Uber Canada general manager discusses expansion plans, cultural change

The Canadian arm of U.Southward-based ride-sharing giant Uber used a Jan 28th, 2019 media roundtable to shed some light on the company'due south main goals for the next twelvemonth.

Over the grade of several hours, Uber Canada general manager Robert Khazzam, head of Uber Eats Canada Dan park and head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) Toronto Raquel Urtasun — who also serves as an acquaintance professor at the University of Toronto — sat down with reporters at the ATG office in Toronto's MaRS Discovery Commune to shed some low-cal on the company's plans for 2019.

Following the media roundtable, MobileSyrup news and telecom reporter Sameer Chhabra and MobileSyrup staff reporter Bradley Bennett had a chance to speak with Khazzam in a one-on-i setting.

Khazzam touched on problems ranging from Uber's expansion into Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the company's hiring of Bo Immature Lee equally Uber's chief multifariousness and inclusion officer, as well every bit changes the company has made to rectify decisions made during its tumultuous early on years.

It's worth noting that Khazzam previously spoke withMobileSyrup in January 2018.

Saskatchewan is set for Uber, while British Columbia still needs more fourth dimension

Despite the fact that B.C.'s New Democratic Political party promised information technology would legalize ride-sharing services beyond the province, British Columbians are still unable to utilize platforms similar Lyft or Uber.

Khazzam told MobileSyrup that his visitor is working with B.C. lawmakers on formally legalizing ride-sharing, but that "there's a lot of details left to exist ironed out."

"We had hoped a-twelvemonth-ago to be there by now and we're now looking at the cease of 2019 as the only realistic opportunity to watch this yr, if not perchance 2020," said Khazzam.

Khazzam was hesitant to discuss Vancouver City Council'south potential plans to strength ride-sharing companies to pay mobility fees or taxes, though he did offer the position that "taxes increase prices for consumers, period."

"Nosotros see that across Canada and then I think we need to be really thoughtful how we consider tax of a service like ride-sharing," said Khazzam.

"Not to say it shouldn't be taxed, I'k non suggesting that, but be really mindful effectually what is that tax related to?"

"…nosotros're now looking at the stop of 2019 every bit the simply realistic opportunity to spotter this year, if not maybe 2020" — Rob Khazzam, Uber Canada

While Uber'due south plans to expand into B.C. are stalled until the provincial legislature passes ride-sharing laws tabled in late 2018, Uber's plans to enter Saskatchewan are moving at a faster pace.

"I wait at Saskatchewan, they've passed regulations already to pave the style for ride-sharing to come, and we're pretty optimistic about getting there," said Khazzam, who added that his visitor is prepared to offer ride-sharing services in the near future.

"We're actually excited that they've done a astounding job in doing that, and I think from a commercial perspective, we're going to be able to operate in that location pretty soon. It's just a thing of ironing out the concluding details."

Uber is working to build an various and inclusive environs

Equally part of the company'due south attempt to address concerns about sexual harassment and workplace harassment raised in the wake of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick's departure, Uber re-examined its workplace civilisation, going so far as to hire Bo Young Lee as the visitor'southward chief diversity and inclusion officer.

According to Khazzam, the company's decision to prioritize hiring leaders with experience running larger organizations has been one of the biggest contributors to a civilization change at Uber.

"It really means that today we prioritize and we value things that are sometimes different than what we prioritized iii- or four-years-ago," said Khazzam.

"[Now] we practice a lot of public enquiry effectually what extent practise our constituents — riders and drivers and the general public — trust Uber?"

Khazzam added that Uber went through a menstruation of soul-searching, questioning whether the visitor itself is inherently skillful or bad.

"2018 was nigh us coming together and us saying 'What do nosotros want to exist? What exercise we need to be in order to be successful? What do our customers desire united states to be? What do regulators want us to exist? And what should we aspire to?'" said Khazzam.

In reference to the company's renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion, Khazzam pointed to Uber's hiring overhaul equally a sign of its improvement.

"We're actually going through the process now of overhauling our hiring practices, nosotros accept reviews of our task postings, every facet of our business is being reviewed now for show of bias, and nosotros're trying to make those objective every bit possible," said Khazzam.

Equally for what comes next, Khazzam told reporters during the media roundtable that the company has three specific goals for 2019: continuing the company'due south cultural evolution, improving commuter and passenger safety and delivering on a multi-modal platform strategy that, as ever, means putting more people into fewer cars, while as well better connecting passengers with transportation options.

Photography by Bradley Bennett.