A:AnswerNo. I purchased mine at a Best Buy Black Friday sale for $1 and wanted to buy one for my son, and they wouldn't let me take it out of the store without activation. I went ahead and activated the phone & gave it to my son right away, so he could make decisions on the 2 week option to return it, or buy a protection plan for it.
He is absolutely thrilled with the phone and I highly recommend it.
A:AnswerYes, I used it in Canada last month without any trouble. You have to watch out for high data roaming fees, but that is the same no matter which phone you get.