Lawyers for the City of Ottawa and taxi drivers will be in court today, as the class-action lawsuit over the city’s handling of Uber’s arrival continues. In May 2024, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the city was negligent in its enforcement of the Taxi Bylaw when Uber rolled into Ottawa in 2014. The judge recommended the two sides consider the judgment before determining the next course of action and finalizing the damages. Metro Taxi Ltd., Coventry Connections president and CEO Marc Andre Way and taxi plateholder Iskhak Mail filed a class action lawsuit against the city in 2016, seeking $215 million. The lawsuit alleged the City was negligent in allowing Uber to operate illegally in Ottawa for two years, that the City infringed on the Charter rights of plateholders and that the City’s taxi bylaw constituted an unlawful tax. City Solicitor Stuart Huxley told councillors last June that the Ontario Superior Court has set aside trail dates in March 2026 to address remaining liability questions of whether damages in the aggregate are appropriate following the judge’s ruling. While the judge ruled Ottawa was negligent in its enforcement of the Taxi Bylaw, the judge concluded the city did not infringe upon the Charter rights of taxi drivers and did not impose an unlawful tax through the bylaw. In June 2024, the taxi drivers proposed the city add a “nominal fee” on Uber and taxi riders to cover the cost of a potential settlement in the class-action lawsuit. The city has a bylaw now allowing the operation of “private transportation companies,” like Uber.
