Two years ago, UFCW Canada and Uber Canada came together to sign a landmark agreement that offers drivers and delivery people representation services and advocates for labour reforms across the country.

Today, we’re pleased to release a report that shares the latest facts and figures about the real-world impact that the agreement has had. Since the signing of the agreement in January 2022:

  • 1,908 workers have had their deactivation or account-related issue case filed with Uber Canada by UFCW Canada.
  • Of these cases, 457 had a positive outcome. 310 workers regained access to the platform and 147 had an account-related issue resolved.

In December 2023, Pollara Strategic Insights also surveyed drivers and delivery people to assess their support for the agreement and found:

  • There is very high and intense approval among drivers and delivery people on Uber for the agreement with UFCW Canada with 82% approving of it. 
  • 79% of drivers and delivery people provide resounding support to their provincial government enacting the package of industry-wide reforms for app-based workers that are in the Uber and UFCW Canada agreement. 
  • Eight in ten drivers and delivery people on Uber indicate that flexibility and control of their schedule (88-89%) and being their own boss (83%) are extremely or very important aspects of working with Uber.

We’ve also heard from drivers and delivery people about changes we could make to the app to make their experience driving and delivering with Uber better. There are several improvements we expect to begin rolling out this year: 

Upfront fare and destination information 

Like delivery people, drivers will soon see more information about trips before accepting them, including the estimated fare and expected destination. These changes will roll out in Ontario and British Columbia later this year.

Protecting drivers from false allegations and unfair ratings 

We’ve put new systems in place to identify consumers who falsely report incidents and give feedback with the aim of getting a refund or appeasement. Allegations made by these consumers will not be considered in drivers’ ratings or account deactivation decisions. This is now live across the country. 

Seat belt alerts 

We know it’s frustrating when riders do not buckle up so we’ll be piloting Seat Belt Alerts reminding riders through the app to buckle up at the start of a trip. 

Record my ride 

We’ll pilot a new feature that will enable drivers to record video of trips using their smartphone’s front-facing camera, without the need to invest in a separate dashcam. 

As we look forward to 2024, we are committed to working with governments across the country to continue to improve the standard of app-based work.