Vehicles-for-Hire & Transport · 6 min read · Last updated
A taxicab brokerage is the connector of Toronto's taxi industry: any person or company that accepts requests to connect individuals with taxicabs needs a Taxicab Brokerage licence — and it makes no difference whether the requests arrive by phone line, smartphone app or any similar technology. Here is who falls inside the category and how to get licensed.
The City of Toronto lists this under its “Business” category: “Taxicab brokerages or brokers are any person who accepts requests to connect individuals with taxicabs. Methods include using a smartphone or similar technology.”
Who needs this licence?
The City's definition is deliberately broad: a brokerage is any person who accepts requests to connect individuals with taxicabs, by any method including smartphones and similar technology. The classic dispatch company with a phone room fits, and so does an app that matches riders with licensed cabs — modern technology does not lift a business out of the category, it just changes how the requests arrive.
Keep the role distinct from its neighbours. Owners hold the licence on the cab, operators manage cabs for owners, drivers drive — and brokerages sit between the public and the cabs, taking the requests. An app connecting passengers with drivers of private vehicles is a different animal altogether: that is a Private Transportation Company, licensed under its own category. A business doing several of these things needs each licence its activities trigger.
What documents do you need?
- Government-issued identification for the applicant or principals (two pieces, at least one with a photo)
- Corporate documents or business name registration for the brokerage
- Information about the brokerage's operations and the taxicabs it will dispatch, as the City's checklist requests
- Proof of the business premises, such as the lease for the dispatch office
Zoning and premises requirements
Unlike the cabs it dispatches, a brokerage has a real premises — a dispatch office, call operation or head office — and that premises must be in a location where the zoning permits the use. A brokerage run from home needs to fit Toronto's home occupation rules. The taxicabs themselves carry their own licences and street rules; it is the brokerage's office that has the zoning question, so settle it before signing the lease.
Inspections and approvals
Brokerage oversight is about the business, not the bodywork: Municipal Licensing & Standards can require records of the brokerage's operations — the cabs and drivers it dispatches, and how trips are handled — and it investigates complaints about dispatching conduct. Expect compliance to mean clean, current records far more than clean fenders; the vehicles' mechanical standards belong to their owners' licences.
How much does it cost?
The brokerage licence carries an application fee and an annual renewal fee, set in the City's licensing fee schedule, confirmed during the application and paid to the City directly — a fixed cost of running the dispatch side of the industry.
How to apply
Apply through Municipal Licensing & Standards — online via the City's Business Licence & Permit portal, live since January 2026, or in person. Have the corporate file, premises proof and operational information assembled, and be ready to describe how requests are taken and dispatched, because that activity is precisely what the licence covers.
Permits2Go's workspace builds the corporate and premises package alongside the operational details, so the brokerage application lands complete.
Renewals and staying compliant
Renew annually and keep the records the City expects continuously current: the fleet you dispatch changes, drivers come and go, and corporate officers change too — all of it belongs in an up-to-date file. A brokerage's reputation with the City is built at renewal time and spent at complaint time.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. What makes a business a taxicab brokerage in Toronto?
The trigger is taking the requests: any person who accepts requests to connect individuals with taxicabs is a brokerage, whatever the technology.
2. Does taking requests through a smartphone app change which licence a taxi dispatch service needs?
The method does not change the category: connecting riders with taxicabs is brokerage work. PTCs are different because they connect passengers with drivers of private vehicles.
3. Which taxi-industry role sits between the public and the cab?
Owners hold the vehicle licence and operators manage cabs; the brokerage is the layer the public actually calls or taps.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Toronto, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.