Uber Canada is urging its Halifax drivers to flood regional councillors with complaints before a Tuesday vote on licensing changes that would make ride-hailing drivers file background checks and training records with the municipality, and pay new fees the company calls redundant and costly.
What staff proposed
Uber Canada doubled down Jan. 9 on its bid to stop the Halifax region from imposing new licensing requirements on ride-hailing, issuing a statement through spokesperson Keerthana Rang that encouraged drivers to contact their regional councillors ahead of the Jan. 13 council meeting.
The fight is over a staff report to council recommending that requirements for all ride-hailing services be brought in line with those covering taxi and limousine drivers. Under the current system, taxi drivers must send the municipality the results of their training and background checks, which include criminal record checks, a child abuse registry check and a vulnerable-sector police check. Ride-hailing drivers are subject to the same checks and training — but oversight sits with companies like Uber, not with city hall. The staff proposal would move that oversight to the municipality, and add fees: a one-time $35 charge plus $100 every two years, $135 up front in all.
Uber’s case
Rang’s statement repeated the criticism Uber first made in December, when the staff report landed. The company says the changes would create redundant training and extra fees for its drivers, producing “a more expensive service for riders and more red tape and fees for drivers.”
“We’re urging council tomorrow to maintain the existing and effective framework that Halifax already has in place,” Rang said. “It protects safety, ensures driver accountability and minimizes red tape on drivers to be on the road.” She also noted that the region’s licensing manager already has the authority to request documents from Uber drivers to determine whether they are complying with the law — although, as councillors later heard, staff confirmed in January that no such request had ever actually been made.
Uber set up shop in Halifax in 2020, and rival Lyft began offering service in the region in December. By 2022, Uber Canada operated in 140 municipalities across nine provinces.
What council did
The driver campaign landed. Councillors reported receiving hundreds of emails over the Jan. 10–11 weekend — Coun. Sam Austin said he got between 100 and 200 himself, though he noted many messages complained mainly about poor pay — and on Jan. 13 Mayor Andy Fillmore won approval to defer the debate for two weeks.
When council returned to the question on Jan. 27, the staff recommendation went down: the motion to give first reading to the licensing bylaw failed 5–11. Council instead backed Fillmore’s approach of shelving the changes and appointing a committee to review how other jurisdictions regulate ride-hailing, with a particular focus on training, audit and compliance models. Uber, which had spent the month lobbying behind the scenes as well as in public, welcomed the result. “We are encouraged that council took the time to listen to drivers’ concerns that the staff report would add red tape and increase costs, with no additional safety benefit,” Rang said.
