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Layover guideToronto · YYZ · YTZ

Ride-hailing in Toronto

Hail a taxi on the street or take one from a stand and it must charge the City-regulated rate. Book through an app and you agree the price before the trip starts.

John Robert McPherson / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
All of Toronto

If you hail a taxicab from the street or are picked up at a taxicab stand, it must charge the City-regulated rate. Toronto's meters start at C$4.25 and increase based on distance and time for street hail and cabstand pickups. Book through a brokerage instead and the brokerage can provide a discounted rate.

Taxicab brokerages are permitted to set their own rates, including surge pricing, only if the ride is booked through an app. You must agree to accept the price before the trip starts, and the company must provide a detailed receipt.

Six things identify a licensed taxicab: the plate number on the rear bumper and on the sides near the front door, the meter, the driver's photo card on the dashboard, the Taxicab Bill of Rights and the tariff card on the back of the passenger seat, and a roof light. The city's own note is that a roof light alone does not mean a taxicab is licensed. Complaints go to 311, and you need the plate number to make one.

At Pearson, Uber's own guidance is that the pickup zone depends on your arrival gate and terminal, your arrival time, airport regulations, construction and where you are standing when you request, and that you should follow the directions the app gives rather than head for a remembered door.

  1. City of Toronto: taxis and limousines · checked 2026-09-03
  2. Uber: Toronto Pearson (YYZ) pickup directions · checked 2026-09-03

The rest of Toronto

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Getting out of the airportUP Express runs between Terminal 1 and Union Station in 28 minutes, every 15 minutes, from 05:27 to 00:54 out of Pearson on weekdays and from 06:24 at weekends and on holidays.Local laws that catch crew outCannabis is legal to buy at 19 in Ontario and a serious criminal offence to carry across the Canadian border in either direction, with or without a medical document.Staying connectedPearson's Wi-Fi is free, and subway platforms no longer have free Wi-Fi, but every station on Lines 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 has 5G.WeatherWinter is the operational fact here: at the airport, January does not average above freezing at any hour of the day.Eating near the crew hotelsEvery eating and drinking place posts its latest inspection notice at the door, the menu price may or may not include tax, and the alcohol clock stops at 02:00.What to buyThirteen per cent HST goes on at the till, and the customs quantity limits are tighter than most crew assume.TippingOntario law treats a tip as the employee's money, and treats a service charge on the bill as a tip.