In 2019, e-scooters have invaded a few major global cities like Auckland, Brisbane, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, and Paris. Many Canadian cities have also witnessed the micro-mobility revolution. And unsurprisingly the people of Canada have adopted the micro-mobility culture widely. 

Currently, many e-scooter sharing startups are running their business in major cities of Canada and inspiring local entrepreneurs to jump into the Canadian micro-mobility market by developing an e-scooter app in Canada and dropping e-scooters on the streets of tier 1 or tier 2 cities of Canada. 

So, if you are one of them and want to get everything out of the profitable micro-mobility market of Canada, keep reading this blog. Your all questions will be answered which will help you to plan e-scooter app development in Canada more efficiently.  

In this blog, you will get to know,  

• The micro-mobility market of Canada 
• What are the people of Canada thinking about the e-scooter? 
• A major challenge associated with the Canadian micro-mobility market 
• Best e-scooter hardware you can buy in Canada for e-scooter sharing business 
• E-scooter related laws in Canada 
• How much does it cost to build an e-scooter app in Canada? 

 
The micro-mobility market of Canada  

Unlike the USA micro-mobility market and European micro-mobility market, the Canadian micro-mobility market has not been intensified yet, it is booming! Since many Canadian cities are still regulating the use of e-scooter and running pilot projects to understand how a city can cope up with tiny e-scooters, the number of available e-scooter apps in all major cities of Canada is not too many. 

For context, A European city Brussels hosts 10 micro-mobility startups, an American city Austin hosts 6 micro-mobility startups, but almost all cities of Canada host less than 3 micro-mobility startups! Meaning, there is a huge opportunity available for new startups to kick off the e-scooter sharing business in Canada. 

The following are the top Canadian cities where major micro-mobility startups are running their e-scooter sharing business.  

• Toronto 

In September 2019, a Santa-Monica-based e-scooter sharing startup named Bird deployed its e-scooters on the streets of Toronto. During that pilot run, Bird offered free rides between 4 pm and 8 pm on weekdays and from 10 am to 8 pm on weekends. Bird also deployed geofencing technology to avoid riders taking e-scooters outside of the ‘safe area’. But because of the provincial Highway Traffic Act which prohibits e-scooter from using the roads, Bird could not able to keep running its business in Toronto after the pilot run. 

To know more about Bird and develop a clone of it, you can read our dedicated blog. 

• Montreal 

By selecting Lime and Jump to offer the e-scooter sharing service, the Montreal city council decided to run a pilot project in April 2019. The result of the pilot project satisfied the authorities and so, they allowed Lime and Jump to keep running their business in Montreal. 

However, the government has set some of the most strict conditions for the companies to operate the business. Users have to park e-scooter properly, in a designated parking zone and only four e-scooters per spot are allowed. After ending the ride, a user is also required to take a photo of a parked e-scooter and upload it. Moreover, the maximum speed of the e-scooter should be 20 Km/h and a user is not allowed to ride e-scooter on sidewalks and roads where the speed limit is more than 50 km/h.  

» To know more about Lime and develop a clone of it, read our dedicated blog. 

» To know more about Jump and develop a clone of it, read our dedicated blog. 

• Edmonton

Bird and Lime were approved to drop their e-scooters on the streets of Edmonton, the capital of Canada’s Alberta province. Like Montreal, a user isn’t allowed to ride an e-scooter on the sidewalk and on roads where the speed limit exceeds 50 km/h. However, unlike Montreal, the city of Edmonton allows users to park e-scooters on the sidewalks and parking lanes. 

• Calgary: 

Calgary is another Canadian city where Lime and Bird acquired the permit to run their business. And according to the Steward Lyons, CEO of Bird Canada, Calgary is Bird’s best performing market out of the three Canadian cities. However, the city council of Calgary asked both Lime and Bird to halt all business operations during the winter months. 

What are the people of Canada thinking about the e-scooter?  

 
For a micro-mobility startup, it matters a lot to have users who are eco-friendly and ready to give up on cars to use e-scooters. And in Canada, micro-mobility startups are getting tons of such users, at least in summer! 

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation branded as CBC asked a few about the e-scooter and discovered that people of Canada can never push a micro-mobility startup towards a dead-end! 

Candice Ciesla who just moved to Montreal said the bikes are cool but e-scooters are real fun. She further added that the bicycles are heavy while e-scooters are light and easy to operate. Another rider, Kalu Baldera said the e-scooters will look good to the people visiting the city. 

The major challenge associated with the Canadian micro-mobility market 

Like all other European and a few American micro-mobility markets, there is one major challenge associated with the Canadian micro-mobility market and you before hiring an e-scooter app development company in Canada to build an e-scooter app should know about this challenge. 

