Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says vote likely coming this month on Uber, Lyft

Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft could be coming soon to Saskatoon, the city's mayor says.

Mayor Charlie Clark said a vote on ride-hailing services will likely be held at Saskatoon City Council's next meeting, following new provincial regulations announced this week.

"We have already had a substantial discussion and given direction to the city solicitor on a number of different parts of what the local regulations would be," said Clark.

"My hope is, given that we've already given that direction, we can establish the framework here in the city and pass the bylaws."

On Thursday, the provincial government announced it would be officially opening the doors to ride-hailing later this month. Among other items, the province said that all cab and ride-hailing drivers would need a Class 5 licence, rather than needing to meet the more onerous requirements for a Class 4 licence.

Municipalities are responsible for setting a wide range of rules that affect the cars, including how many will be allowed on the road and the insurance needed for ride-hailing service drivers.

Clark said the new bylaw will include looking at whether drivers have ever been pardoned for sexual offences, along with a criminal records check.

"Our city council said if they didn't have a vulnerable sector check, we wanted a vulnerable sector check, in order to have that extra certainty around safety," said Clark. 

Officials at city hall couldn't promise that ride-hailing would make it onto the agenda.

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere says a vote would come there sometime in 2019.

While there has been heavy lobbying on the issue by ride-hailing and taxi companies, Clark said Saskatoon city council's primary focus has been on creating a fair system that works for citizens.

"Council's job is primarily to ensure we have a safe, convenient, accessible and fair system, for ensuring the public have safe rides to get around the city," he said. 

'Race to the bottom'

Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Taxi Cab Association is concerned about what changes cities will implement.

"We haven't had any commitment on safety cameras," said director Kelly Frie. "And an uncapped market is still unknown, and we're not sure where we're going on that."

The association is concerned an unlimited number of ride-hailing cars will flood the market, making it difficult for anyone to make money.

"With the current Uber model, there is an unlimited supply of vehicles," he said. "We could potentially have a thousand Ubers running around Saskatoon, and the taxi industry is capped at 210."

Frie said the association wasn't impressed with changes announced Thursday to licensing requirements being lowered for ride-sharing and cab drivers.

"A race to the bottom is what we're doing right now," he said. "We're lowering customer safety, driver safety to allow a company to come into our province."

The association said it was currently committing to all of its drivers having a Class 4 drivers licence — which requires a doctor's report, a written test and an eye exam — but said that might change in the future.