Salome Solomon, who is legally blind, relies on two things to get around Ottawa: her guide dog, Zurich, and Uber.
But she says Canada’s dominant rideshare service keeps letting her down by failing to uphold her legal right to ride with a service animal.
Solomon, a frequent Uber user, says she was denied service around 20 times last year by drivers who refused to transport her guide dog. She has filed numerous complaints with the company, and says she’s now reaching her breaking point.
“Every rejection breaks you down, so, for me, it basically hits deep. It’s like a dagger to my heart,” said Solomon, wiping away tears.
When she can, she shoots a video record of her ride rejection.
A video she shot last August shows Solomon leading her guide dog to a waiting Uber. The driver shakes his head, apparently signalling Zurich isn’t welcome.
“He’s not a pet, he’s my guide dog. You can’t deny me access,” she tells the man. Even so, he takes off — leaving her stranded.
Salome Solomon, who is legally blind and travels with a guide dog, recorded several of her Uber ride rejections in 2024-25.
Under Canada’s human rights legislation, people with disabilities have a legal right to travel with a service animal. Even so, rideshare denials remain an ongoing problem. A survey done by the advocacy group Guide Dogs for the Blind found that of the 185 U.S. and Canadian members surveyed, 83 per cent reported rideshare rejections in the first two months of 2023.
On Dec. 9, Solomon complained to Uber that she was rejected twice by drivers that day. The company responded that it was investigating.
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Similar to the video shot in August, the two videos Solomon shot of those refusals each show drivers take off as she and Zurich approach the car.
“I was angry [at] first, but then I became sad,” she said. “It makes you feel humiliated and it makes you feel so small.”
Uber responds
In line with Canadian legislation, Uber’s corporate policy states its drivers must accommodate service animals. But CBC’s Go Public interviewed several customers in Ontario who say they’ve been denied rides by Uber drivers within the past few months, because of their service dogs.
Uber Canada spokesperson Keerthana Rang says the company is committed to accessible service, and, over the past several years, has taken concrete steps to remedy the problem.
Efforts include an educational video, launched in 2024, that all of Uber’s more than 100,000 drivers must watch. They also get periodic email reminders about their legal obligations, she said.
Rang added that drivers caught breaking the rules are barred from the rideshare app.
“We take this issue seriously,” she said. “We believe in equal transportation for all Canadians.”
People with disabilities have the legal right to travel with a service animal, but several told CBC’s Go Public some Uber drivers are leaving them at the curb.
But disabilities advocate Jeff Preston says inaccessible transport is a systemic issue in Canada, and that Uber isn’t doing enough to help remedy it.
“While they may have a good plan, the execution is, for some reason, not working,” said Preston, an associate professor of disability studies at Western University in London, Ont.
“We need people to be driving who are open and understand their obligations, fundamentally. It’s that simple.”
Rang says Uber’s efforts are a work in progress, acknowledging ride rejections remain a problem.
“It’s humiliating. It’s painful, and it’s completely unacceptable,” she said. “The only acceptable ride refusal number is zero. And that’s the number that we’re working to get to.”
‘Starts to feel shameful’
However, Uber’s corporate commitments feel hollow to some people who continue to encounter ride rejections.
“You’ve got the money. You’ve got the tech. You have the talent to do better,” said James Wilkinson, referring to Uber.
Wilkinson has autism and relies on his certified service dog, Bo, to help him cope with daily life, including travel. He uses Uber a couple of times a month, and was denied rides six times in 2025, according to complaints he submitted to the company that year.
“It’s definitely very upsetting every time it happens,” said Wilkinson, who lives in Toronto. “Sometimes I’ve broken down on the curb and had to take a couple of minutes before I can even try and order the next Uber.”
On the day of Wilkinson’s interview in December, he and Bo were rejected by one of three Ubers he ordered that day.
The company sent Wilkinson a message confirming the driver had cancelled the ride. Uber said it would investigate, and gave him a $15 credit.
“It happens so often that it starts to feel shameful,” said Wilkinson.
Another Uber driver that same day did transport him and Bo, but charged him a $30 cleaning fee. After Wilkinson complained, Uber reimbursed him.
Uber’s self-ID solution
As part of its ongoing efforts, Uber launched a new feature in February which reminds drivers of their legal obligations to transport people with service animals.
Found in its app, the feature allows users to self-identify as a rider with a service animal. Drivers are notified about this information only at the pickup location.
If a driver requests to cancel the trip, Uber sends them a reminder of their obligations.
But using the self-identification feature doesn’t guarantee a ride. Wilkinson says he started using it back in February, and, in addition, typically sends a text to drivers warning them he has a service dog.
Even so, he says, all six of his rejections last year — which included one in the United States — happened after he activated the feature.
“What’s the point of self identifying? I’m really just giving them more opportunity to deny me,” said Wilkinson. “It’s not a real solution.”
As for Solomon, she refuses to use the feature.
“I think it’s a joke. Why should we have to identify that we have a disability?”
Rang, the spokesperson, says she understands this viewpoint, which is why the feature is optional. She says it’s just another tool the company hopes will make a difference.
“Anecdotally we have heard that it has improved [the] experience for some riders.”
Larissa Proctor, executive director of advocacy with the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB), says the feature has benefitted her.
Uber currently has a paid partnership with CNIB, and has worked with the advocacy group since 2021 on projects such as the self-identification feature.
Proctor is blind and takes Ubers with her guide dog, Tulip. Since she started using the feature in March, she says she has been denied service only once in her weekly Uber trips.
“Things have gotten better, but they’re not perfect yet,” said Proctor, who lives in Milton, Ont., a suburban community between Toronto and Hamilton.
On the one occasion she was rejected, in October 2025, Proctor says she was trying to get to a CNIB networking event with Uber in Toronto — to discuss the company’s efforts to accommodate riders with guide dogs.
“It never gets any easier. It’s an awful feeling,” said Proctor who filed a complaint with Uber about the incident. The company said it’s investigating.
“I think until every person who uses a guide dog has equitable access to Uber services, the work isn’t done,” said Proctor.
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