If you closely look at the following image, you can easily find out that the sales growth of dockless bikes and scooters are decreasing during the last 2-3 months of the year and the first few months of the year before increasing again after 2nd or 3rd month of the year. 

Do you know why? Because users do not prefer to use e-scooters in freezing cold.

Talking about the Canadian winter, it is notorious for high snowfall and many numbers of snowy days. Meaning, you, as the micro-mobility startup cannot simply earn a single dollar during the wintertime. 

Bird, Lime, and Jump which are running their business in Canada can survive without earning a single dollar for 4-5 months as they have a large user base and huge capital. But you as the startup can’t survive if you don’t earn single money in 4-5 months out of 12 months. 

So what is the solution? 

The solution is very straightforward. You should not focus on earning money during winter. Instead, focus on saving money during winter!  

You can save a lot of money by selecting the subscription plan for the e-scooter app. If you select the subscription plan, you have to pay monthly. So, during the winter, cancel the plan and when the mercury rises, start paying again. This is how you can save a lot of money!  

Additionally, if you select the subscription plan, you are charged based on the size of your e-scooter fleet. This way, you are only paying for the active e-scooters! 

We, at Coruscate, offer a subscription plan for the feature-packed white-label e-scooter app which starts from just $500. For a startup which is having limited initial capital, the subscription plan is the most affordable way to build an e-scooter app in Canada.  

Best e-scooter hardware you can buy in Canada for e-scooter sharing business

 
E-scooter hardware is the most essential requirement to run the e-scooter sharing business. But almost all new micro-mobility startups give cold shoulder to e-scooter hardware and select cheap hardware for the sake of saving a few bucks. It does not just affect the user experience but it increases the maintenance efforts and cost. 

So, when you are going to select the e-scooter hardware, you have to take many things into account and government regulations related to the e-scooter hardware are one of them. In many cities of Canada, the government has set the standards for the e-scooter hardware to ensure the safety of the riders. 

For instance, the Montreal government has imposed a rule – “an e-scooter should be placed on the same longitudinal axis whose rim diameter is at least 250 mm; it has a platform between the two wheels that is at least 250 mm wide, at least 300 mm long and at least 150 mm off the ground; and it has a wheelbase of at least 1 meter.” 

Additionally, you have to consider the geographic conditions of the city. If the city where you are running your micro-mobility business has many hilly roads, your e-scooter should be equipped with a powerful motor. 

It is also important to determine the degree of innovation you want in the e-scooter hardware as providing an innovative and unique e-scooter hardware with groundbreaking features like a built-in speaker, mobile phone charger, cruise control, and different riding modes can help you compete bravely with other startups having conventional e-scooter hardware in their fleet. 

To know the best e-scooter hardware you can buy in Canada under $500 and $1000 for e-scooter sharing business, read our dedicated blog.  

E-scooter regulations in Canada 

Before we move further, it is worth mentioning that the e-scooter regulations are different in all Canadian cities and so, we are going to only discuss e-scooter regulations in Montreal. However, when you approach us to build an e-scooter app in Canada, our business experts will make you familiar with the e-scooter regulations of any city where you want to start your business. 

• The weight of the e-scooter should not be more than 45 kg. 
• The e-scooter should be equipped with an emergency stop switch to cut supply to the motor. 
• An e-scooter rider must be 18 years of age or older. 
• An operator should offer the training program to first-time users. 
• A rider should wear a helmet while riding an e-scooter. 
• A rider isn’t allowed to ride an e-scooter on sidewalks and roads where the speed limit is beyond 50 km/h. 
• A rider should not carry another passenger, haul the trailer or push or push any other object. 
• It is outlawed to ride a modified e-scooter. 

 
A rider fails to comply with any of these rules is liable to a fine of $200 to $300. 

How much does it cost to build an e-scooter app in Canada? 

 
Coruscate is the top e-scooter app development company that has developed 10 e-scooter apps for different markets. We accommodate 100+ app developers, app designers, IoT engineers, business experts, and legal advisors who all work together to enable you to start the e-scooter sharing business in Canada within 90 days. 

Our app developers, app designers, and IoT engineers develop one of the best and feature-packed e-scooter apps. 

Our business experts help micro-mobility startups to decide on the business models, draft the business plan, select the e-scooter hardware and study the market. Whereas, our legal advisers help micro-mobility startups to acquire the permit. 

The cost to build an e-scooter app in Canada largely relies on the approach you choose. 

• To develop the custom e-scooter app with all custom features, we charge somewhere between $15000 to $25000. 

• The price to develop a clone version of some popular e-scooter apps starts from $10000. 

• And our subscription plan for the white label e-scooter app starts from just $500. 

To know more about our pricing structures and get the personalized quote, please feel free to contact us. Our one of the senior business experts will welcome you with the free e-scooter app demo and free consultation.