Is it legal to carpool/rideshare on Poparide?

General definition of carpool/rideshare

A carpool or rideshare with Poparide is defined as a driver offering their empty seats to passengers heading the same direction, and sharing the costs of the trip with those passengers, without turning a profit.

Please note that this is very different from ridehailing companies like Uber and Lyft, who offer a service whereby a person hails a driver on-demand to get them from A to B, and where the driver receives a financial compensation and turns a profit. This is closer to a taxi service and falls within different legislation.

Legality of carpooling in Canada

In Canada, carpooling is regulated at a Provincial level. In general, Provincial laws allows the act of carpooling based on these following rules:

1. The driver and passenger share a trip with a common origin and destination
2. The driver does no more than one return trip a day
3. The driver receives contributions towards their costs and does not turn a profit
4. The seating capacity of the vehicle is not more than 10 passengers

Below are links to the articles in the law related to carpooling for each Canadian Province.

• Alberta: Traffic Safety Act, p23
• British Columbia: Passenger Transportation Act, section 1 (2)
• Manitoba: Highway Traffic Act, no information available on carpooling but we were informed by a Senior Analyst that it was allowed if driver does not profit from the ride
• New Brunswick: Motor Carrier Act, section 1
• Newfoundland and Labrador: Motor Carrier Regulations, section 2 (j)
• Northwest Territories: Motor Vehicles Act, no information available
• Nova Scotia: Motor Carrier Act, section 2 (l)
• Ontario: Public Vehicles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.54
• Québec: Chapitre S-6.01 LOI CONCERNANT LES SERVICES DE TRANSPORT PAR TAXI, section 3°
• Saskatchewan: Traffic Safety Act, no information available

We invite Poparide members to check the carpooling law where they intend on using our service.