As of this Friday, Saskatchewan Government Insurance is giving the green light for rideshare companies to set up in the province. For the sake of reducing impaired driving, ridesharing has been in discussion in the legislative assembly for longer than some would like to have seen. The Minister Responsible for SGI, Joe Hargrave, said the decision was made after much due diligence.

“I would have preferred to have done it, like, two-three months ago, but I just didn’t want to rush it,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that those consultations, and we took everybody’s thoughts and processes into consideration doing it, and I think they’re all grateful for that.”

“Not everybody might be happy with exactly how it worked out, but I think they’re very pleased that we were listening to them right until the end,” he added.

Hargrave said the largest rideshare companies, Uber and Lyft in particular, are among the companies that have expressed interest in setting up in the province.

“Both of those companies have indicated that they very much want to come into Saskatchewan, and they’re going to wait and see where the cities land with their regulations,” explained Hargrave. “But we’re very confident that a rideshare company will be operating in Saskatchewan.”