TORONTO - Waymo said on Friday it will bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to Toronto with a goal of welcoming its first riders in 2028, its first planned deployment in Canada, and that vehicles will begin manual mapping and supervised testing on city streets in the coming days.
In a Waypoint blog post titled "Hello Toronto! Waymo is En Route," the Alphabet-owned company said it is "laying the groundwork for our fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Toronto, investing in local facilities and jobs, with the goal of welcoming our first riders in 2028." Reuters separately reported the plan as Waymo's first planned Canadian deployment and its latest expansion beyond the United States.
"In the coming days, you'll start to see Waymo vehicles on the streets of Toronto as we begin driving manually," Waymo wrote. The company said it will start with high-definition mapping of local street networks and testing with "trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel" so the Waymo Driver can adapt to Toronto's driving conditions. That first phase is supervised, not driverless.
CityNews and The Canadian Press reported that Ontario has approved Waymo to take part in the province's Automated Vehicle Pilot Program for manual driving and testing. Ontario's consolidated Automated Vehicle Pilot Project regulation (O. Reg. 306/15) is scheduled to be revoked on Oct. 13, 2027, according to the text on CanLII, leaving any 2028 public service dependent on successor rules.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said expanding into Canada "marks an important milestone in Waymo's global journey" and that the company is "proud to bring the Waymo Driver to Canada's largest city."
To run the Toronto fleet, Waymo is partnering with Toronto-based Element Fleet Management for end-to-end fleet management. Element said the work expands a multi-year partnership announced in June, when it began supporting Waymo operations in San Diego, and will be delivered through Element Mobility. Services listed by Element include fleet lifecycle management, vehicle readiness and maintenance, charging infrastructure, energy management and connected intelligence.
Waymo and Element both said they will invest in hundreds of roles over time in fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and other operations. Nicole Gavel, Waymo's senior director and head of business development and strategic partnerships, said in Element's release that the companies will "invest in hundreds of roles over time" with Element and other partners. Element chief executive Laura Dottori-Attanasio called the Toronto expansion a chance for the Canadian company to "help bring autonomous ride-hailing to Toronto."
Waymo also said the Toronto work builds on existing Canadian ties, including its investor relationship with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and manufacturing partner Magna International. The Canadian Press noted that Waymo will not be the first autonomous program under the Ontario pilot: Gatik has already run autonomous box trucks for Loblaw in the city.
Waymo listed accessibility partners in Toronto including BALANCE for Blind Adults, CNIB, Community Living Toronto, Connected Canadians and Epilepsy Ontario, and pointed residents to waymo.com/waymo-in-canada to sign up for updates. The company did not announce a paid launch date before 2028, a service area map, or a vehicle count for the Toronto mapping fleet.
