Metro vs Ottawa resumes March 30

February 11, 2026 RWN Staff

Individual or aggregate damages to be decided

The Metro Taxi vs City of Ottawa case will be back in court in March, 2026.

The next step in the proceeding is to address whether damages can be assessed in the aggregate. This means that the court will decide whether the damages for the class members can be calculated together, or each class member has to prove their damages individually, one by one.

“I am scheduled to be back in court on March 30^th, and I expect that I will be there fully for four days,” Marc André Way told Taxi News.

Way and Iskhak Mail were the complainants who commenced a class action suit In 2016, seeking compensation for the losses suffered by taxi plate owners and taxicab brokers as a result of the City of Ottawa’s conduct following the entry of Uber in 2014.

The class action alleged that the City of Ottawa (the “City”) was negligent in enforcing By-law 2012-258 (the “Taxi-By-law”), discriminated on the basis of race and ethnic origin contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code, and charged illegal taxes.

On May 13, 2024, Justice Marc Smith released his trial decision. He held that:

Uber was a “bandit Taxi company”
The City was negligent in enforcing the Taxi By-law from September 1, 2014 to September 30, 2016.
The City’s conduct in allegedly negligently enforcing the Taxi By-law or in amending the taxi by-law in 2016 did not infringe on the rights of the taxi plate holders under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or under s. 3 of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The fees collected by the City under its taxi by-law do not constitute an illegal tax.

Taxi News has donated a Public Service Announcement advertisement for readers concerned in the progress and outcome of the case. It is located in the upper right corner of the news site below the masthead, and automatically links to the Conway Baxter Wilson LLP page dedicated to providing comprehensive background and updates on the Metro Taxi vs Ottawa case.