RE: ONTARIO 2026 GROUND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW

Dear Premier Ford,

We are a coalition of professionals dedicated to the provision of safe, equitable, responsible ground transportation across Ontario.

Representatives contributing to this initiative include:

• The Canadian Taxi Association
• The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
• The Ottawa Police Service
• The Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario
• RideFAIR
• Accessibility Advocates

First, we wish to thank you for your interest and efforts in reviewing regulations designed to enable effective delivery of these services, as announced in the Fall Economic Statement.

We are writing to request that our coalition members be officially invited to take part in these consultations.

Thank you for acknowledging that Ontario must make continuous improvement to its regulatory framework in order to meet the demands of consumers who need this system, and the workers who provide on-demand ground transportation around the clock.

We appreciate that you understand that extraordinary circumstances in recent years have made this review necessary. Changes impacting services for Ontario citizens include significant advances in technology such as migration to applications-based services; surveillance and algorithmic pricing; and the explosive growth of an aging demographic requiring accessible transportation.

As a result of your announcement of a “framework review” in the November 6th Fall Economic Statement, our group representing a wide range of interests impacted by ground transportation regulations assembled on January 7th to begin developing a vision for an improved regulatory environment in order to share it with you and your team as part of the upcoming review.

Our discussion dealt with topics including:

• consumer protection;
• passenger safety;
• compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities’ Act;
• drivers’ earnings;
• business being lost to gridlock and congestion; and
• emissions.

Premier Ford, we are appending to this letter a summary document intended to serve as a brief overview of the many areas of concern identified by our participants.  

We are keenly aware that our overview is incomplete. Around the globe, across North America and certainly here in Ontario, rapid changes were made to ground transportation legislation and regulation when the advent of application-based dispatch technologies arrived around 2014.

Regulations and municipal by-laws which were developed quickly around 2016 eliminated some of our best, time-tested methods of protecting passenger and community safety, including clear vehicle identification, driver/vehicle registration and transparent pricing. The need for improvements in these important areas are among the reasons that this work is being carried out in consultation with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

Gridlock is now costing Ontario almost $50 billion annually, a scenario never considered before municipalities permitted open entry of thousands of ground transportation vehicles.

Additionally, artificial intelligence enabled methods of surveillance pricing for consumers and algorithmically determined pay for drivers is encouraging American corporations to reap extraordinary profits at the expense of local Ontario workers and businesses.

Your efforts in bringing regulation and legislation into alignment with both best practices and emerging technologies will be a significant project requiring time, effort and resources.

We believe that the ground transportation review announced in the Fall Economic Statement presents an important opportunity to reaffirm the best decisions made over the past decade; revisit policies which are proving unhelpful or actively harmful; and develop a process for systemic review moving forward to ensure continued future success.

Technology will never stop advancing, and as the service providers working at the leading edge of these advancements we are committed to do everything possible to support you in developing the regulatory systems needed to keep Ontario moving, safely and effectively.

Please do not hesitate to contact us as you move forward in the development of the consultation plan and schedule for the ground transportation review. We are standing by, ready to help.

Sincerely,

Marc André Way, President

Canadian Taxi Association

Abid Jan, Crime Prevention and Community Safety Committee

Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police

Director, Community Safety and Well-being, Ottawa Police Service

George Wedge, President

Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario

Thorben Wieditz, Director

RideFair

A not-for-profit advocacy organization

Appendix “A” – Preliminary overview

Ground Transportation areas for review

Vehicle & Driver Identification Standards

• Positive vision: Every Ontarian can instantly verify a legitimate commercial vehicle and verified driver.
• Discussion:
  • Minimum visible ID package (e.g. decal/roof sign/plate number)
  • Explore technologies to improve systems: QR codes; RFID tags; NEW TECHNOLOGIES YET TO BE CONSIDERED)
  • Police verification mechanism (scan, central registry confirmation)

Provincial central registry of drivers and vehicles

• Positive vision: A province-led registry that enables enforcement, traceability, and legitimate work.
• Discussion:
  • Design, development and management of centralized database
  • Required data fields (driver, vehicle, plate, region, status, training, sanctions)
  • Provincial registry ownership; roles-based access by police and public
  • Central database to enable one single, government-issues license transferrable between any/all ground transportation providers
  • Provincially mandated training, annual refreshers

Crime prevention and Policing operations

• Positive vision: A coordinated prevention-and-response ecosystem that reduces predictable harms.
• Discussion:
  • Crime patterns not associated with Highway Traffic Act violations: robbery, organized crime signals including drug deliveries, human trafficking
  • Crimes against drivers: assault, fraud/non-payment, robbery
  • Bar-close pickup management, congestion relief
  • Provincially mandated crime prevention training, annual refreshers
  • Urgent Decisions needed: Top 3: registry access, real-time alerts, vehicle identification standard and driver identification and database registration

Cameras and Evidence Handling

• Positive vision for the sector: Safer rides with privacy-protective camera systems that discourage criminals and support investigations.
• Decisions needed:
  • Minimum camera standard + retention period
  • Access rules (police/insurance; chain-of-custody; driver access limits)
• Outputs: camera policy framework

Accessibility/AODA enforcement and compliance

• Positive vision for the sector: Equal mobility for disabled riders with measurable service standards and enforcement.
• Decisions needed:
  • Define “same level of service” as metrics (wait time parity, coverage, reliability, pricing parity)
  • Enforcement lever(s): fleet requirements, reporting, penalties, remedies

Labour / DPWRA / Due Process

• Positive vision: Quality jobs with transparent pay and due process—rights that match algorithmic work
• Discussion needed:
  • Non-negotiable rights list (pay transparency through government oversight of algorithmic pay; portability through single transferrable license, due process, human review instead of algorithmic deplatforming)
  • Deactivation right of appeal, governance alternative (board/committee model)

Consumer Protection from surveillance pricing

• Positive vision for the sector: Transparent pricing where tech improves service without exploitation of passengers OR drivers.
• Discussion:
  • What must be disclosed vs audited vs prohibited

“Algorithmic conduct rules” (ban/audit/disclose list), government access to and approval of relevant algorithms

Gridlock, congestion, transit protections through right-sizing regional fleets

• Positive vision for the sector: Right-sized fleets that promote business through reduced gridlock and congestion, protect transit, and stabilize driver incomes.
• Discussion:
  • Cap principle (per-capita + regional variable factor) + cross-region controls
  • Data requirements for transit diversion/congestion

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