Lyft to open Toronto tech hub, deepening push beyond US market

By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -Lyft plans to open a new technology hub in downtown Toronto in the second half of next year, making the city its second-largest tech center after San Francisco, the ride-hailing firm said on Thursday. The office will be located in Toronto's financial district and will host several hundred employees across engineering, product, operations and marketing, as the company expands its presence in Canada. The expansion underscores Lyft's push to strengthen its international footprint as part of a broader effort to diversify growth beyond its core U.S. market. The company said rides in Canada grew more than 20% in the first half of 2025 from a year ago, reflecting the market's growing importance within its overall business. Toronto has been one of Lyft's key international markets since the company launched ride-sharing services in the city in 2017. It also operates bikeshare programs in Ontario and Quebec, including Bikeshare Toronto, and maintains teams in Longueuil and Montreal. The expansion builds on Lyft's existing Canadian footprint and aims to attract local talent from the Greater Toronto Area's large technology workforce.  Lyft acquired European mobility platform FreeNow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz for around $200 million earlier this year, giving the company a major foothold in Europe. The expansion announcement follows this summer's opening of a new global tech hub in Barcelona under FreeNow. That office already employs a few hundred workers, with plans to expand to several hundred. The company had a global workforce of 2,934 employees at the end of last year, according to an annual filing with the U.S. SEC. Lyft said on Wednesday it acquired luxury chauffeur services company TBR Global Chauffeuring for 83 million pounds ($111.13 million) in cash plus contingent costs, expanding into the high-end ground transportation market across more than 3,000 cities in 120 countries. ($1 = 0.7469 pounds) (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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