Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My name is Jonathan Hamel, and I am a public affairs manager for Uber in Canada. It is a pleasure to be here with you today for your study on delivery services.

Uber is driven by the mission to help people go anywhere, get anything and earn their way. Uber has helped people save time while moving around safely and conveniently. It has created new business opportunities for restaurants, tourism and other local businesses, and provided flexible earning opportunities for drivers and delivery people all over Canada.

Uber Eats first started in Toronto in 2015 and is now available in over 300 cities in all provinces and two territories. It is a three-sided marketplace made up of the consumer, the restaurant and the delivery person. I’ll speak briefly about all three.

Delivery platforms like Uber Eats help Canadians access good-quality, local food regardless of how busy their lives are or what the weather is outside. After a long busy day of working, going to school or caregiving, Canadians turn to Uber Eats to get a meal or order groceries. Almost half of Canadians reported using delivery apps to order food or essential items. Convenience was listed as the most important reason people used Uber Eats.

Uber Eats helps local restaurants grow their business. Thousands of restaurants and other merchants choose to be on Uber Eats because we’re providing services they value, from delivery services and marketing to reaching new customers and growing their customer base.

Just this past year, 85% of Canadian merchants said that Uber Eats gives them access to an additional revenue stream and they’ve increased their revenue since joining the platform. In addition, 70% said that Uber Eats has a positive impact on their business’s ability to manage current economic challenges. Almost 86% said Uber Eats helped increase their business’s ability to reach new customers they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to reach. Finally, 93% said they plan to keep partnering with Uber Eats next year.

Delivery people choose the Uber Eats platform because of the flexibility it gives them. They can earn money on their own terms, and they control where and when they work. They are free to use other apps like Door Dash, Skip or Instacart at the same time as they’re on Uber. They can choose which deliveries to accept, and they can deliver using their own vehicle or bike, or on foot. It is this unparalleled flexibility that draws a diverse group of people to Uber, including newcomers, parents, caregivers, students, retirees, entrepreneurs and more.

As more Canadians turn to Uber to earn flexibly, whether as drivers or delivery people, we believe we need to level up this work. That’s why three years ago we signed a landmark national agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW Canada, the country’s largest private sector union.

We’ve been working with UFCW Canada to do two things. First, drivers and delivery people can request representation services from UFCW when facing an account issue or deactivation with Uber or Uber Eats, or other issue. These services are offered free of charge—and in the first two years of our agreement, 1,908 workers have had their issue processed, and 457 of them had a positive outcome.

Second, we’ve been advocating for labour reforms that protect flexibility and offer tailored benefits to this type of work, like a minimum earnings standard, a benefits fund, notice of termination, health and safety protections, and representation services.

British Columbia just implemented a 120% minimum earnings guarantee, and Ontario will implement one next year.

In conclusion, we’ve come a long way since our first trip in Canada in 2012. We have gone very fast, sometimes too fast, but we have weathered the storms and learned from our mistakes.

Today, we are listening to people who use the platform, drivers, delivery people and cities to find out how we can make the platform better.

I look forward to answering your questions.

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