Uber Remains Committed To Canadian Market Despite Heavy Opposition, Plans To Expand

Despite facing a slew of heavy opposition from some Canadian cities, virtual taxi-hailing company Uber remains committed to the particular market and said plans to expand further in the country are on the table.

"Uber wants to be everywhere and we are constantly evaluating new opportunities," Jeff Weshler, Uber Canada's General Manager for Regional Expansion, was quoted by the Canadian Press. Taxi owners as well as municipal governments have launched a barrage of court injunctions and political salvos to keep the San Francisco-based tech giant off the streets anywhere in Canada. Such actions have prompted Uber to close shop in Vancouver and Calgary. Its Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax operations remain strong.

Some of the criticism the company has received claimed it puts the welfare of its riders at risk because it allows unlicensed drivers to offer rides in their own vehicles, particularly the UberX service. But Uber countered it is not a transportation firm but a tech firm that developed a mobile app to enable customers hail nearby cars, thus it is not responsible for monitoring drivers.

Chris MacDonald, professor of Business Ethics at Ryerson University, told the Canadian Press the company ought to seek compromise with the governments of the municipalities it wants to enter “money will only get (them) so far through” the wide range of stumbles the company had faced. Still, it goes without saying Uber so far has been pretty successful, based on the estimates placed by Wall Street investors. The latter valued the company at a staggering US$40 billion, not to mention that the American firm’s model is present in 300 cities in 55 countries worldwide.

"They're going to need, in the long run, to keep a pretty broad range of stakeholders happy," MacDonald said. "Eventually they've got to kind of make peace."

Launched in 2009, the Uber app enables consumers to submit a trip request that is routed to crowd-sourced taxi drivers.

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