The expanded autonomous fleet deployment deepens Loblaw’s existing five-year partnership with Gatik

Canadian food retailer, Loblaw Companies Limited, is expanding its use of driverless trucks in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) through a renewed five-year partnership with autonomous middle-mile logistics company, Gatik.

Under the first phase of the agreement, 20 autonomous trucks will deploy across Loblaw’s regional distribution network by the end of this year. An additional 30 trucks will roll out by the end of 2026.

There are currently six driverless vehicles in operation as part of an existing pilot program between Loblaw and Gatik.

“[This is] the first time a major retailer has transitioned from pilot to commercial scale with autonomous trucks, directly addressing Canada’s growing driver shortage, delivering the true benefits of autonomous logistics — reliability, safety and scalability — to millions of Canadians,” says Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik, in a press statement.

The fleet will initially operate with safety drivers onboard before transitioning to freight-only, driverless operations.

The new fleet will leverage Gatik’s Level 4 AI Driver technology and feature cold-chain-ready, refrigerated vehicles designed to transport time-sensitive grocery and household items efficiently.

Once fully deployed, these vehicles will support deliveries to more than 300 Loblaw stores.

Longstanding partnership

Loblaw and Gatik have a long history of collaboration dating back to 2020, when the retailer first tested a single autonomous delivery vehicle in Toronto.

The partnership expanded to five trucks deployed in early 2021, with fully driverless trials beginning in 2022.

This latest agreement between the two companies also includes a strategic investment from Loblaw in Gatik.

“This expanded partnership with and investment in Gatik represents a significant step forward in our commitment to innovation and supply chain sustainability,” says Rob Wiebe, chief administrator of Loblaw Companies Limited, in a press statement.

“Autonomous logistics will enable us to move more orders more frequently for our customers. We are excited to continue leading the way nationally in retail distribution with Gatik’s groundbreaking technology which has already been proven across our operations.” 

For this multi-year expansion agreement, Gatik worked with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to help shape the province’s Automated Commercial Motor Vehicle (ACMV) Pilot Program, a regulatory framework that went into effect on Aug. 1, 2025.

The pilot allows Gatik’s medium-duty autonomous trucks to operate on all surface streets and highways in Ontario.