TL;DR
- You can’t put up posters just anywhere in Toronto. Most City-owned properties are off limits.
- Community notices can go on utility poles.
- Some private properties may let you poster but you have to ask for permission.
- Posters have to be a certain size and meet specific requirements. Check down below for the details.
📸: Nikhil-Mitra/Unsplash.
Did you know putting a piece of paper up on a traffic pole in Toronto can get you fined?
It was the summer of 2024, and I was an editorial intern at The Green Line. Yara El Murr, senior editor, tasked me with putting up posters around Toronto for the upcoming Action Journey event.
Little did I know that you can’t put posters just around anywhere in the city. There’s actually a bylaw about it. The City of Toronto probably doesn’t fine everyone, considering that we see thousands of posters for some pretty insane events every day. But if you’re a worrier, or a rule-abiding resident, here’s what you need to know about postering in the city.
Where can I put up a poster in Toronto?
Before we get into where you can actually put up a poster, let’s talk about where you can’t — because there are more rules than you think and I don’t want you getting in trouble.
You can’t put posters on anything City property. These items include:
- Traffic signs
- Litter bins
- Trees
- Bike racks
- Fire hydrants
- Transit shelters
- Other City-owned infrastructure
If you do put your brand’s product launch or picnic poster on these spots, you might get fined anywhere from $500 to $100,000. There’s actually a section on the City of Toronto’s website to report postering on City property — so don’t get caught on it.
But, you can put community notice posters on utility poles under certain conditions. A community notice is a poster that identifies missing persons, pets and items. It can also be a poster promoting participation in religious, civic, charitable or non-profit events. So essentially, if you’re a business owner promoting a product, you can’t put your posters on a utility pole.
You can also put posters on permitted kiosks or message boards — regardless of content. For example, there’s a board right outside the Gerrard/Ashdale library, located at 1432 Gerrard St. E.
You can also post on some private properties, like restaurants and stores, but you’ll have to ask for permission first from the business owners. Feel free to check out community and sports centres too. A lot of them have message boards and might let you promote your event if you ask.
How can I poster in Toronto?
1. Plan where to poster
At this point, you know you can’t just poster anywhere. If you’re postering, it has to be on City-approved kiosks and message boards, not on traffic signs — unless you have a community notice like a lost pet or a yard sale, which you can put on a utility pole.
Also, a key tip is to poster where your target audience goes a lot. If you’re planning on hosting some kind of an artsy event, head up the typical spots, like Kensington Market.
Keep in mind, there are also City rules about the orientation of posters and whether they pose a physical hazard. For example, the City’s rules say to stick the poster away from the street so drivers don’t get distracted.
2. Print out the right size and include the right information
There’s actually a set of rules that the City outlines when placing and printing your poster on an approved structure.
As stated exactly on the City of Toronto website, posters must conform to the following:
- Be no larger than 22 cm × 28 cm
- Be made of lightweight cardboard
- Be attached flat to the surface using staples or removable tape
- Be placed no higher than 2 metres above the ground
- Show the posting date on the front
- Only one poster with the same information may be posted on a kiosk
- Face toward the property and away from the roadway
- Include valid contact information for at least one owner of the poster
3. Make sure to take the posters down at the appropriate time
The posters have to be removed within 30 days of posting or five days after the event ends, whichever one comes first, per Toronto’s bylaw.
So if your Drake lookalike contest ended three months ago, you should probably take down the posters before it gets back to you. This means you should probably make a list of all the places you put your posters up.
Tip: Don’t be a poster jerk
- Don’t cover up someone’s poster (it’s actually a City violation)
- Don’t plaster ten of the same poster on one kiosk (another violation)
- Don’t cover street signs or important information
- Don’t leave tape, staples or glue behind
There you have it folks. Now you know everything you need to know to poster in Toronto. Know of a spot to put up posters in the city? Share it with us.
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