Driver Terms

Your role and this agreement

Driver applications are not open. When driver onboarding opens and you accept the final published version, these Driver Terms will govern your access to and use of the Goose Cabs driver application and platform to provide transportation services. Reading this draft does not enrol you as a driver.

You provide transportation as an independent business. Goose Cabs operates the platform that connects you with riders, allocates trips, calculates fares, and handles payment. You drive either with Goose Cabs directly or with a partner franchise licensed by Goose Cabs. Whichever you drive with holds any licence the market requires.

The Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy also apply to you. Where they conflict with these Driver Terms in relation to driving activity, these Driver Terms control.

If you drive with Goose Cabs directly, Goose Cabs pays you. If you drive with a partner franchise, an independently owned business, that franchise pays you under its own arrangement with you. You choose at signup, and the choice decides who pays you and who handles your tax reporting. To drive with a partner franchise, you sign up through that franchise's invitation.

Eligibility to go online

To go online and receive trip offers you must meet every requirement below at all times. These are continuing conditions of access, not one-time checks.

• Have reached the age of majority in your province or territory, as described in the Terms of Service.
• Hold a valid driver's licence of the class required by the applicable transportation authority, not expired and not suspended.
• Hold and maintain the insurance required for commercial passenger transportation in your jurisdiction.
• Have passed the background check or police information check required by the applicable transportation authority, and keep it current.
• Hold any municipal or provincial licence, permit, or authorization required to provide rideshare or taxi service in your market.
• Have completed any training course your market requires, with the certificate uploaded.
• Operate a vehicle that is registered, insured, inspected where required, and approved on the platform.
• If you drive with Goose Cabs directly, have a GST/HST number that we have approved, as described under Your tax responsibilities.
• Be approved by Goose Cabs or, if you drive with a partner franchise, by that franchise, and hold an active account in good standing.

Offers, acceptance, and performing trips

When you are online the platform may send you trip offers. Offers are allocated automatically based on factors including your proximity to the pickup point, availability, and vehicle category, and, where a market uses scored matching, your acceptance and cancellation record, your rating, and the time since your last trip.

You are free to accept or decline any offer, and free to go online or offline whenever you choose. We do not require you to work particular hours or to accept a minimum number of trips.

Once you accept an offer you are expected to proceed to the pickup promptly, wait the applicable period, and complete the trip to the destination the rider selected, unless it is unsafe or unlawful to do so.

You must not solicit a rider to book or pay outside the platform for a trip that originated on the platform, and you must not complete trips that did not genuinely occur.

Location and background collection

The driver app collects precise location while you are online or on a trip, including in the background when the screen is locked, so that dispatch, navigation, trip verification, and distance-based fare calculation work correctly.

You must grant background location permission to go online. Your device will indicate when background location is in use, and you may revoke the permission at any time in device settings, which will prevent you from going online.

When you are offline, your location is not sent to us. The app may use it only on your device, to show your position on the map.

While you are online and available, your approximate position appears on the nearby-cars map that riders see when choosing a ride, under a temporary identifier and without your name. From the time you are assigned a trip until it ends, your live position is shown to the rider and to anyone the rider has shared the trip with.

Location data is used to operate the Services and for safety, dispute, and incident investigation. It is not sold and is not used for advertising.

Fares, earnings, and payouts

Fares are calculated by the platform using the fare rules configured for the market. You can see what you earned for each completed trip in the app.

Goose Cabs and, if you drive with one, your partner franchise charge a service fee, commission, and payment processing costs, which are deducted from the fare. They are recorded for every trip, and we will give you the full breakdown of any trip or period on request for your own accounting.

Where Goose Cabs pays you, earnings are paid on the schedule shown in the app, ordinarily weekly, to the account you connect through our payment processor. Timing after we release funds depends on the processor and your bank.

If you drive with a partner franchise, Goose Cabs pays the franchise and the franchise pays you. In that case questions about your pay and tax documents go to the franchise, and the franchise's staff answer your support requests and manage your documents and vehicle, using tools Goose Cabs provides. Goose Cabs runs the app and the platform rules and can step in on any request.

Tips, where offered, are not subject to commission. Where your market's tip policy says so, the card processing cost of a tip is deducted from it, and the app shows that cost.

Your tax responsibilities

You are responsible for your own taxes. Goose Cabs does not withhold income tax and does not deduct or contribute to the Canada Pension Plan or Employment Insurance on your behalf, and you will not receive a T4 from Goose Cabs. Where the law requires platform operators to report earnings to the Canada Revenue Agency, we will report yours and give you a copy.

You are generally required to report platform income as business income on your personal tax return, and you may deduct legitimate business expenses, including the service fees and commission we charge you, and vehicle expenses. The annual summary and the fee breakdown we provide on request are intended to help with this. They are not official tax documents, and you should confirm your position with your own accountant.

