How Yellowknife plans to update its taxi bylaw

The City of Yellowknife has revealed the changes that passengers, drivers and cab companies can expect once an overhaul of its bylaw that regulates taxis is approved.

Municipal staff presented a draft of the long-awaited new bylaw, which was included in agenda documents, at a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday.

They described the bylaw as being “completely new” rather than merely “a tweak to the old one,” with modern language and improved organization, though a few things will remain unchanged.

The bylaw will have the new name of Taxi Bylaw, replacing the Livery Licence Bylaw, a name described as outdated.

The proposed new bylaw outlines driver and cab company responsibilities, permitted fare rates, minimum requirements for taxis, and fines for non-compliance.

The city drafted the updated bylaw after collecting feedback through a public survey alongside discussions with taxi companies, drivers, the city’s accessibility committee and the Status of Women Council of the NWT.

Here are five key changes the city is recommending:

1. Taxis will require security cameras

If passed, the proposed bylaw would make it an offence to operate a taxi without a functioning security camera that can capture audio and video, and require drivers to have the recording on at all times while in operation.

Companies would have to store the footage for at least seven days and provide footage to the RCMP or the city’s municipal enforcement division upon request. Drivers would not be able to access the footage, while taxi companies could only view it to address complaints.

Companies would be responsible for buying and installing the cameras and associated software. Municipal staff said the bylaw would give companies flexibility on how to address the requirement but the city would have final approval on the cameras used.

The city suggests the requirement come into force on January 31, 2027 to give companies time to comply.

The new bylaw also proposes requiring all taxis to have a global positioning system, commonly known as GPS, by that time.

2. An accessible vehicle will be available 24/7

Under the city’s proposed new Taxi Bylaw, cab companies would have to have an accessible vehicle available 24 hours a day.

The lack of accessible transportation at all hours is a long-standing issue in Yellowknife that particularly impacts people with disabilities, and the city said the proposal has strong public support.

But taxi companies and drivers raised concerns about financial impacts, saying they feel the city is trying to pass its responsibility on to drivers, who own their own taxis. Companies said they worried if they are required to own the accessible vehicle, it could be hard to get anyone to drive it.

According to the city, accessible vehicles can cost upward of $90,000 and may come with higher operating and maintenance costs, as well as require drivers to take additional time to safely serve passengers. City staff added not all drivers said they want to drive an accessible vehicle as “they’re not always the most prime vehicle” that passengers want to book.

As a solution, the city is recommending councillors approve a one-time grant using municipal accessibility funds to help companies with the costs of purchasing an accessible vehicle. City staff added companies could decide to collectively purchase and share an accessible vehicle.

The city is recommending the requirement in the bylaw come into effect on November 30, 2027 to give companies enough time to purchase a vehicle and amend contracts with drivers to ensure coverage.

3. Meter rates will go up

Under the current bylaw, cab drivers are allowed to charge a “flag rate” of $4.70 for the first 150 metres of a trip followed by $0.24 for each subsequent 100 metres travelled.

The city is proposing leaving the flag rate unchanged but increasing meter rates by 29 percent to $0.31 per 100 metres.

City staff noted that will not mean passengers will face a 29-percent increase for the total cost of a trip, due to the flag rate staying the same. Staff said, for example, a taxi ride that costs $10 under the current rate would cost around $11.55 under the proposed new rate, a 15.5-percent increase, while a $20 trip would cost $24.46, an increase of 22.3 percent.

The meter rates were last updated in 2019 and the city noted there has been “substantial” inflation since then. The municipality said while taxi companies had requested a 30 to 35-percent rate increase, City Hall felt members of the public would “balk” at an increase higher than the one proposed in the draft bylaw.

During consultation in 2025, the city had surveyed residents about their thoughts on a potential 25-percent rate increase to $0.30 per 100 metres. Staff added $0.01 to that rate in the draft bylaw to account for the time that has passed.

