A new Canadian platform wants to compete with Uber and Lyft

The Toronto start-up HOVR wants to make its place in the Canadian transport platform market by promising drivers better remuneration.

We are entering a market ripe for disruptionindicates Harrison Amit, the founder of the platform whose official launch is scheduled for Thursday in Toronto. We see dissatisfaction from both drivers and customershe adds.

Again on Wednesday, Uber drivers gathered around Union Station, in the city center of the metropolis, to denounce their precarious conditions and their meager income.

One of them, Ejaz Butt, says he earns around $100 a day driving for the platform. I survive because my children help me financially, otherwise it wouldn’t be possibleconfides the 62-year-old driver.

We’re all fed up. It’s not livable.

Last February, a coalition study RideFair revealed that Toronto drivers for transportation platforms like Uber or Lyft earn on average only $6.37 per hour after expenses, an amount well below the minimum wage in Ontario.

The group estimates that 42% of drivers even work at a loss, data taken from an analysis of around a hundred weekly billing slips collected between October 2023 and January 2024.

HOVR attempts to lure these workers by promising them full fees charged for mileage traveled and travel time.

It’s basically the right thing to dounderlines Mr. Amit.

However, drivers will have to pay $20 per month to subscribe to HOVR, an amount that could increase over time, warns its founder.

The young entrepreneur maintains that around 5,000 drivers have already signed up for HOVR in anticipation of the launch.

The platform will currently offer its services in the Toronto region, but its founder intends to extend its activities to other Canadian cities in the coming months.

Face two giants

Mr. Amit, however, has no illusions about the challenges that await him.

Its platform will have to compete first with Uber which, through a fierce fight against the taxi industry, has cornered the majority of the Toronto market.

In a written statement, the American company maintains that the vast majority of its drivers are satisfied, who, according to Uber, receive $33.35 per hour before tips when a passenger is in their car.

Its main competitor, Lyft, also intends to increase its presence in Canada. The company has been offering its services there since 2017, but has only really been interested in the Canadian market for a few months, admits its CEO.

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I think in Toronto we have almost doubled our market sharerejoices David Risher who supports taking measures to increase the remuneration of his drivers.

In the United States, Lyft promises that in any given week a driver will never collect less than 70% of the revenue from their rides when you exclude insurance fees and surcharges imposed by cities. The company intends to deploy the same initiative in Canada by the end of the year.

We cannot have a good business model if our drivers are not financially successfulsupports the CEO of Lyft in an interview with CBC/Radio-Canada.

Win the hearts of drivers

Even before having served a single customer, the founder of HOVR is convinced of being able to break through this duopoly thanks to the support he says he receives from drivers.

Milton Brady is one of those who eagerly awaited the launch of the platform. The HOVR model offers all drivers in the industry the opportunity to have some financial stability in their livesjudges the one who has been driving a car for Uber for more than four years.

Mr. Amit hopes that such testimonials will inspire other drivers to join HOVR, in a market that already has nearly 64,000.

With information from Philippe de Montigny, James Dunne and Nisha Patel