Waymo said on 16 October that it is expanding to Toronto, its first city in Canada, and aims to welcome its first riders there in 2028. Its vehicles will start driving Toronto streets manually in the coming days to build high-definition maps, with trained specialists in the driver’s seat checking that the Waymo Driver adapts to local conditions.
Toronto-based Element Fleet Management will run the fleet, and Waymo says the work will create hundreds of local roles over time in maintenance, validation driving and customer service. The company also pointed to existing Canadian ties: the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is a long-term investor, and Magna International is its manufacturing partner.
Why it matters: Toronto adds proper winters, a dense downtown and a new set of regulators, making it a real test of whether Waymo’s technology travels beyond the US. The 2028 date is unhurried, the same year Waymo has set for driverless rides in Singapore. On safety, Waymo cites its own data from more than 400 million autonomous kilometres, which it says show 95 per cent fewer serious-injury crashes than human drivers in the cities where it operates.
Source: Waymo blog