Moving to Canada from US for a year...need phone advice

Hello,

I am an American working in Canada for one year. In the US I am a Sprint Customer. From their customer service runaround, I am gathering that 'no' they do not have regular plans for Canadians, and if you are in my position, all there is would be 'roaming' service (sounds expensive). It seems these are my options:

-Keep my US Sprint account and phone number, change to their cheapest plan, and use it in the US for the few times I return and that way I would still have my old phone number when I return in a year. Get a pre-paid or phone plan from a Canadian company.

-Dump Sprint entirely. Get a Canadian plan. Find a new service when i get back (have to tell everyone a new number TWICE...but, i don't really have that many contacts..

Any other options here?

Thanks