The city is further recommending increasing metre rates an additional $0.01 per 100 metres in each of 2027 and 2028, saying annual, gradual increases will help with the added costs of security cameras and accessible vehicles – as well as increases in inflation – while preventing rates from going unchanged for years.

The new bylaw also proposes allowing drivers to request up to a $30 deposit before a trip.

City staff said that would help with drivers’ concerns about fare evasion, adding security cameras could also address the issue. The municipality said provisions in the bylaw prohibiting discrimination against passengers would address concerns about potential discrimination related to drivers asking for deposits.

If passed, the new rates and the policy on deposits would have to be displayed in cabs.

4. New city powers

The draft bylaw introduces the role of chief taxi inspector, responsible for administering the legislation. The city manager is named as the inspector, with the expectation that the duties are delegated to the manager of the municipality’s enforcement division.

The bylaw proposes new powers for the chief taxi inspector, including the ability to require that taxis have additional mechanical inspections beyond those outlined in the legislation, as well as the power to refuse, suspend or cancel a taxi licence if it is “in the public interest to do so.”

To ensure due process, the bylaw requires that drivers be given the opportunity to make written submissions to the inspector before a decision is made regarding their licence, except in cases deemed to be a serious risk to public safety. Drivers can appeal any decision to council.

5. Changes affecting drivers

The bylaw includes several new requirements directed at drivers.

They include a $25 fee to take the written test and another $25 fee to take the driving test required to obtain a taxi licence. The bylaw also proposes a two-week waiting period before a driver can retake a test.

The city said that would ensure applicants are taking the time to study and improve their knowledge beforehand.

The bylaw further proposes requiring drivers to provide vulnerable sector checks in order to obtain a taxi licence. Currently, drivers are required to provide a criminal record check. Vulnerable sector checks include more information about some pardoned offences.

While cab companies said they already have policies in place regarding items that are left in vehicles, the bylaw would set out clear requirements for drivers to examine their vehicle immediately after dropping off a passenger, and make reasonable efforts to return any items left behind within 24 hours. If they are unsuccessful in returning the items, drivers would have to bring those items to the company office and taxi companies would be required to hold them for 90 days.

The bylaw updates provisions on driver conduct, including prohibiting drivers from using a cell phone unless receiving a call from dispatch, playing the radio without the permission of passengers, or smoking in vehicles.

Under the bylaw, cab companies would be required to create and maintain a complaints system that includes the date of the complaint, name of the complainant and contact information, name of the driver subject to the complaint, and any action taken by the driver or company.

Changes aim to address safety concerns

Several changes the city considered but ultimately decided not to include in the draft bylaw were:

• prohibiting taxis with more than 450,000 km on the odometer;
• requiring partitions in vehicles for driver safety; and
• allowing for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

The city said members of the public indicated a preference for mechanical inspections rather than mileage to determine vehicle roadworthiness, drivers showed little support for partitions, and changes to territorial legislation would be needed before the bylaw could be amended to allow ride-sharing services.

The updates to the bylaw follow public concern about the safety of both passengers and taxi drivers in Yellowknife.

A 2021 survey by the Status of Women Council of the NWT documented hundreds of instances of women feeling unsafe while taking taxis, including allegations of sexual harassment.

In 2018, a driver was convicted for assaulting a passenger and lost his permit to operate a taxi as a result.

City councillor Stacie Arden Smith said at Wednesday’s meeting that, as an Indigenous woman, she “would rather walk in 50-below weather and try and make my way home [than] jump in a cab.”

“I know there are many people out there that would say the exact same thing,” she said.

Arden Smith encouraged people to take concerns to the city or cab companies rather than post them on social media.

In 2018, cab driver Ahmed Mahamud Ali was killed by an intoxicated passenger.

There was another case in which a man was convicted of assaulting a taxi driver that year, a case the following year in which a driver was robbed and injured, and more recent incidents in 2022 and 2025 in which drivers alleged they were assaulted.

Several councillors expressed general support for changes proposed in the draft bylaw.

The new bylaw must pass three readings at council before it can become law. Councillors are expected to vote on first and second reading at a meeting on July 22.