Waymo, the self-driving company that started life in 2009 as Google's driverless car project, is coming to Canada. On 16 October it announced plans to bring its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to Toronto, with the aim of carrying its first passengers in 2028.
What happens first
Waymo cars will appear on Toronto's streets within days, but with people driving them. This first phase is about building detailed maps of the city and testing on real roads with trained specialists at the wheel, so the system can learn local conditions, including Canadian winters. Waymo says its "all-weather" driver is designed for exactly that.
Element Fleet Management will run the day-to-day operation through its Element Mobility division: keeping cars charged, cleaned, maintained and ready to go. The two companies say they will create hundreds of jobs over time, in areas such as maintenance, test driving and customer service. Waymo is also working with local accessibility groups, including CNIB and BALANCE for Blind Adults.
The safety pitch
Waymo's argument rests on data. It says more than 400 million kilometres of fully driverless driving show its system was involved in 95% fewer crashes causing serious injury or worse than human drivers in the cities where it operates. Those are the company's own figures, but they are based on a very large amount of real-world driving, with tens of millions of paid driverless trips across more than 15 US cities.
The international picture
Toronto joins a growing list of cities outside Waymo's US home, including Tokyo and London, where its cars are already being tested alongside British rival Wayve and its partner Uber. That London rollout is not without friction: taxi and private hire drivers protested outside Wayve's offices last week, and Transport for London insists no driverless service can run without its consent.
Our take
Waymo is clearly ahead on miles driven and paying passengers. But winning abroad is not just about technology. Each new city means new laws, new unions, new weather and new public opinion. The company that wins the global robotaxi race may be the one best at politics and partnerships, not just driving. Toronto's 2028 target gives us a useful benchmark to watch.