Requiring Vehicle-For-Hire Companies to Provide Emergency Driver Contact Information to Customers and Toronto Police Services - by Councillor Mike Colle, seconded by Councillor Frances Nunziata

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The decision

2025-04-23 · Toronto City Council · adopted

As filed

City Council on April 23 and 24, 2025, adopted the following: 1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, in consultation with the City Solicitor and the Toronto Police Service, to consult with Vehicle-For-Hire Industry and recommend any changes to Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 546, Licensing of Vehicles-For-Hire, that could require licensees to take greater accountability to directly

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assist customers and law enforcement in emergency situations in an urgent manner; and whether such requirements could become a condition of licenses to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

In March of 2025, a Vehicle-For-Hire driver drove away from the location of a drop-off with a five year old child still remaining in a back row passenger seat. The mother was unable to contact the driver and when she contacted the Vehicle-For-Hire company directly, she was told they would not give out the driver's contact information to her or the police, and they offered no further assistance. This terrifying experience makes clear how critical it is for the City of Toronto to take additional measures to help safeguard its residents and visitors by continuously improving the policies and procedures that regulate Vehicle-For-Hire companies to ensure they meet a greater standard of customer safety and coordination with local law enforcement to prevent any number of dangerous situations such as this incident.

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The City of Toronto's current regulatory framework for the Vehicle-For-Hire industry does not provide any remedy to passengers in such an emergency situation, nor any penalty to negligent operators. The City of Toronto must review its current rules and recommend additional licencing requirements for the protection of passengers in even the rarest of circumstances. The reason for urgency of this motion without notice is due to the already demonstrated and possibly imminent danger to Vehicle-For-Hire customers if this risk remains unaddressed in the City of Toronto's regulatory framework governing Vehicle-For-Hire companies and drivers.

Staff recommended

Councillor Mike Colle, seconded by Councillor Frances Nunziata, recommends that: 1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards in consultation with the City Solicitor and the Toronto Police Service to consult with Vehicle-For-Hire Industry and recommend any changes to Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 546 that could require licensees to take greater accountability to directly assist customers

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and law enforcement in emergency situations in an urgent manner; and whether such requirements could become a condition of licenses to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Municipal Licencing and Standards.

On the record

The item as the City filed it

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