Taxi industry gets $44M from Quebec government

Quebec is providing $44 million over five years to help modernize the province's taxi industry as it struggles to compete with the ride-hailing app Uber.

Transport Minister Andr Fortin made the announcement Friday in Montreal.

Fortinalso announced the creation of a working group to determine whether taxi licence holders will receive compensation.

Taxi drivers paid as much as $200,000 for a licencea few years ago. They are now worth roughly$85,000.

The decline isattributed to increased competition, particularly from Uber.