Foodora couriers in Toronto are preparing to vote on union certification in what could create Canada's first unionized workforce of app-based workers.

An application by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers was filed last week with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, months after a campaign was launched that addressed working conditions.

The union says couriers intend to negotiate a better compensation model, health and safety protections when workers are injured and recognition of basic rights of workers that aren't recognized by Foodora, which classifies them as independent contractors.

Voting begins on Friday and ends Tuesday.

Foodora's workers are paid $4.50 per order plus $1 per kilometre between the restaurant and delivery address, while restaurants pay the company up to about 30 per cent of the order total.

The postal workers union says it filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the labour board over what it claims are Foodora Canada's spreading of lies and misinformation to scare couriers to vote against certification.