A lot of North American cell phones don’t have SIM cards, as GSM isn’t as common here as in Europe.
While there are companies that provide North American GSM service, last I heard the coverage was spotty in Fernie. I don’t know if this is still the case. I use CDMA phones on the Telus network in Fernie with good results, and have no complaints about the coverage. These phones don’t use SIM cards though.
Also, if you are planning to use a European phone in North America, make sure it works on the North American frequencies.
I don’t know where you can find cheap, new SIM cards without a phone, but I know of folks that have picked them up on e-bay.
If you want a pay as you go phone for use in North America, your best bet may be simply to pick up a used North American phone, and buy pay as you go airtime locally. I saw a bunch of phones at http://vfxweb.com, I don’t know if these would meet your needs or not. Note that I am not affiliated with vfxweb in any way, just passing on one potential source of cheap used phones.
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