On October 16, 2026, Waymo announced that it is coming to Canada, starting with Toronto, the country’s largest city. It is laying the groundwork for a fully autonomous ride-hailing service there, investing in local facilities and jobs, with the goal of welcoming its first riders in 2028.
The rollout is phased. Waymo vehicles begin appearing on Toronto streets within days, driven manually, for high-definition mapping of the street network, followed by testing with trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel to adapt the Waymo Driver to the city’s conditions. Toronto-headquartered Element Fleet Management will provide end-to-end fleet management, and Waymo says it and its partners will create hundreds of roles over time in fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and operations. The announcement points to existing Canadian ties through investor Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and manufacturing partner Magna International, and cites more than 400 million fully autonomous kilometres with 95 percent fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes than human drivers in its operating cities.
Why it matters: Toronto is Waymo’s first Canadian market and a cold-winter city, and it follows the September Singapore announcement as Waymo’s international plans widen beyond the United States. A Canadian fleet-management partner mirrors the operating model Waymo has used in other expansions.
What it does not show: this is a plan, not a launch. No driverless operation, regulatory approval for paid service, fleet size or service area was announced, and the 2028 date is a goal.