Waymo Picks Toronto for First Canadian Robotaxi Expansion, Targets 2028 Riders

Waymo selected Toronto as its first Canadian market and fourth announced international destination outside the US, alongside London, Tokyo, and Singapore, targeting its first public riders in 2028. Vehicles will begin manual driving on Toronto streets in the coming days to build high-definition maps and validate software, while Toronto-headquartered Element Fleet Management handles end-to-end fleet operations. Waymo currently completes more than 500,000 paid rides a week across over a dozen US metros and reports driving more than 400M fully autonomous kilometers (roughly 250M miles) with 95% fewer crashes causing serious injury or worse than human drivers. Ontario currently has no rules for commercial driverless ride-hailing, and its existing automated vehicle pilot regulation (O. Reg. 306/15) is scheduled to be revoked on October 13, 2027 without an announced replacement. Waymo stated that it and its partners will create hundreds of roles in fleet maintenance, validation driving, and operations after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's office said in April it would not support the service if it cost jobs. "an important milestone in Waymo’s global journey." — Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo.