Province gives ridesharing services green light in Sask.

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have been given the green light to operate in the province of Saskatchewan.

The government approved The Vehicle for Hire Act in the legislature Tuesday. The legislation was tabled in November of 2017.

Joe Hargrave, minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance, says the government will be working closely with ridesharing companies, the taxi cab association and municipalities to bring ridesharing into the province.

Hargrave said insurance policies for the services will depend on how much they are driving. He said insurance averages around $1,000 for private citizens and around $5,000 for taxi drivers. He expects ridesharing insurance to fall somewhere in between those costs. Insurance will then fall on a sliding scale for drivers based on how much they travel.

“All the apps of all the ridesharing companies, they have to report their data to SGI,” Hargrave said. “That’s how that will be determined. We’ll be tracking that and we have the right to audit all of those apps and all of that information.”

Hargrave said the government is focused on making an even playing field for drivers in the province.

Municipalities will be able to set their own bylaws for how ridesharing will work in their jurisdictions. All final regulations will fall on the municipalities.