Vancouverites might start sharing sidewalks with delivery robots

A Pizza Hut delivery robot is seen on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver on Sept. 23, 2022.

Little delivery robots may soon be rolling along Vancouver sidewalks.

Coun. Mike Klassen is set to bring a motion Wednesday to approve a pilot program for food delivery robots.

The program, presented by Serve Robotics, would allow a fleet of self-driving robots to serve as a food delivery service in Kitsilano and the downtown core. The little robots have been around for a few years in other major cities across North America.

They’ve appeared in viral videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, oftentimes showing their blunders with navigation. A few have even been hit by trains.

All the robots are assigned names and have blinking headlights made to look like eyes. They display polite messages if you help them when they’re stuck, and they can ask you to press the crosswalk button for them. On their website, Serve Robotics calls them “the cutest low-emissions delivery robots known to humans.”

The design is intentional. Research has shown that a cute appearance increases a user’s tolerance for service disruptions and failures. These anthropomorphic elements can also help foster a social presence and connection between person and robot.

“This is about responsibly bringing innovative technology to Vancouver in a way that improves daily life while keeping safety and accessibility front and centre,” Klassen said in a statement to CTV News.

While the project might bring new tech to the province, this proposal has the potential to threaten the livelihood of gig workers.

“Quite honestly, even if these robots took a very small amount of food delivery customers, that alone could have an impact on these folks’ job security,” said Patrick Johnson, president of UFCW 1518, the union representing rideshare drivers in Victoria.

According to a 2022 StatCan report, 3.6 per cent of the population in B.C. did gig work as their main job. In 2024, the province provided a mandatory minimum wage to gig workers of $20.88. Living Wage BC says a living wage in Metro Vancouver is $27.85, meaning that on average, delivery drivers are already making less than is necessary to meet their basic needs.

The proposed little robots might lead to further challenges for people trying to make ends meet through food delivery.

“Folks are driven to gig work in a way that has become a large source of their income and sometimes their primary source of income,” Johnson said. “The city councillors need to look at what the impact on existing workers and what are ways to mitigate that negative impact?”

The motion is asking for a pilot program to start as soon as fall of this year.