Telus Corp. (TSX:T) will provide free taxi service in several cities across Canada, beginning Saturday up to and including Christmas Day.

The provider of wireless and landline phone service said people in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto and Montreal can expect to see taxis branded with its name over the next week. The cars will have a picture of a frog on them with the words "hop in."

For no charge, the vehicles will provide transportation for a limited number of hours during the day, and a free phone call to anywhere in North America during the ride.

The hours of operation will be between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m.

"Telus is all about giving where we live and community," Anne-Marie LaBerge, vice-president of marketing for Telus, said of the motivation behind this project.

She said the holidays are a busy time of year, and Canadians will likely welcome some help in getting around. "I personally was stuck downtown (in Montreal) last week — couldn't find parking, couldn't find a taxi," she said.

While she wouldn't disclose how much the promotion is costing Telus, LaBerge said the company will get much more positive publicity from these taxi rides for its dollar than what could be achieved in a typical public-relations campaign.

Each city involved will have 10 Telus cabs in use. LaBerge said the telecommunications firm is working with local taxi firms to provide this service. She said most ride requests will be granted if they are within a city's boundaries.

Although the Telus taxi promotion includes most bigger cities in Canada, some of the ones left out include Ottawa, Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax. LaBerge said she hopes the campaign is expanded to other areas in future years. She said some cities aren't getting the taxis this time around because there was not enough time to make arrangements for the cabs.

"We tried to get as many cities as we could. This idea was born, literally, 14 days ago," she said Friday.

Twitter.com/derekabma