After years of trying to break into the market, popular ride-hailing app Uber is set to launch in Kelowna and Victoria in early June.
On Monday, Uber said it would be launching "next week" in the two B.C. cities, though a specific start date was not announced.
Uber also sent out advertisements to potential drivers in both cities on Monday in an effort to recruit workers ahead of next week's start date.
It's been a long, meandering journey for the ride-hailing company to begin operating in Kelowna and Victoria.
Uber had applied multiple times to the Passenger Transportation Safety Board (PTB) to operate beyond Vancouver, but was rejected for several reasons.
In its most recent attempt in 2021, the PTB said it did not believe there was enough demand for Uber, and that local taxi operators and ride-hailing companies needed more time to recover from the pandemic.
In 2022, Uber decided to apply for a licence transfer, instead of a new licence, by purchasing the operating licence of ReRyde, a Vancouver-based ride-hailing company that had already been approved tp operate in Victoria and Kelowna.
The PTB has fewer requirements to approve a licence transfer compared to approving an entirely new licence, and on May 10 the licence transfer was approved.
The PTB says Uber's licence transfer application created "significant interest" from local stakeholders, including more than 40 submissions from taxi companies and other ride-hailing services in Kelowna and Victoria.
Many of the submitters argued that Uber had circumvented the PTB's approval rules, and that there was no valid business case for taking over ReRyde's licence.
With files from CTV News Vancouver Island