Ride-share and taxi drivers in Canada must register for GST/HST from their first dollar of earnings. The usual small-supplier threshold does not apply to this industry.

• If you drive with Goose Cabs directly, you must provide your own GST/HST number, and we must approve it before you can go online or receive ride requests. We check its format and approve it before your first ride. You can change your number only while you are offline and not on a trip. If you change it, you cannot receive new ride requests or payouts until we approve the new one. Earnings you have already made are kept while a payout waits for approval, and nothing is forfeited.
• Where you are the supplier of the ride, the GST/HST collected on the fare is yours to remit to the Canada Revenue Agency, so set it aside from your deposits.
• The tax charged on our commission is shown separately so that you can claim it as an input tax credit.
• If a legal reporting obligation requires us to collect a tax identification number from you, such as your Social Insurance Number, we will tell you at the time, explain the specific purpose, and protect it as described in the Privacy Policy.

Conduct, safety, and non-discrimination

You must comply with all traffic, transportation, and other laws that apply to you, and operate safely at all times.

• Never drive while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or medication, or while fatigued to a degree that impairs safe driving. Zero tolerance applies.
• Do not use a handheld device while driving. Mount your device and comply with distracted driving law.
• Do not exceed the lawful seating capacity of your vehicle, and require seatbelt use where the law requires it.
• Do not smoke or vape in the vehicle while providing service.
• Treat every rider with courtesy and respect. Harassment, threats, unwanted physical contact, and abusive language are grounds for immediate and permanent removal.
• Do not contact a rider after a trip except for a purpose related to that trip, such as returning a lost item.
• Keep your vehicle clean, mechanically sound, and free of hazards.

Cancellations by drivers

You may cancel an accepted trip where necessary, for example if the rider is not at the pickup point after the applicable wait, if the situation is unsafe, or if your vehicle becomes unusable.

Where you cancel after accepting, the trip is returned to dispatch for reassignment where possible so that the rider is not left waiting.

If the rider does not come to the pickup or cannot be reached, cancel with the no-show reason. You can choose it only after you have marked your arrival at the pickup. On a scheduled ride, you can report that the rider did not show up only after the rider's free waiting time has passed. The free waiting time starts at the booked pickup time, or when you arrive if you arrive later. A no-show fee is charged to the rider only when our records confirm your arrival at the pickup location, that you stayed there through the full free waiting time, and that you tried to call or message the rider. It is not charged if you arrived more than 10 minutes after the expected arrival time. Otherwise no fee is charged.

The expected arrival time is set when you accept. If your navigation route is available in the app within about two minutes of accepting, it can update that time, but by no more than 5 minutes later; otherwise the first estimate is kept. After that it does not move later if you are delayed, and for a scheduled ride it is never earlier than the booked pickup time. A rider may cancel free of charge if you have not arrived and are more than 5 minutes later than the expected arrival time, and may cancel a ride that is not scheduled free of charge within 1 minute of your accepting it. There is no cancellation fee on trips paid in cash or with a transit token; cancellation and no-show fees apply only to card trips.

If you have to end a trip that has started because of a vehicle problem, a navigation problem, or your own emergency, the rider pays only for the distance and time actually travelled, without a base fare, booking or service fees, or a minimum fare. Any surge and taxes still apply, and the rider never pays more than the booked fare. A trip ended for a safety reason is not charged to the rider, and every safety cancellation is reviewed. Declaring a safety reason that is not genuine is a breach of these Terms.

Frequent cancellation, or cancellation that appears intended to avoid particular trips or riders, may affect offer allocation and may lead to review. Ending a trip that is already in progress and leaving a rider partway to their destination is a serious breach, except where continuing would be genuinely unsafe.

Reserving scheduled rides

Where your market offers it, you may reserve an upcoming scheduled ride while you are online. Reserving is optional. Before you reserve for the first time, the app shows the rules for your market, including the times and limits below, and asks you to confirm you understand them. If those rules change, the app asks you again.

When you reserve a ride you agree to be online and ready to drive by the time the app shows, which is at least 30 minutes before pickup, and to accept the ride when it is offered to you. The app asks whether you are still on before pickup; answering helps you plan but does not by itself cause a strike.

You can release a reservation free of charge until the free release time shown in the app (by default, 2 hours before pickup). A strike is recorded if you release after that time, if you are not online and ready when required and do not reconnect within the short grace period shown in the app, or if you decline, let expire, or cancel for your own reasons the reserved ride after it is offered to you.

No strike is recorded where the reason is outside your control or not your choice, including a rider or system cancellation, a ride we release, being on another Goose Cabs trip, a document or vehicle that no longer meets the requirements for that ride, or a recorded platform outage or pause.

