General definition of carpool/rideshare
A carpool or rideshare with Poparide is defined as a driver offering their empty seats to passengers that are heading in the same direction, and sharing the costs of the trip without turning a profit.
Please note that this is very different from ride hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, which offer a service whereby a person hails a driver on-demand to get them from A to B, and where the driver receives 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 the provincial level. In general, provincial law allows the act of carpooling based on the following rules:
- The driver and passenger share a trip with a common origin and destination
- The driver does no more than one return trip a day
- The driver receives contributions towards their costs and does not turn a profit
- 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.