Halifax council defers new ride share bylaw again

Halifax regional council voted Tuesday against a bylaw that would have ride share drivers licensed by the municipality. 

Councillors voted in favour (14-2) of Mayor Andy Fillmore’s alternative motion to ask for a staff report on the topic, informed by a working group of ride share drivers and taxi drivers. 

At the last council meeting on Jan. 13, councillors had voted to defer the motion so another report could be created by city staff, with Fillmore citing strain on staff resources as a reason to defer.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors heard from Steven Berkman, an acting manager with Halifax’s licensing standards. When asked about staff ability to handle additional licence demands, Berkman said they have the staff capacity. 

Councillors in support of the original motion to have the same rules for taxi and ride share drivers raised concerns related to the safety of passengers. Many wanted more data on ride share drivers at Tuesday’s meeting.

Coun. Sam Austin thinks the city should act as a regulator, and supports ride share driver licensing oversight by the city.

“To just trust companies to act in the public interest against their financial interest is maybe a little naive,” said Austin.

Coun. Shawn Cleary expressed his “bias against Uber,” and said that drivers receive “abominable compensation.”

Many of the Uber drivers surveyed “reported earning less than $10 per hour,” Cleary said, “which I think is unconscionable.”

Councillors who favoured reviewing the bylaw spoke about reducing red tape, and finding ways to make rides cheaper for riders.

Coun. Tony Mancini was critical of the taxi industry, citing past sexual assault cases by cab drivers, and thinks the app-based approach from Uber has enough safety features.

“Competition to the taxi industry has made their industry better and that’s because of ride sharing,” Mancini said.

Fillmore said he wants to take more time to determine the best path forward for the ride share and taxi companies.

“By bringing both platforms to a similar level, to harmonize them is a great idea but let’s modernize them both.”

Several councillors reported being inundated with hundreds of emails from Uber drivers in response to the proposed legislation.

Coun. John Young was unconvinced that the proposed licensing fees were unreasonable.

“Eighty per cent of the emails I received just pointed out the $135 fee. That fee, even if it was over 12 months or 365 days, would only come up to 37 cents. So if that was an issue they could just add it to that fare.”

URide is a Canadian ride share company that has been operating in Halifax since August 2025. The company has operated in 25 municipalities across Canada since it was started in Thunder Bay in 2017.

In a video interview, founder and CEO Cody Ruberto says he gets “both sides” of the issue.

“We’re pretty neutral. We operate in markets that have more regulation, we operate in some markets that have less. So whatever the city comes up with, we’ll just comply and take it from there.”

Ruberto acknowledged that increased fees and licensing requirements can make it more challenging for ride share drivers, while recognizing frustration from taxi drivers with the double standard in driver licensing.

“There’s a lot of places across Canada that have a lot more regulation than this. There might be some places that have less, but with Uber, Lyft, they’ll always push for less friction rather than more friction.”