Review of Ottawa's rideshare bylaw would be delayed by work on ‘bubble zone' bylaw: memo

CTV News

6 days ago

An Uber vehicle is seen in this file photo.
City of Ottawa staff say an upcoming review of the 2016 bylaw that legalized ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft would need to be delayed to the next term of council if a 'bubble zone' bylaw plan is passed this week.
City councillors will vote on a plan Wednesday directing staff to draft a 'vulnerable social infrastructure' bylaw that would prohibit protests within a certain distance of buildings such as places of worship, schools, hospitals, and long-term care homes.
Councillors on the emergency preparedness and protective services committee and the public works and infrastructure committee voted 14-2 in favour of proceeding with the plan at a joint meeting earlier this month.
Delaying work on the vehicle-for-hire bylaw was one of the directions in the motion that passed committee.
A report prepared for Wednesday's city council meeting gives staff a nine-month timeline to draft the new bylaw.
In a memo released Monday, Ryan Perrault, general manager of Emergency and Protective Services, said work on the vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw would inhibit staff from reviewing the vehicle-for-hire bylaw, which is up for review in 2026, but doing so should not pose any significant problems.
A staff report in 2023 noted that the review would not be completed before the end of this term of council in 2026, but that preliminary work would begin in the spring of 2025. Perreault wrote that should council approve the vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw this week, the preliminary work on the vehicle-for-hire bylaw would also be delayed.
'The preliminary work was to include the identification of stakeholders as well as issues and areas for research and review, developing a consultation and engagement plan, and identifying the internal and external resources that may be required to carry out the full review,' he wrote.
'Subsequent to Council approving the review of a Vulnerable Social Infrastructure By-law - in 2025-2026, the preliminary work on the Vehicle-For-Hire By-law would be delayed.'
Perrault said delaying a review of the vehicle-for-hire bylaw to the next term of council is not expected to have a significant impact on the review process.
'While the full scope of that work is not yet determined, staff anticipate that the review would take approximately 18 to 24 months. Preliminary work could begin as soon as Q3 2026 and could continue into the next Term on the assumption that Council will approve this review in next Term's work plan,' he said.
City council approved a bylaw review framework in 2019 that requires municipal bylaws be regularly reviewed, at least once every 10 years.
The 2016 vehicle-for-hire bylaw was enacted after Uber's arrival in the Ottawa market in 2014. The bylaw created rules that allowed for the operation of 'private transportation companies' in the city.
In 2024, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the City of Ottawa was negligent in its enforcement of the city's taxi bylaw when it allowed Uber to begin operating in 2014, prior to the creation of the vehicle-for-hire bylaw, which harmed the city's established taxi industry.