Uber now available B.C.-wide

Uber signage during a product unveiling event in New York, on May 14.

Starting Wednesday, ride-hailing giant Uber is now available across British Columbia.

The company launched service in 2020 for just Metro Vancouver, and its applications to the Passenger Transportation Board to operate in other regions were denied.

After the PTB approved Uber’s application for a licence transfer from another company in 2023, it began operating in Kelowna, Greater Victoria and the Fraser Valley.

The licence transfer to Uber from Vancouver-based ReRyde, which had approval to operate outside the Lower Mainland but wasn’t actively providing ride-hailing services, gave the American company permission to operate across B.C.

Uber teased the expansion late last year, and it was made official on May 28.

Now in theory, anyone from Port Renfrew to Fort Nelson can open the Uber app and request a ride, but there of course need to be signed-up drivers working in the area.

To up its presence, the company is offering $500 bonuses to drivers who sign up in a newly covered city and take 10 trips in the first four weeks.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ian Holliday