Uber vs Lyft vs PrimeRoutes: how driver pay compares in Ontario

Three ways to earn with the same car

If you own a reliable vehicle in the GTA, Hamilton or Niagara, there is more than one app that will pay you to drive it. Uber and Lyft move passengers. PrimeRoutes, an intercity same-day courier based in Welland, moves parcels and documents between cities with one driver carrying each job door to door. The pay models are built differently, and the differences show up in what you take home, not just in the headline rate.

This comparison sticks to what each platform publishes and what independent research has measured. Rates change often, and the ride-hail apps have moved most trips to upfront pricing, so treat the specific numbers as a snapshot and check the current terms in each app before you commit.

How each one decides what you earn

The ride-hail rate cards, before upfront pricing

A 2025 study of 84 million Toronto trips reproduced the rate cards in force during 2023 and early 2024. Uber's driver earning rate card for UberX paid a $3.17 base, $0.18 a minute and $0.81 a kilometre. Lyft's fare card for standard rides during the same period listed a $2.43 base, $0.61 a kilometre and $0.14 a minute. The two cards are labelled differently in the study, so they are not a like-for-like comparison of driver pay, but they show the scale: a typical city trip pays in the low tens of dollars.

The same study found the median Toronto driver grossed $33.52 per engaged hour in 2023, $15.31 after vehicle costs, and $7.94 per hour once all logged-in time, including waiting, was counted. In 2024 that last figure fell to $5.97. The engaged-time rate is good; the waiting is what hurts.

How the courier job fee works

PrimeRoutes does not pay per minute or per kilometre. Each job has a price set before it is offered, and your job fee is 70% of that price measured before tax and before any tip. The driver agreement gives its own example: a job priced at $200.00 before HST and tips pays a job fee of $140.00. Some jobs carry a fixed fee instead, and the offer says so before you accept.

Published PrimeRoutes routes start at $59.99 before HST, which on its own would pay a $41.99 job fee plus any tip. Longer intercity runs, such as Toronto to London (about 190 km), Toronto to Ottawa (about 450 km) or Toronto to Montreal (about 550 km), are priced higher and quoted per job, so the fee scales with the run. The job fee you see when you accept is what you are paid; it is never reduced afterwards.

Minimum wage: the same law, applied differently

Ontario's Digital Platform Workers' Rights Act covers all three. Since July 1, 2025, each operator must ensure you earn at least the general minimum wage, $17.95 an hour from October 1, 2026, for the time you spend on work assignments. Tips do not count toward it. PrimeRoutes checks this every weekly pay period and pays any shortfall as a top-up shown on your settlement.

What counts as work time matters. For a PrimeRoutes job you take to do right away, job time starts when you accept it; for a job booked for later, when you start travelling to the pickup. It ends when you complete the last drop.

Insurance and tax: the costs that differ

• Insurance for ride-share: Uber's commercial policy covers drivers while they are driving with Uber in Ontario. Your own policy covers the rest of the time.
• Insurance for courier work: PrimeRoutes requires your own policy with at least $1 million in liability and a commercial-use endorsement that allows deliveries. That is a real cost; ask your insurer for a quote before you apply.
• GST/HST for ride-share: the CRA requires commercial ride-sharing drivers to register from their first fare, with no small-supplier exemption.
• GST/HST for deliveries: goods delivery generally follows the ordinary $30,000 small-supplier threshold. If you are registered, PrimeRoutes adds 13% HST to your job fees once your number is verified.
• Vehicle costs: the 2026 CRA reference rate for business driving is 73 cents a kilometre for the first 5,000 km and 67 cents after, a useful benchmark when you price your own time.

Which one fits you

Ride-hail suits drivers who want to work short windows close to home, especially at evening and weekend peaks when demand is highest. Intercity courier work suits drivers who are happy on the highway, want longer jobs priced in advance, and prefer weekday business hours. Many drivers do both: the agreements allow it, as long as your insurance covers each kind of driving. Read how PrimeRoutes driving works and the full pay information before you apply.