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By Ian Gustafson

three-year driver's abstract

Blackfalds town council passes taxi bylaw amendment

Mar 2, 2026 | 1:14 PM

Blackfalds town council unanimously approved a taxi bylaw amendment to accommodate more drivers.

At last week’s regular town council meeting on Feb. 24, council passed the amendment to reduce the 10-year Alberta driver’s abstract requirement to three years.

This came to council because the town has been unable to issue a taxi business license to multiple drivers at a taxi company who came from outside of Canada, because the individuals hadn’t been driving in Alberta long enough.

Administration explained that the bylaw had never been an issue previously because there had only been one taxi company operating in town. However, last year, there was another taxi company that was picking up clients in Blackfalds, so town administration has been working with them to make sure they have proper approvals in place.

Councillor Cory Twerdoclib said, although he didn’t have a problem with the amendment, he had safety concerns.

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“If we have new people coming into Canada with a very limited driving experience and they’re going to be able to haul the public around, I could foresee some safety issues with that potentially,” he said.

Councillor Aaron Hoyte shared similar concerns, explaining that driving in Alberta is different from province to province, let alone from country to country.

“I think we should at least go into this understanding that in the future, this could pose some sort of safety hazard. The fact that it’s three years, that’s still three years driving in Alberta, so that’s something,” he said.

“I think at least going into this understanding, there may be some drivers who are not as proficient in driving in Alberta as other places.”

Meantime, councillor Brenda Dennis argued that the driver’s abstract will unveil any bad habits, noting that if they have a history of bad driving, they will most likely not be behind the wheel of a taxi.

The town’s taxi bylaw was put into place in 2013, but is due for a comprehensive review this year. The amendment likely would have been made at that point, but administration wanted to bring it to council earlier to allow the drivers to get on the road.

The City of Red Deer changed their bylaw in 2014 to require a three-year driver’s abstract, along with other updates following a review.