If you reach the strike limit within the period shown in the app (by default, 3 strikes in 30 days), you cannot reserve rides for a set time (by default, 14 days) and your other reservations are released. This affects reserving only; you can keep receiving and accepting ordinary trip offers. You can see your strikes in the app and ask us to review one; we remove a strike that should not have been recorded.

Your vehicle

Your vehicle must be registered to you or lawfully available to you, meet the age, condition, and category requirements of your market, and be approved on the platform before you use it.

You must maintain your vehicle in safe operating condition and complete any inspection required by the applicable transportation authority.

You must use only the vehicle approved on your account. Using a different vehicle without approval is a breach and may affect insurance coverage.

Vehicle costs, including fuel, maintenance, repairs, cleaning, insurance, licensing, and depreciation, are yours.

Devices, software, and connectivity

You are responsible for providing a compatible smartphone, a data plan, and a means of charging and mounting your device.

You must keep the driver app reasonably up to date. We may require a minimum version for safety, security, or regulatory reasons, and older versions may stop working.

You can move driving, including a trip in progress, to another phone signed in to your account. The other phone stops sharing your location but stays signed in until you sign out.

You must not modify or reverse engineer the app, attempt to circumvent it, use an emulator or automation to interact with the platform, or falsify location.

The Services depend on network connectivity, mapping data, and third-party services that may be unavailable or inaccurate. We are not responsible for losses caused by such unavailability or inaccuracy.

Data and privacy

The Privacy Policy explains what we collect about you and why. The points below matter particularly to drivers.

Suspension, removal, and review

We may restrict, suspend, or permanently remove your access where you breach these Driver Terms, where a required document or authorization lapses, where we receive a credible report of unsafe or unlawful conduct, where fraud is suspected, or where required by law or by a transportation authority.

Where safety is at issue we may suspend access immediately while we investigate. Otherwise we will ordinarily contact you first.

You will be told that your access has been restricted. Except where telling you would compromise an investigation, breach a legal obligation, or create a safety risk, we will explain the general reason and give you an opportunity to respond.

A decision to remove you permanently is reviewed by a person before it becomes final. If you believe a decision was wrong, contact support@goosecabs.ca and ask for a review, and tell us anything you think we have missed.

Earnings you have properly accrued remain payable on suspension or removal, subject to amounts you owe and to verification where fraud is suspected.

Independent contractor relationship

You are an independent contractor operating your own business. Nothing in these Driver Terms creates an employment, partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship between you and Goose Cabs.

You decide whether, when, where, and how long to work, and whether to accept any particular trip. You are free to provide services to other platforms or customers, including competitors, at any time, including while holding an account with us.

You provide your own vehicle and equipment and bear your own operating costs. You are responsible for your own taxes, benefits, and insurance, and you are not entitled to employment benefits, vacation pay, overtime, notice of termination, or severance from Goose Cabs.

You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to your business, including licensing, tax registration, and record keeping.

This section describes the relationship as the parties intend it. It does not determine your status under any statute, which remains a question of law and fact.

Disclaimers, liability, and indemnity

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, AND WE DISCLAIM ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS. We do not guarantee any level of trip volume, earnings, or platform availability.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GOOSE CABS AND ITS AFFILIATES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, EARNINGS, DATA, OR GOODWILL. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS RELATING TO THE PLATFORM WILL NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNTS PAID TO YOU IN THE THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE.

Nothing excludes liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

You will defend and indemnify Goose Cabs and its affiliates against claims arising from your provision of transportation, your operation of a vehicle, or your breach of these Driver Terms or of applicable law, except to the extent caused by our proven negligence or wilful misconduct.

Resolving disputes

If you disagree with a decision, a payout, or anything else under these Driver Terms, contact support@goosecabs.ca first so we can try to resolve it directly.

If we cannot resolve it informally within a reasonable period, either of us may pursue it through the courts.

These documents are governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Courts in Alberta have exclusive jurisdiction, except where consumer protection law requires otherwise.

Nothing in these Driver Terms prevents you from bringing a claim in small claims court, from filing a complaint with a regulator, an employment standards body, or a privacy commissioner, or from exercising a right that cannot be waived by agreement.

Changes, general terms, and contact

We may update these Driver Terms by posting a revised version with a new effective date. Where a change is material, including a change to how you are paid, we will give notice in the app or by email before it takes effect. Continued use after that date constitutes acceptance.

You may stop using the platform at any time and request account deletion, subject to the retention rules described above and to settlement of amounts owed.

If a provision is found unenforceable it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the rest continues in force. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Driver Terms without our written consent.

Provisions that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including payment obligations, tax responsibilities, record retention, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, and dispute resolution.

Questions about these Driver Terms, or a request to review a decision: support@goosecabs.ca. Privacy requests: support@goosecabs.ca, with the subject line “Privacy request”.