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Alberta, which has Uber, requires ride-hailing drivers hold a Class 1, 2 or 4 licence, all of which are for professional drivers. Most other provinces do not require a commercial licence.

Aaron Zifkin, the managing director of Lyft Canada, said his company, which has cars in Toronto and Ottawa along with most of the U.S., does not currently operate in any jurisdiction that requires drivers to have a commercial driver’s licence.

Commercial licences for ride-hailing drivers will not improve safety but will increase waiting times and benefit the taxi industry, because the requirement will limit the driver supply.

“Ninety-one per cent of the drivers on our platform drive less than 20 hours a week. These are people like single moms, students in school and people trying to supplement their incomes,” he said. “As soon as you introduce that Class 4 commercial licence, these people tend not to apply for that type of work.”

When asked if the commercial licence was a deal-breaker for Lyft, Zifkin said he was cautiously optimistic that solutions could be found working with the PTB this summer.

The Surrey Board of Trade, although pleased that ride-hailing has finally received the green light in B.C., is also disappointed with the Class 4 licence requirement.

“This needs to be revisited by government to enable full market participation in the ride-hailing industry,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.

The B.C. Taxi Association, meanwhile, said the Class 4 requirement shows the NDP government cares about public safety.

“I believe the government has taken the time to make sure they do not repeat the same mistakes that were made in other parts of Canada and the world,” said association president Mohan Singh Kang. “We have never said no to Uber or ride-sharing … but we’ve always stated that they must meet the safety standards and there also has to be an even playing field, because they are doing the same type of job. The taxi industry will not be able to compete with them unless the rules and ground rules are identical.”

Ian Tostenson of Ridesharing Now for B.C., a coalition sponsored by Uber and Lyft, said he doesn’t expect the Class 4 requirement will kill ride-hailing, but it will slow its rollout.

“What I’m worried about is if (ICBC) is staffed up, geared up and trained up to handle the onslaught of people (applying for Class 4),” he said. “I hope they’ve anticipated this because you can imagine all the road tests that would happen for Class 4, and you have to have qualified (ICBC driver) examiners — and where are you going to get those guys?”

An ICBC spokesperson said ICBC is prepared to increase the number of available Class 4 road test appointments to support additional demand.