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 provides technology that connects you with riders, allocates trips, calculates fares, and handles payment. Goose Cabs is not the transportation carrier and does not itself provide transportation.
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.
Depending on your market you may be onboarded through a Goose Cabs operated franchise, in which case Goose Cabs pays you directly, or through an independently owned partner franchise operating on the platform, in which case that franchise pays you under its own arrangement with you. Which applies is shown at signup and affects who pays you and who handles your tax reporting.
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.
- 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 required medical certification and platform training.
- Operate a vehicle that is registered, insured, inspected where required, and approved on the platform.
- Be approved by your franchise and hold an active platform account in good standing.
Documents and expiry
You must upload the required documents and keep them current. Documents are reviewed before approval, and we may ask for a clearer copy or additional evidence.
The platform monitors expiry dates and warns you in advance. If a required document expires or is revoked, you will be unable to go online until a valid replacement is approved. This is automatic and is not a disciplinary measure.
Providing a false, altered, or fraudulent document is a serious breach, will result in permanent removal from the platform, and may be reported to the relevant authority.
You must tell us promptly if your licence is suspended or revoked, your insurance lapses, you are charged with a criminal or serious driving offence, or your vehicle is no longer roadworthy.
Ongoing checks
We may require renewal of background and licensing checks periodically, or where we receive a report that warrants it, as permitted or required by the applicable transportation authority. Continued access is conditional on those checks remaining satisfactory.
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, vehicle category, and time waiting.
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.
Reliability measures
The platform records operational measures such as acceptance, cancellation, and completion patterns. These may affect how offers are allocated between available drivers.
These measures are operational rather than disciplinary, and they do not by themselves remove you from the platform. Where a pattern suggests a problem, a person reviews it before any action affecting your access is taken.
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.
We do not collect your location when you are offline.
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, itemised.
Goose Cabs and, where applicable, your franchise charge a service fee, commission, and payment processing costs, which are deducted from the fare. These are itemised so that you can see the full breakdown of every trip and use it 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.
Where you are engaged by a partner franchise, Goose Cabs pays the franchise and the franchise pays you. In that case questions about your pay go to the franchise.
Tips, where offered, are yours in full and are not subject to commission.
Cash trips
On a cash trip you collect the full fare directly from the rider. That amount includes applicable taxes and the service fees and commission owed to Goose Cabs and to your franchise.
Those fees are netted against your next payout. If your cash obligations exceed your card earnings, the balance remains owing and may be recovered from future earnings.
Adjustments, refunds, and chargebacks
A fare may be adjusted after completion where a trip is reviewed, where a rider is refunded for a legitimate service failure, or where an error is corrected. Adjustments are itemised and explained.
If a rider's card issuer reverses a payment through a chargeback, we investigate and contest it where the trip record supports doing so. Where a chargeback is lost through no fault of yours, we do not claw back your earnings for that trip.
Where earnings were paid in error, or obtained through fraud or a breach of these Driver Terms, we may recover the amount from future earnings. We will tell you the reason and the amount.
Statements
Your trip and earnings history is available in the app, together with an annual summary intended to assist you in preparing your own tax return.
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. You will not receive a T4 or T4A from Goose Cabs.
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 we provide is intended to help with this. It is not an official tax document, 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.
- You must provide a valid GST/HST number before payouts are released. Your earnings continue to accumulate and are paid once your number is provided and verified. Nothing is forfeited.
- Where you are the supplier of the ride, the tax collected on the fare is yours to remit to the Canada Revenue Agency. Part of every deposit is therefore not your money.
- 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, we will tell you at the time, explain the specific purpose, and handle it under additional protection 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 for any purpose unrelated to that trip, such as returning a lost item.
- Keep your vehicle clean, mechanically sound, and free of hazards.
Non-discrimination and service animals
You must not refuse service or otherwise discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religious beliefs, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family status, source of income, or any other ground protected by applicable human rights legislation.
You are required by law to transport a rider accompanied by a service animal. Allergy, religious objection, or personal preference is not a lawful ground for refusal. A confirmed refusal to transport a service animal will result in permanent removal from the platform.
You must provide reasonable assistance with mobility aids, including a folding wheelchair, walker, or cane, where the aid can be safely accommodated in your vehicle.
You must not refuse a trip because of the destination, other than where travelling there would be genuinely unsafe or unlawful.
Recording devices
Goose Cabs does not supply, require, configure, control, monitor, or access any recording device in your vehicle, and does not receive any footage or audio from one.
Any such device is your own equipment. It is operated by you, for your own purposes, and everything about it is your responsibility, including any legal obligations that attach to recording. Goose Cabs takes no position on whether you use one and gives no advice about it.
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.
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.
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 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. Three points matter particularly to drivers.
Retention of your compliance documents
Your compliance documents, including licence, background check, medical certificate, insurance, registration, and inspection records, are deliberately retained rather than deleted, including after you leave the platform.
Transportation regulation requires an operator to collect, retain, and produce these records on request, including in respect of former drivers, and they may be needed for an insurance claim or a legal proceeding. They are held for a defined period and then destroyed, and they are not used to contact you or to build a profile of you.
Closing your account does not remove these records. We would rather tell you that plainly than imply otherwise.
What riders see
A rider assigned to your trip sees your first name, photo, rating, and vehicle details, so that they can identify the correct vehicle. They do not see your address, licence number, documents, or earnings.
If you are removed for safety reasons
If your account is removed for safety or serious misconduct reasons, we retain a non-reversible record derived from certain identifiers so that the same person can be recognised if they attempt to rejoin. It cannot be used to reconstruct the original information.
This is created only where removal is for cause. It is not created if you close your account yourself or become inactive.
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.
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.
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.
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”.