A Calgary city councillor is calling for a limit on the number of ride-hailing drivers operating around the city to be considered.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal is bringing a notice of motion to the city's executive committee on Tuesday that calls for administration to analyze a possible fixed or population-based cap on ride-share drivers.

While the city's Vehicle-for-Hire bylaw maintains a fixed limit on taxi licences, Calgary does not have a similar cap on ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.

Dhaliwal's notice of motion says city records show there were more than 16,581 active ride-hailing driver licences last year.

Dhaliwal said he's heard concerns about the taxi industry's future ever since he was elected to council four years ago. And he added that ride-hailing drivers have also said they believe having so many drivers in Calgary is having a negative effect on wages.

"This is not at all taxi against ride-hailing," Dhaliwal said, adding that his goal is for drivers in both industries to earn a decent wage.

"Some [ride-hailing drivers] are also telling me that with these kinds of licences out in the market, it's hard. It's hard to make a living."

Some Calgary Uber drivers joined a strike across Canada last year over dropping wages and working conditions, with an uptick in drivers flooding the market cited as a reason for declining wages.

In an emailed statement on Saturday, an Uber spokesperson argued a cap would make it harder for its workers to earn money, and for Calgarians to get around the city affordably and reliably.

"The City of Calgary currently has a 120-page bylaw that regulates ride-sharing. Another study is not an effective use of time or money, especially when the city has larger issues to resolve," Uber spokesperson Keerthana Rang said via email.

The motion would direct city administration to prepare a report examining the feasibility, benefits and risks of tools, including a cap, to manage the growth in ride-hailing drivers.

The report would also be expected to analyze the potential effect of a cap on wheelchair-accessible service, market competition, existing contracts with the airport and major event venues, and any risk of unlicenced operations or litigation.

The report would be presented to council by the third quarter of 2026.

The rules ride-hailing drivers face in Calgary have been debated since Uber entered the market a decade ago. Associated Cabs president Roger Richard argued in 2015 that ride-hailing companies should follow the same rules as taxi companies.

Calgary wouldn't be the only Canadian city considering a ride-hailing cap. In 2023, Toronto temporarily capped the number of ride-hailing licences in its city, but backed off following a legal challenge from Uber.

In December, Toronto council revisited the issue, with the city calling for staff to present more information about the effect a cap would have.

The problem Dhaliwal points to in past conversations on the ride-hailing companies' place in Calgary is that drivers didn't feel included.

"Engage these people. Listen to them for once, please," Dhaliwal said.

"And engagement is not just listening. Engagement is having a two-way conversation and considering their ideas, what they have to recommend and going back to them with some of the answers"

Naeem Chaudhry, who worked in the taxi industry for more than 30 years, said he's talked to city councillors and officials on this issue for years. He argued that because apps like Uber and Lyft can have as many vehicles in Calgary as they want, many drivers are left unable to make a living, and the taxi industry's future is in jeopardy.

"If we keep moving in the same direction, I think we'll eliminate the taxi industry within the next five years, perhaps 10 years," Chaudhry said.

If approved at executive committee on Tuesday, council will vote on the notice of motion in June.