When can election signs go up in Durham Region for the 2026 election?

It depends on the municipality. Clarington opens first on September 6, 2026, followed by Oshawa and Whitby on September 14, and Ajax on October 1. On regional roads the Region's by-law sets the start at the later of 42 days before the last polling day or the date your local by-law opens. Voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026.

When do election signs have to come down?

Ajax requires removal within 48 hours of the close of voting and Clarington by October 28, 2026. Whitby allows until November 2. The Region's own by-law requires removal within 48 hours of the last polling day on regional roads, which is the tightest deadline in Durham. Confirm Oshawa and Pickering with the Clerk, and plan the sweep around the shortest window that applies to your placements.

What happens if signs are left up past the deadline?

The municipality removes them and bills you. Ajax deducts $20.80 plus HST per sign from your $519 deposit. Clarington charges $10 per sign for the first 25 and up to $30 or actual cost for the largest. Whitby holds pulled signs for 30 days and charges its actual removal cost, with a $50 minimum per sign.

Do you supply the signs, or just install them?

Either. Most campaigns have their signs printed already, and we place, maintain and retrieve them. If you still need the signs produced, we print in house and can quote printing and placement together.

Can you put signs on private property?

Yes, with the consent of the owner, tenant or occupant — that consent is written into the by-laws, not just good manners. Send us the list of supporter addresses and we route them alongside the road-allowance placements.

How much does election sign installation cost?

It is quoted per campaign, because the number of signs, how far apart they are, how many rotations you want through the campaign, and the size of the removal sweep all move the price. Call us with a rough sign count and target municipalities and we will put a number to it.

Durham Region · 2026 municipal election

Election sign installation and removal

Name: True Sign Group Inc.
Address: Oshawa, ON, CA
Telephone: (905) 259-4361
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.8

Voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026. We place your signs to the setbacks each municipality actually enforces, log where every one of them went, and pull the whole campaign inside the removal window — which in parts of Durham is 48 hours after the polls close.

You have the signs printed. We put them in the ground and get them back out again.

Call (905) 259-4361 Email your sign count

Your deposit is on the line, not ours

Durham municipalities hold campaign money against sign compliance and bill per sign when staff have to clean up. Every sign placed wrong is a deduction.

$519

Ajax

Sign permit deposit, payable before a single sign goes up. The Town deducts $20.80 plus HST for every sign it has to remove, and refunds the balance within 60 days of voting day.

$250

Clarington

Deposit before erecting any signs. Removal by the Municipality runs $10 per sign for the first 25, rising to $30 or actual cost for the largest sizes.

$50

Whitby

Minimum cost to get a single pulled sign back, based on the Town's actual labour and equipment. Signs are held 30 days, and enforcement runs proactive patrols of road allowances.

What we actually do

Placed to the setbacks

One metre back from the curb, two where there is no curb, under the height limit, and lower again inside an intersection. The measurements are the job.

Every placement logged

Address and a photo for each sign as it goes in, so you know what is standing where — and so nothing gets orphaned when it is time to pull them.

Maintained through the campaign

Signs get hit by wind, plows and passers-by. Send us the address and we re-stand or replace it instead of leaving a flattened sign on a busy corner.

Pulled inside the window

The removal sweep is scheduled before the first sign goes in the ground, because the deadline is measured in hours after the polls close, not weeks.

Every municipality has a different calendar

A candidate whose ward touches two municipalities is running two rulebooks at once. Clarington opens seven weeks before voting day; Ajax will not let a sign go up until 25 days out. The removal deadlines are further apart still.

Oshawa

Signs can go up: September 14, 2026; 42 days before voting day, from 10 a.m.
Signs must be down: Confirm with the City Clerk; By-law 42-2014 has been amended more than once and published sources disagree on whether removal is three or seven days. Plan for the tighter one.

Whitby

Signs can go up: September 14, 2026; Town and Regional roads in Whitby
Signs must be down: November 2, 2026; Seven days after the last voting day. Signs on provincial roads come down within three working days.

Ajax

Signs can go up: October 1, 2026; 25 days before voting day
Signs must be down: Within 48 hours of the close of voting; A sign permit and the $519 deposit have to be in place first. Steel stakes need safety caps on any exposed end.

Clarington

Signs can go up: September 6, 2026; 45 days before the first advance voting day
Signs must be down: October 28, 2026; 48 hours after midnight on voting day. Signs cannot promote a candidate outside that candidate's own ward.

