A new report revealed that taxi drivers in Toronto will strike after earning only $6.37 per hour

Your ride driver can earn only $6.37 per hour, a small fraction of Ontario's minimum wage, according to a new report calling for legislative changes to prevent independent workers from slipping further into poverty.

The failure to pay minimum wage to drivers in Toronto translates into huge unexpected profits for app companies, earning up to $200 million annually, as detailed in the report titled "Legal Poverty," issued by the driver advocacy organization Ridefair.

Drivers from Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver told CTV News they will strike on Valentine's Day alongside drivers in dozens of U.S. states and European countries who work on platforms including Uber, Lyft, and the food delivery app Doordash.

Erla Phillips, a taxi driver and vice president of the Rideshare Drivers Association in Ontario, said, “People can't survive on this kind of thing,” adding that the study gathered direct information from drivers using screenshots of their earnings.
“How can you pay your bills with this amount of money?” Phillips said. “You don’t.”

One major company, Uber, rejected this figure and pointed to its own numbers indicating higher incomes for its drivers.

“Cherry’s selection of 96 weekly earnings statements from tens of millions of trips is a poor method.” Company spokesperson Kirthana Rang said, “In November, the average income was $33.35 per hour of work in the city of Toronto.”

Report author Gigi Fozer from the Ridefair coalition said that Ridefair’s figure of $6.37 per hour was an average, meaning half the drivers actually earn less, and some lost money while working.

She said, “Currently, drivers in Toronto can earn less.”

Employees are entitled to minimum wage under Ontario labor laws. However, drivers are classified as contractors and do not have the same protections.

Price Soffer from Gig Workers United said this classification is a lie in a job where the app decides how to match drivers and passengers.

He added, “I just returned from a two-hour shift where I earned $5.40.” Soffer said, “I can speak from experience that we are facing a crisis.”

The report authors say their estimates align with other estimates in California ($6.20 per hour), Seattle ($9.63 per hour), and Denver ($5.49 per hour).

Uber's ride-hailing company said Toronto drivers earn $33.35 per “engaged hour,” meaning when they have a passenger, but this does not include driver sign-in time and waiting for jobs.

Fozer said this is not a reasonable measure because it does not fairly represent the amount of time they work.

“This number looks good. In fact, it's almost double the province's minimum wage. But it’s not. It leaves out important information,” she said.

The study’s authors urge the city to consider reinstating the driver cap, on the basis that a lower number of drivers could mean each driver gets a larger share of trips.

But the bigger change would be using legislation to classify drivers as employees, a step already taken in British Columbia.

Phillips said the other step to be taken this week is that drivers in many Canadian cities will strike.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued the Labour Law for Workers in 2022 which, when enacted, will provide protections including minimum wage for work time, tip protection, and dispute resolution.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Labour said, “That's why our government is leading the way, as Ontario is the first province in Canada to provide basic rights to gig workers who offer rides or deliver food for companies like Uber and DoorDash.”

Striking drivers will gather in Nathan Phillips Square on Wednesday. The public will listen to speakers before driving through the city