The government of Ontario is set to launch a review of food delivery courier businesses following a damning investigation which found inconsistencies in work-related compensation benefits.
Food delivery apps allow individuals to place an order from their favorite restaurants and have the dishes delivered straight to their doorstep via couriers. While convenient, a CBC News investigation found that some of these couriers lack basic benefits.
Of the three most popular food delivery services in Ontario – Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes and Foodora – only Foodora is paying into the province’s work-related compensation system for its couriers, the investigation found.
Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) says couriers – whether they deliver on foot or on bicycle – are among the industries that receive automatic coverage. This means that those companies must pay into the system.
WSIB now plans to review food delivery services active in the province after CBC News brought the issue to light.
A spokesperson with the board said that Foodora is registered and classified as “courier operations.” The registration of the other delivery service, SkipTheDishes, is pending.
Uber Eats, however, is not registered with the board.
“Based on the information Uber Eats provided to us, their business consisted of delivery drivers determined to be independent operators with the business providing a centralized dispatch service. It was determined this business activity should be classified as ‘telephone answering services/call centres,’ which does not require mandatory coverage,” the WISB representative explained.
Uber Eats and other businesses that fall under the gig economy are steadily getting more popular in Canada. An insurance expert says that the Canadian insurance market is “not adjusting fast enough” to cover such businesses, suggesting that insurers should try turning to automation to match the lower costs involved with gig economy workers.
