TORONTO

A Superior Court judge has denied the City of Toronto’s bid to shut down Uber.

In a judgment released Friday, Justice Sean Dunphy denied the city’s application for an injunction against the ridesharing service, ruling that Uber is not operation a taxi cab or limousine service.

“I have concluded that the city has failed to demonstrate a breach by the respondents of its bylaw and the city’s application should therefore be dismissed,” Dunphy ruled.

A lawyer for the city had argued that Uber should fall under the same licensing requirements that govern taxi brokerages operating within Toronto because “if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then you should call it a duck.”

But Dunphy disagreed.

“The simple fact of the matter is that it does not require ducks to be licensed. None of the ancillary aspects of Uber’s business — recruiting drivers, marketing, billing, customer relations and the like — is subject to a requirement to obtain a license. Accepting calls for transportation does require a license and Uber does not do that,” the judge wrote in the 30-page decision.

Uber Canada general manager Ian Black said the company was pleased with the decision and hopes to work further with Mayor John Tory and city council in coming up with ridesharing regualtions.

“(Friday’s) outcome is a great win for the 5,000 drivers who need this flexible earning opportunity to make a living, and the 300,000 riders who rely on them to move around our great city,” Black said.

A city spokesman reached Friday night said they had “just received the decision and will be reviewing with city legal staff on Monday prior to making a statement.”

And a spokesman for Tory — who has said the city needs to adapt to Uber’s business model — said he’ll be briefed on the Uber decision by city staff next week.

“(The mayor) will have more to say at that time,” Amanda Galbraith said. “We intend to have representatives of the taxi industry, drivers and Uber in at the earliest opportunity to move toward mutually agreeable solutions for the city’s ground transportation network.”

—Files from Don Peat