Alphabet's autonomous vehicle division, Waymo, has been expanding into Canada after obtaining approval to participate in the Ontario autonomous vehicle pilot project.

However, the company will not launch autonomous taxi services immediately at this time. Waymo consistently follows the same process when entering new cities: first, manual mapping is conducted, then testing is carried out, and finally, commercial services are launched.

On Friday, in a blog post, Waymo stated that their autonomous vehicles will first be manually driven in Toronto to create high-precision maps of the local road network. Subsequently, the company will test the autonomous vehicles on public roads with a human safety operator accompanying each vehicle. After that, these safety operators will no longer be seated in the driver's seat, and later on, the company will invite the public to ride in their autonomous taxis.

Entering Canada is part of its efforts to accelerate the exploration of new markets. Two years ago, the company was only operating in three commercial markets, and its autonomous taxis had not yet been on highways. Its expansion plan began in Austin in March 2025, followed by Atlanta. Today, the company provides autonomous taxi services in 15 cities across the United States and is also conducting tests in London and Tokyo.

Co-CEO Waymo stated that entering Canada marks an important milestone in the company's global development journey. She also mentioned that Toronto is the northernmost city Waymo the company has ever attempted to operate in, and it may also be the coldest one; these conditions will test its autonomous driving technology and operational capabilities.

As part of its accelerated expansion strategy, Waymo has begun to collaborate with third-party companies to manage its fleets in various cities. Toronto is no exception: Waymo indicates that it has partnered with Element Fleet Management, which is headquartered in Toronto, and expects to support hundreds of jobs in areas such as fleet maintenance, driver verification, customer service, and operations.