How to Make Money Driving for Uber in Canada: Requirements, Pay and GST/HST

Driving for Uber is self-employment: you pick when to go online, choose which trips to accept, and handle your own taxes, insurance and car costs. This page covers what Uber itself says about pay and requirements, the insurance that applies while you drive, and the GST/HST rule that sets ride-sharing apart from food delivery. It is part of the side hustles hub; DoorDash and the gig economy apps comparison cover the delivery side.

How pay works

Uber does not publish a typical hourly or monthly figure for Canadian drivers. Its own description of pay (Uber, how much drivers make):

What it depends on. The money you make depends on when, where, and how often you drive.
Upfront information. Before you accept a trip, the app shows upfront trip information.
City minimums. Each city has a minimum amount you earn for any trip.
Fees. Uber’s page lists a service fee, which it says helps fund app development and customer support, and a booking fee that riders pay. It doesn’t give a percentage; the trip details screen breaks down each trip after you complete it.
Tips. Drivers keep 100% of tips.
Payouts. Earnings are transferred to your bank account every week.

What you keep is fares and tips minus Uber’s service fee, the GST/HST you remit and car costs, then income tax and CPP. A record of fares, trip kilometres and every car expense from the first day is what lets you work out your own hourly figure, and the same records support your tax return.

Requirements in Toronto

Uber’s requirements vary by city; its Toronto vehicle requirements page is one example. You also need to meet the minimum age to drive in your city and provide information for a background check, and city bylaw officers can inspect vehicles and documents (Uber driver requirements).

Requirement	UberX	UberXL	Uber Eats by car
Doors	4, opening independently	4-door SUV or minivan	2-door or 4-door car
Passenger seats (besides the driver)	At least 4	At least 6	Not applicable
Vehicle age (Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton)	Model year 7 years old or newer	Model year 7 years old or newer	Set by city; Uber’s pages give different limits
Inspection	By a licensed mechanic	By a licensed mechanic	Not required
Salvaged or rebuilt vehicles	Not allowed	Not allowed	Salvaged not allowed

Under Uber’s rules, older vehicles can still pick up riders in other parts of the Greater Toronto Area, but not in those four cities. Uber Black and the other premium options add rating and trip-count thresholds and a luxury vehicle.

Insurance while you drive

Uber’s insurance page says your own personal auto policy must be in force to drive with Uber, and you are responsible for telling your broker or insurer that you drive for a rideshare or delivery app. On top of that, Uber maintains a commercial auto policy that applies while you use the app. In Ontario its limits are:

Period	Third-party liability	Collision and comprehensive
Period 1: online, waiting for a request	$1,000,000	Contingent coverage, $2,500 deductible, only if your personal policy carries it
Periods 2 and 3: on the way to a pickup, and with a rider	$2,000,000	Contingent coverage, $2,500 deductible, only if your personal policy carries it

Uber also notes that Ontario has approved a rideshare policy from Intact Insurance, and that drivers still need a personal policy. Coverage works differently in other provinces, and Uber Black drivers must carry their own commercial licence and commercial insurance.

British Columbia. ICBC sells a blanket Basic insurance certificate to the ride-hailing company, not to drivers. It covers you and your passengers when you have accepted a trip via the app, when you are en route to pick up the passenger(s), or transporting the passenger(s), with up to $1,000,000 of third-party liability. If the company’s blanket Optional coverage is lower than your own, you may be able to add Optional coverage for ride-hailing use. B.C. drivers also need a Class 1, 2 or 4 commercial licence (ICBC).

A self-employed driver who provides commercial ride-sharing is treated as a taxi business for GST/HST: they must register and charge GST/HST on fares from their first ride, even below the $30,000 small-supplier threshold. Delivering food or groceries is not ride-sharing, so the usual small-supplier rule applies to it.

The CRA’s page for taxi and ride-sharing drivers says the tax is usually already included in the fare, so the GST/HST inside it is fare × rate ÷ (100 + rate), at the rate where the trip begins. As a registrant you can generally claim input tax credits for the GST/HST you pay on business purchases such as gas, car repairs, and car washes.

Tax included in a $25.00 fare (an illustrative amount), by where the trip begins.

Trip begins in	Rate	Tax inside the fare	Fare before tax
Ontario (HST)	13%	$2.88	$22.12
Alberta (GST only)	5%	$1.19	$23.81

If you both drive riders and deliver food, the DoorDash page covers the delivery side. Registering, filing returns and the quick method are covered step by step in the Uber driver tax guide.

Income tax and CPP

Ride-sharing income is business income: you report fares and expenses on Form T2125 with your personal return. Which car costs you can deduct, and the logbook the CRA expects, are covered in vehicle expenses for the self-employed.

You contribute to the CPP if you are over 18, work in Canada outside Quebec and earn more than $3,500 a year; contributions stop when you turn 70, and from 65 someone already receiving a CPP or QPP retirement pension can choose to stop. Self-employed people pay both the employee and the employer share of CPP contributions on their net business income (11.90% above the basic exemption up to the first earnings ceiling, plus 8% CPP2 between the first and second ceilings), worked out on Schedule 8 and paid with the income tax return. A non-refundable tax credit is claimed on half of the base contributions, and the other half, the first additional contributions and all CPP2 contributions are deducted from income. An employee pays 5.95%, and the employer pays the same amount again. The gig worker tax guide covers instalments, deadlines and how app income is reported.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 24, 2026 and November 13, 2026. How we check facts.