware of them.

If you are in the US often, I would suggest a US data plan plus a VoIP service like Google Voice. I have this combination and it works really well. Call quality is excellent and calling and texting between Canada and the US is free. The drawback is it is a US number.

T-Mobile has a 2GB/$10, 6GB/$25 data plan and up. Canada and Mexico roaming are included in the price. I use this and it is fine if you are in Canada for an extended period of time. https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

There are other services for the US, you can check them out this thread at the top of this section, roaming-sims-travelers-2183565/

Yeah I'm not there often, and normally just get a US phone number while I'm there like tracfone or something from Target. But now I need a single, consistent phone number where I can be reached year-round, whether I'm in the US (sporadically) or Canada (most of the time).

Thanks a lot, I will check out Chatr.

Public Mobiles cheapest plan is $15/month

US roaming add-ons go for about $8 for 10 days worth of unlimited calling.

I use Koodo prepaid and add US boosters for talk, text, and data that never expire.