Toronto votes to scrap cap on ride-share licences

Toronto city council is rescinding its temporary cap on the number of licences for ride-share drivers in the city, just over two months after it was initially passed.

At a council meeting Thursday, councillors voted to get rid of the ban, but also to conduct a consultation process and produce a report about the issue, which could lead to the cap being reinstated at a later date.

That report is scheduled to come back to council in March.

The change comes after Uber made a court application in an effort to overturn the ban earlier this month.

In a statement, the company said that with this reversal, Toronto city council was providing "temporary relief" to ride-share drivers and users.

"But make no mistake, this is only a short-term fix. Mayor Chow has signalled her intention to bring back a permanent ride-share cap in early 2024," the statement reads. "If Mayor Chow was truly interested in reasonable, data-driven, evidence-based policymaking, she would allow city staff to run a comprehensive process."

CBC Toronto has reached out to Chow for comment.

There are currently about 52,000 ride-share licences for drivers working for companies like Uber and Lyft in Toronto, city staff have said. About 62 per cent of those drivers do not live in Toronto, according to the city.

RideFair TO, an advocacy group that calls for fair regulation of the rideshare industry, said in a statement following the vote that it is "unfortunate" that Uber engaged in "litigious bullying."

The removal of the cap on licences "reopens the floodgates for ride-hailing companies to pack the streets with more cars even though drivers already deadhead empty half the time, thereby adding to already choking congestion, emissions and driving drivers' wages down even further just in time for the holiday season," it said.

RideFair also said council's decision to conduct a consultation process and provide a report indicates "that councillors understand the harms caused by deregulation."