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Waymo to launch robotaxis in Toronto under pilot program for self-driving vehicles
Waymo to launch robotaxis in Toronto
Self-driving taxi operator Waymo says it will launch a test phase in Toronto in the coming days, with the goal of carrying its first passengers in 2028.
The California-based company says the Ontario government has given it the green light to take part in a provincial pilot program that regulates testing of autonomous cars.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., says the first phase includes high-definition street mapping and test runs of the robotaxis with a driver behind the wheel, starting this fall.
Skeptics of the technology say autonomous vehicles struggle to handle more complicated environments, including heavy traffic and bad weather, but Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana says the company is committed to safer streets and more accessible mobility.
For its launch in Canada, Waymo is partnering with Toronto-based Element Fleet Management, which will provide maintenance, customer service and other support functions.
Waymo's distinctive white crossover SUVs will not be the first vehicles to traverse Toronto streets under the provincial pilot program, after California-based Gatik began a rollout of 50 autonomous box trucks for Loblaw in the city last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:EFN)
By Christopher Reynolds | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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'Goodbye to a good friend': Snowbirds' final show to be livestreamed today
Final Snowbirds air show to be livestreamed today
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle
Members of the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds aerial aerobatics team are set to perform their final air show Friday in Moose Jaw, Sask., before their decades-old Tutor jets head into retirement.
The RCAF is set to livestream the annual season home closer online at 2 p.m. ET on its Facebook page.
There will still be one more chance to see the CT-114 Tutors in action before they are sent to the airbase in Trenton, Ont., for disposal.
The Snowbirds are scheduled to perform a flyover at the Canadian Football League Grey Cup game in Calgary on Nov. 15.
Capt. Philip Rochon, public affairs officer for the Snowbirds, said it's a bittersweet time for the pilots who are saying farewell to the planes the team has flown for 55 years.
"It's like saying goodbye to a good friend," he said.
Rochon said the Snowbirds received an outpouring of support over the summer from Canadians across the country who shared memories of past shows and their encounters with an iconic "piece of Canadiana."
"At the same time, we're looking forward to the future with the new aircraft that was announced," he said. "That will come online hopefully in the next few years. We're looking forward to seeing what the next chapter of the Snowbirds will be."
Defence Minister David McGuinty announced in May that the old Tutors will be replaced eventually by the Swiss-made PC-21 Pilatus aircraft, known as the CT-157 Siskin II.
The RCAF is also acquiring those same aircraft for pilot training.
While the Snowbirds were formed in 1971, the air force obtained the Tutor jets in 1963.
The Snowbirds will go on a multi-year hiatus until the replacement aircraft are delivered and the team can be trained up on the new planes. That could take until the early 2030s but there's no set timeline.
The decision to ground the team came after planned upgrades to the Tutors' engines and escape systems meant to keep them in the air until 2030 encountered a range of problems, including parts obsolescence.
RCAF Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet told reporters at the AERO Gatineau-Ottawa air show last month that it's been "heartwarming" to see how Canadians have responded over the last season.
"The Snowbirds are so much more than just an air demonstration team, obviously, and it evokes so much emotion and we all have such fond strong memories," she said.
"I really can't overstate just how significant they are to Canadians and specifically to the RCAF. The idea that we'd have to take a pause was definitely not an easy one. However, the Tutor aircraft is 63 years old and it is time to move into the future and make sure that we're doing things for the right reasons."
She said the demonstration team has been focused solely on finishing the current season. Once that's done, she said, the RCAF can "build the right kind of plan" to ensure the pilots don't get rusty in the meantime.
"We're looking at things like, can we send an exchange into some of our allied teams, or obviously instructing and working with the PC-21 in Moose Jaw as an option," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
By Kyle Duggan | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Stellantis workers set to vote on potential strike action this weekend
Stellantis workers set to vote on strike mandate
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
Stellantis workers in Canada are set to vote this weekend on whether to authorize a strike as their union says contract negotiations with the automaker remain at a standstill.
Unifor is holding the votes on Saturday and Sunday and plans to announce results at the start of next week.
However, the union representing more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada said it is hoping to avoid a potential strike. It said authorization for job action would provide leverage to help reach a negotiated agreement.
"A strike authorization gives the bargaining committee the authority to call a strike if necessary, it does not automatically mean a strike will take place," said a statement last week signed by Unifor national president Lana Payne and other members of the union's bargaining committee.
"Strike action remains a last resort, but the ability to strike is an important part of collective bargaining and can help create the conditions for an agreement."
The previous collective agreement between Stellantis and the union expired Sept. 20 without the two sides coming to terms on a new tentative deal.
Unifor's bargaining committee and the company are at an impasse over several key issues, including job security and the future of the Brampton, Ont., assembly plant Stellantis wants to sell.
The fate of the Brampton plant, which has been idled since 2023, has been a central issue. Talks came to a standstill on Sept. 11 when Stellantis signed a memorandum of understanding with defence contractor Roshel for a potential sale of the facility.
Stellantis Canada president and CEO Trevor Longley said in a September letter to employees that “market and trade conditions have directly impacted the original business case” for the plant, but that the move to sell could support future operations at the site.
"Stellantis remains committed to bargaining in good faith and is prepared to continue discussions toward a negotiated agreement that recognizes the contributions of our employees while supporting the long-term competitiveness of our Canadian operations," the automaker's spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin in a statement this week.
More than 2,000 workers were laid off from the Brampton plant when it halted operations in 2023.
The facility had been slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a process that began early in 2024, before the company paused the plan in early 2025. It later announced it was moving production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois., leaving the plant idled indefinitely.
Unifor has filed a grievance over that move, alleging it violated the previous collective agreement.
For its part, Roshel has said it is willing to consider hiring laid-off workers from the plant as soon as this year “through the federal government’s Light Utility Vehicles procurement program and other automotive and defence opportunities.”
Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov said the company plans to establish a Canadian Centre of Excellence for Defence Manufacturing in Brampton in addition to automotive production, which would involve more than 2,000 jobs.
Payne has written to federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly urging the government to block the potential sale and clarify whether the MOU breached Stellantis' previous commitments to Ottawa.
Last fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had expressed disappointment during a conversation with the global head of Stellantis over the company moving Jeep Compass production to the United States. At the time, the prime minister said he reminded Stellantis of its commitments to the government under funding deals — such as keeping the Brampton plant — and warned there would be consequences if it failed to meet those obligations.
Joly's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Contract talks began Sept. 1 in Toronto after Unifor ratified new collective agreements with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors in Canada earlier in the summer, as part of its pattern bargaining process with each of the Detroit Three.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
By Sammy Hudes | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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