SIGNS TO GO UP ON ONTARIO HIGHWAYS
By Adnews Staff
The provincial government will begin allowing advertising along highways in April as long as the ads tell consumers where to go. The government has handed out a 10-year contract to construct tourism signs along Ontario highways to Canadian Tourism Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) Ltd. of Woodbridge,Ont. The company won the government business in late December. Canadian TODS project manager Roger Rose told Adnews there were four or five other companies competing for the contract. The Canadian TODS signs will be used only by businesses geared specifically towards tourism, such as campgrounds, museums, water parks, theme parks and marinas. The signs will be paid for by Canadian TODS, which will then sell advertising space on them to eligible businesses. Both the signs and their advertising will have to meet Tourism and Transportation Ministry regulations. Ross said sign construction will begin in early April and the signs will go up along all provincial highways. Currently Ontario has a ban on all other billboard advertising along its highways. Canadian TODS is a subsidiary of U.S.-based Interstate Logos, which is a subsidiary of Louisiana-based Lamar Advertising. The government contract is Canadian TODS' only project.