Pickering

Signs can go up: Confirm with the City Clerk; Election Sign By-law 7591/17 applies
Signs must be down: Confirm with the City Clerk; Pickering publishes its sign regulations in the candidate package rather than online. We confirm before placing.

Regional roads

Signs can go up: The later of two dates; 42 days before the last polling day, or the day your municipality's own by-law opens
Signs must be down: Within 48 hours of the last polling day; The Region's by-law sets the tightest deadline in Durham, and it applies to the busiest roads. Enforcement is delegated to your municipality.

Dates and fees above are quoted from each municipality's own 2026 candidate material and election sign by-laws, verified August 27, 2026. By-laws get amended mid-cycle, so confirm against the package your Clerk gave you — and we confirm again before we place. The full rules, city by city.

The measurements we place to

Most signs that get pulled are not pulled over politics. They are too close to the curb, too tall inside an intersection, zip-tied to a stop sign post, or standing on a traffic island. These are the rules that decide whether a placement survives the week.

At least 1 m back from the curb, or 2 m from the travelled road where there is no curb
No taller than 1.2 m, dropping to 0.6 m within 20 m of an intersection or driveway
Never on a median, traffic island, road shoulder or sidewalk
Never fixed to a pole already carrying an official traffic or road sign
Not within 500 m of another sign for the same candidate on a regional road
Nothing at a voting location, or on the boulevard beside one

Individual municipalities add their own restrictions on top — parks, schools, heritage sites, municipal facilities and minimum spacing between a candidate's own signs. We work from the current by-law for the municipality we are placing in.

Supporter lawns and private property

Private property placements need the consent of the owner, tenant or occupant. That is written into the by-laws, and it is the property occupant's call, not the landlord's alone. Send us the list of addresses that said yes and we route them in with the road placements, so a volunteer is not driving the same streets twice.

Supporter signs still come down on the same deadline as everything else, and they are the ones campaigns most often lose track of. They go in the same placement log as the rest.

Where we place

The same footprint we install real estate posts in every day: Oshawa, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Clarington, Bowmanville, Newcastle, Courtice, Markham, Scarborough, plus the townships and outlying areas on our service areas page. Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock run their own election sign by-laws — ask and we will confirm the rules for the township before quoting.

Durham election sign rules, in full

Dates, setbacks, deposits and removal deadlines for all five cities.

Need the signs printed?

Coroplast printing in house, laminated, sized to your stakes.

Election signs — FAQ

When can election signs go up in Durham Region for the 2026 election?: It depends on the municipality. Clarington opens first on September 6, 2026, followed by Oshawa and Whitby on September 14, and Ajax on October 1. On regional roads the Region's by-law sets the start at the later of 42 days before the last polling day or the date your local by-law opens. Voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026.
When do election signs have to come down?: Ajax requires removal within 48 hours of the close of voting and Clarington by October 28, 2026. Whitby allows until November 2. The Region's own by-law requires removal within 48 hours of the last polling day on regional roads, which is the tightest deadline in Durham. Confirm Oshawa and Pickering with the Clerk, and plan the sweep around the shortest window that applies to your placements.
What happens if signs are left up past the deadline?: The municipality removes them and bills you. Ajax deducts $20.80 plus HST per sign from your $519 deposit. Clarington charges $10 per sign for the first 25 and up to $30 or actual cost for the largest. Whitby holds pulled signs for 30 days and charges its actual removal cost, with a $50 minimum per sign.
Do you supply the signs, or just install them?: Either. Most campaigns have their signs printed already, and we place, maintain and retrieve them. If you still need the signs produced, we print in house and can quote printing and placement together.
Can you put signs on private property?: Yes, with the consent of the owner, tenant or occupant — that consent is written into the by-laws, not just good manners. Send us the list of supporter addresses and we route them alongside the road-allowance placements.
How much does election sign installation cost?: It is quoted per campaign, because the number of signs, how far apart they are, how many rotations you want through the campaign, and the size of the removal sweep all move the price. Call us with a rough sign count and target municipalities and we will put a number to it.

Signs going up soon? Let's talk about the sweep

Tell us the sign count and which municipalities you're running in, and we'll quote placement, maintenance through the campaign, and the removal sweep as one job.

Get in touch (905) 259-4361