Driverless vehicle company says it plans to hire current taxi and ride-hailing drivers in operations roles
Waymo's plan to bring driverless ride-hailing vehicles to Canada has some drivers and advocates concerned the market is about to get more crowded and that more rideshare and taxi drivers could find themselves out of work. CBC's Mercedes Gaztambide breaks down what you need to know.
Waymo's plan to bring driverless ride-hailing vehicles to Canada has some drivers and advocates concerned the market is about to get more crowded, and that more rideshare and taxi drivers could find themselves out of work.
Last week, the company said it plans to begin testing in Toronto ahead of a projected 2028 launch.
The announcement took George Wedge, former Uber driver and president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario, by surprise.
"I thought we were smarter than that," said Wedge, who worries about the impact of another ride-hailing service on drivers.
According to a 2024 report by the city, Toronto already had over 80,000 active private-transportation-vehicle (PTC) licensed drivers by the end of that year. That number doesn't cover taxi or limousine licenses, just ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft.
Wedge says he feels the industry has already hit "rock bottom" due to the high competition for drivers, and that with the introduction of Waymo, "Rock bottom has a basement."
"We see it as a an absolute replacement of workers. For every Waymo car that's on the road, there's one to three rideshare drivers who are no longer getting any gainful employment."
Waymo says it plans to hire drivers for operations jobs
The company says it expects to hire "hundreds" of people locally during its rollout if approved, for services like fleet management and customer service.
"These jobs are often be filled by current taxi/ride hailing drivers," a Waymo spokesperson told CBC News in an email. "Waymo has done this in other jurisdictions including in partnership with Lyft in Nashville."
But not all are convinced Waymo will deliver on its promises.
Kristine Hubbard, managing director of Beck Taxi, says drivers were among the hardest hit when ride-hailing apps came to the city.
"When Uber arrived in Toronto, they said things like, 'We're going to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads' and 'We're going to provide good, well-paying jobs to the people who drive for us,'" said Hubbard.
"All it's doing is adding more vehicles [to the roads]. It's another billion-dollar U.S. company that wants to claim ownership of our streets."
Uber says their goal when they came to Toronto was to offer "flexible" work options for drivers.
“Torontonians have embraced rideshare as both riders and drivers," Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
"For riders, it means more choice in how they get around, whether getting home safely after a night out, reaching an appointment, connecting to transit or supporting a local business. For drivers, it means the flexibility to earn on their own terms."
Waymo has taken chunk out of U.S. market, driver says
Some drivers in the U.S., where Waymo has been operating for years, have a cautionary tale to tell.
Bhupendra Chouhan, who has been an Uber driver in Atlanta for about five years, says he's seen an overall decline in pay for rides since 2023. But, he says, Waymo's entry into the market in 2025 was one of the hardest hits to the industry in Atlanta.
"I wish we had an opportunity to know what was coming in our direction, not just realizing it once they're already in our market," he said, estimating that his ridership numbers went down about 20 to 30 per cent in the last year.
Now, Chouhan is co-chair of the Atlanta Rideshare Drivers Union, through which he and other drivers are speaking out against the company.
Chouhan says he would have fought for legislation to protect drivers before Waymo's arrival had he known what the impact would be.
"At the moment, it's a free for all. Driverless cars can come in fast and furious as long as the testing is done," said Chouhan.
Province says it will consider impact on labour market
In Ontario, Waymo is still in the beginning stages of getting road approval.
It's currently starting its testing phase under a provincial pilot for automated vehicles, which was launched 10 years ago.
The 2015 announcement from the province says it aimed to "support innovation" in transit technology, and initially required a driver in the seat, but that requirement changed in 2019 to allow for driverless vehicles under certain conditions.
The province says it won't make any decisions about Waymo's approval without considering the impact on the labour market.
In a statement, Dakota Brasier with the Ministry of Transportation said: "For Waymo to move beyond this initial phase, it must continue to meet Ontario’s stringent safety and operational requirements and meet its commitments to Ontario workers with a credible jobs plan that sets out projected positions, hiring timelines and other opportunities for Ontario workers and businesses."
The City of Toronto isn't at the stage of implementing any licenses or bylaws, since driverless cars haven't been approved yet.
"City staff are reviewing how the Vehicle-for-Hire Bylaw would currently apply to automated vehicles, and what changes may be required in future," the city's communication manager Kayla Lewis said.
Waymo is bringing its self-driving vehicles to Toronto for testing in the coming days with trained safety drivers behind the wheel. The company aims to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the city by 2028. CBC’s Meagan Fitzpatrick breaks down what you need to know.
Ultimately, Waymo vehicles still need to be approved before any new competition hits the market.
But long time Toronto taxi driver Ahmed Abdel Rahman says, if it does find its way here in 2028, it may be time for him to throw in the towel.
Rahman, who blames ride-hailing apps for the downfall of taxi services, says he's worried he may need to find a new line of work.
"Technology, it changed everything," he said.
