City wants responsibility for vetting the person behind the wheel of your Uber or Lyft ride

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This article was published 06/01/2025 (444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city department responsible for vetting and licensing taxi and limousine drivers wants to keep ride-hailing services drivers to the same standard.

Personal transportation providers, including people who drive for services such as Uber and Lyft, are vetted by their respective companies.

The city’s vehicle-for-hire office is responsible for verifying documentation, but some of the companies have been slow to get and maintain information, said department manager Grant Heather.

“It’s prudent, from a safety standpoint, that we’re holding the companies who are responsible for gathering this information to account,” he said Monday.

“We have seen some deficiencies… the one way to kind of improve that is to have the city do it all.”

The issue was outlined in the city’s annual vehicle-for-hire industry report, which will be discussed by city council’s public works committee Thursday. The report suggests the office will “likely be looking at a (personal transportation provider) driver and vehicle licensing regime in the near future.”

Heather said most of the red flags caught by the city have come from smaller ride-booking companies that may not have the administrative capacity to handle strict licensing guidelines.

The change would also work toward ensuring taxis and ride-hailing companies operate under the same guidelines.

“We have seen that in order to make the industry work the way it needs to, to give proper enforcement powers, to make sure that passengers are in a position to have trust in the industry, bringing some more balance to it has has had to happen,” he said.

Other cities in Canada, including Calgary, have taken the same step, he said. The bylaw change would come after conversation with ride providers across the city, including big players such as Uber.

“I don’t know if there’ll be pushback,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll have something to say about it, but I think it comes down to how it’s done, and the amount of notice we give them, that type of thing, and how it’s structured.”

Uber Canada corporate communications lead Keerthana Rang said the company is looking forward to discussing the possible policy change with the city.

The change would require council approval.

An average of 2,712 personal transportation providers were on the road at any given time through 2024, data shows.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca