Waymo to test robotaxis in Toronto, aims for 2028 launch date
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Self-driving taxi operator Waymo is poised to launch a test phase in Toronto, with the goal of carrying its first passengers in 2028 as part of a push to breach the broader Canadian market.
The California-based ride-hailing company says the Ontario government has given it the green light to take part in a provincial pilot program that regulates testing of autonomous cars.
Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet Inc., says the first phase includes high-definition street mapping and test runs of the robotaxis with a driver behind the wheel, starting this year.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana sought to reassure skeptics who say autonomous vehicles struggle to handle more complicated environments, including heavy traffic, bad weather or unusual situations.
“We’re proud to bring the Waymo Driver to Toronto and to partner with a community that shares our commitment to safer streets and more accessible mobility,” she said in a release.
“Expanding into Canada marks an important milestone in Waymo’s global journey.”
Company data from more than 400 million fully autonomous kilometres driven shows that Waymo cars were involved in 95 per cent fewer crashes causing serious injury or death compared to humans in the cities where the service operates, according to the tech firm.
For its launch north of the border, Waymo is partnering with Toronto-based Element Fleet Management, which will provide maintenance, customer service and other support functions.
Waymo’s arrival could prove an accelerant for a budding cluster of auto-oriented tech companies in Ontario, industry leaders say.
“This is a big victory for some of the untold stories in mobility technology in Canada — the kinds of companies that don’t get the headlines but, in terms of investment value … are just as material as the ones that bend metal and melt plastics,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, in an interview.
Waymo’s distinctive white crossover SUVs will not be the first fully autonomous vehicles to traverse Toronto streets under the provincial pilot program, after California-based Gatik began a rollout of 50 autonomous box trucks for Loblaw in the city last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:EFN)
