Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit, received approval to participate in Ontario's automated vehicle pilot program and will begin operations in Canada with Toronto as its entry point.
The company will follow its standard deployment sequence in the city. Waymo will first manually drive its vehicles to create high-definition maps of Toronto's street networks. It will then test autonomous vehicles on public roads with human safety operators aboard before removing those operators and launching a commercial robotaxi service open to the public.
Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana characterized the Canadian expansion as an important milestone in Waymo's global trajectory. Toronto represents the company's northernmost market and its first major deployment in a consistently cold climate, which will test both its autonomous vehicle technology and operational capabilities in winter conditions.
Waymo's Canadian entry accelerates expansion efforts that have intensified over the past two years. The company operated in only three commercial markets two years ago and had not yet deployed robotaxis on freeways. The expansion began in March 2025 with deployments in Austin and Atlanta. Waymo now operates robotaxi services in 15 U.S. cities and tests vehicles in London and Tokyo.
The company has adopted a partnership model to manage fleet operations in each new city. Waymo partnered with Toronto-based Element Fleet Management for the Canadian deployment. The company stated it expects the expansion to support hundreds of jobs in fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service, and operations.