Some Canadians say they repeatedly get rejected by Uber drivers because they have service dogs.
In a CBC News feature, multiple people with disabilities or other conditions talked about their frustrations over being unable to ride with Uber. One legally blind Ottawa woman, Salome Solomon, said she was denied around 20 times last year because of her guide dog Zurich. In videos she provided to CBC News, Uber drivers can be seen turning away Solomon and Zurich, even when she explains that he’s not a pet.
Besides being understandably upsetting for riders like Solomon, this issue is particularly significant because, as she explains, Canadian human rights law requires those with disabilities to be allowed to travel with a service animal. And yet, as CBC News notes, a North American survey by the advocacy group Guide Dogs for the Blind found that 83 per cent of respondents were rejected by rideshare drivers in the first two months of 2023 alone.
“It makes you feel humiliated and it makes you feel so small,” Solomon told CBC News.
In a statement to CBC News, an Uber spokesperson recognized this legal requirement and said the company has made various efforts to communicate it to drivers, including an educational video that drivers must watch, periodic email reminders and a partnership with the CNIB. The representative added that drivers who break these rules are barred from Uber.
Last February, the company also rolled out an optional self-identification feature that lets Canadians with disabilities mark that they have a service animal with them. The driver will then be notified once they arrive at the pickup location, and any attempt to cancel the ride will prompt an in-app message reminding them that this is illegal. Uber says it consulted with “experts and members of the service animal community” to design this feature.
Still, James Wilkinson, a Toronto man with autism, told CBC News that he was rejected multiple times even after enabling this feature. Solomon, meanwhile, opted not to use it, questioning why riders should even have to do so in the first place.
Clearly, there’s still a lot of work to be done still to ensure that all Canadians are able to use services like Uber. Those with service animals who have issues with an Uber driver can report the incident to the company directly. And while the CBC News story doesn’t mention any specific issues with Lyft, you can also contact that ride-sharing company for any service animal-related issues at 844-554-1297.
In Canada, there are also several other ways to report being refused service, via Guide Dogs for the Blind:
- Alberta: Alberta.ca or call 780-427-9136
- British Columbia: file a complain form (Form SPD0806) at www2.gov.bc.ca or call 604-775-2000
- Newfoundland and Labrador: email humanrights@gov.nl.ca or call 800-563-5808
- Nova Scotia: novascotia.ca/servicedogs or call 888-760-5577
- Ontario: Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
Image credit: Guide Dogs for the Blind
Source: CBC News
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