Canada’s first big robotaxi push won’t come from Tesla. Waymo, the self-driving company owned by Google parent Alphabet, announced on October 16 that its Waymo Toronto robotaxi service is aiming to welcome its first riders in 2028. Its test vehicles will start showing up on Toronto streets in the coming days.
Don’t expect empty driver’s seats yet. Waymo says it will begin by driving manually to build high-definition maps of the city, then move to testing with trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel before any public rides.
The Waymo Toronto robotaxi plan at a glance
- Timeline: mapping and supervised testing start now; first riders targeted for 2028.
- Permit: Waymo says it was accepted into Ontario’s Automated Vehicle Pilot Program and received a provincial permit from the Ministry of Transportation for manual driving and testing.
- Vehicles: a limited number of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles at first, scaling up gradually.
- Where: testing in areas including St. Lawrence Market, Harbourfront, Liberty Village, Parkdale, Don Mills, Yorkdale, Leaside, Yonge & Eglinton and Etobicoke, typically around the clock.
- Partner: Toronto-based Element Fleet Management will run on-site fleet operations, from maintenance to charging. Waymo says the partnership will create “hundreds of roles over time.”
Can a robotaxi handle a Toronto winter?
That’s the big question, and CBC News put it to experts. Waymo says it has logged tens of thousands of hours in snowy weather, tests in places like upstate New York, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Minneapolis and Detroit, and already operates in Denver. Its vehicles use heaters and small wipers to keep cameras and sensors clear. The 2028 target also gives Waymo two more Toronto winters of data. Anyone who has read our winter tire guide for Teslas in Ontario knows how quickly conditions here can change.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told CBC that safety is her biggest concern, and noted that the rules allowing these vehicles come from the province, not the city.
Where does Tesla Robotaxi stand in Canada?
Tesla hasn’t announced a timeline for bringing its Robotaxi service or the Cybercab to Canada. Its driverless rides run in the U.S., and its Texas fleet recently reached 769 registered Robotaxi vehicles, including 349 Cybercabs.
What Canadian owners do have is FSD (Supervised), which still needs an attentive driver at all times. Builds like FSD v14.3.12 keep getting better, but supervised FSD in your own car is very different from a paid, driverless taxi. Even Waymo says it is still working with authorities on the permits a commercial service would need. The two companies also take different paths: Waymo uses lidar, radar and detailed maps, while Tesla relies on cameras. Toronto could become the place where Canadians get to compare both approaches.
Would you take a driverless Waymo down the Gardiner, or are you waiting for a Tesla Cybercab? Join Canada’s most active Tesla community, 17,000+ owners strong, and share your take in our Tesla Model Y & 3 Facebook group.
Sources: Waymo blog · Waymo in Canada FAQ · CBC News (Toronto) · CBC News (winter) · Element Fleet Management