Google announced that it is extending free phone calls from Gmail within the U.S. and Canada through next year.

Last December, Google offered military families free $10 international call credits with the goal of helping soldiers stay in touch with their families as they were deployed around the world. Shortly thereafter, Google decided to just offer free calls from Gmail for the U.S. and Canada.

Now, a year later, Google announced that this will continue. In a post on the Gmail Blog, the company says:

As the holiday season approaches, we’re happy to announce that we’ve extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012.

This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.

No word on other countries.

Do you ever use Gmail to make calls? Let us know in the comments.