Waymo heads to Toronto, targeting first autonomous ride-hailing riders in 2028
Waymo is expanding into Canada, laying the groundwork for fully autonomous ride-hailing in Toronto with the goal of welcoming its first riders in 2028.
- 2028
- Hundreds
- Over 400 million km
- 95% fewer (20x fewer)
What Happened
Waymo says it is officially heading to Canada, laying the groundwork for its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Toronto and investing in local facilities and jobs, with the goal of welcoming its first riders in 2028. In the coming days, Waymo vehicles will start appearing on Toronto streets as the company begins driving manually. It describes a rigorous, phased, safety-first approach that starts with high-definition mapping of local street networks and testing with trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel, a validation period meant to ensure the Waymo Driver adapts seamlessly to Toronto's distinct driving conditions. Waymo calls Toronto one of North America's fastest-growing metropolitan regions, with evolving mobility demands, and says its all-weather Driver can provide an additional option that complements the city's transportation ecosystem, from bike lanes to public transit.
“Expanding into Canada marks an important milestone in Waymo's global journey. Toronto is one of the world's great cities — innovative, diverse, and forward-looking. We're proud to bring the Waymo Driver to Canada's largest city and to partner with the vibrant business, arts and cultural communities that share our commitment to safer streets and more accessible mobility.”
To serve Toronto, Waymo is partnering with Element Fleet Management, a Toronto-headquartered company and global leader in intelligent fleet and mobility solutions that will provide end-to-end fleet management services. Together with Element and its partners, Waymo says it will invest in hundreds of roles over time spanning fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and other operations functions that support the service. Waymo says the partnership builds on its existing ties to Canada, which include its long-term investor relationship with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and its manufacturing partner Magna International.
“As a Canadian company, we are proud to be expanding our partnership with Waymo to help bring autonomous ride-hailing to Toronto. Together with Waymo, Element will help create employment opportunities providing the fleet expertise, operational capabilities, and intelligent mobility solutions needed to support autonomous fleets reliably and at scale.”
Over 400 millionkm
Waymo says this data shows the Waymo Driver was involved in 95% fewer (20x fewer) crashes involving serious injury or worse compared with humans in the cities where it operates.
- BALANCE for Blind Adults
- CNIB
- Community Living Toronto
- Connected Canadians
- Epilepsy Ontario
“Innovation that removes barriers to independence is at the heart of everything we do. Waymo's history of partnering with the sight loss community to build accessible solutions is encouraging and their decision to engage with us early reflects the kind of approach that leads to real results.”
Previously from Waymo LLC
Waymo has been outlining international expansion plans in recent months. Prior MotorClaw coverage reported that the company will bring fully autonomous ride-hailing to Munich by the end of 2027, starting with manual mapping and testing before aiming for a public launch, and that it will launch a fully autonomous, all-electric commercial ride-hailing service in Singapore in 2028, bookable through the Waymo app. The Toronto plan follows the same pattern of beginning with manual mapping and testing before service opens.
- Waymo to launch fully autonomous ride-hailing in Munich by end of 2027
- Waymo to launch fully autonomous, all-electric ride-hailing in Singapore in 2028
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Waymo LLC's official releases.
Why this matters
Waymo's arrival would give Toronto riders a driverless option that the company says complements the city's bike lanes and public transit. The plan carries local stakes too: Waymo says it will invest in facilities and hundreds of roles in fleet maintenance, validation driving and customer service, and Toronto would be its first Canadian market.
Terms in This Story
- Waymo Driver
- The name of Waymo's autonomous driving system, the technology that operates the vehicle without a human driver.
- High-definition mapping
- Building detailed digital maps of a city's streets and features that an autonomous vehicle uses to navigate.
- Ride-hailing
- A service in which passengers book on-demand trips in a vehicle through an app.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.