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Expansion comes as Lyft ( LYFT ) looks to grow its presence outside

the

US

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Lyft's ( LYFT ) Canadian rides grew over 20% in the first half of

2025

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New Toronto hub to host several hundred workers across

teams

By Akash Sriram

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Lyft ( 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 ( LYFT ) 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 ( LYFT ) 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 ( LYFT ) existing Canadian footprint

and aims to attract local talent from the Greater Toronto Area's

large technology workforce.

Lyft ( 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 ( 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)