Guidelines for displaying posters and signs on City property

Election and political signs

Election and political signs are allowed on City poster cylinders (see Posters on City streets) and between the backs of sidewalks and the adjoining private property.

Signs cannot be placed on City:

• Sidewalks
• Boulevards
• Medians
• Parks
• Street lights
• Other sidewalk amenities

Important note Any signs found in the areas listed above will be impounded and stored at the City at the expense of the party or candidate involved.

Signs can be recovered from 507 West Broadway, 5th floor, between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Monday through Friday.

Election and political sign guidelines PDF file (271 KB)

Posters on City streets

Use the poster cylinders on City street light poles to display your poster advertisements.

All sizes and types of posters are accepted, unless they contain offensive material. Use glue paste or tape to stick your posters to the cylinder.

Note that, over time, posters get covered by other posters and are periodically removed by our sanitation crews.

Poster cylinders provide an aesthetically-pleasing arrangement of posters in visible locations, and reduce the burden on taxpayers when posters need to be removed from City property.

Important note Don't place posters on utility poles that have no poster cylinder or on any other area of City property. Posters placed illegally will be removed and discarded weekly and violators may be prosecuted.

Poster cylinder locations

Sandwich board and third-party advertising signs

Advertising signs on City property are allowed only if the City guidelines for their placement are followed:

• One sandwich board per ground floor storefront no larger than 60 cm × 90 cm (23.5 in × 35.5 in) may be on City property
• The sign must be directly in front of the store that is being advertised
• The sign must be up against the building wall or at the property line (not in the middle of the sidewalk or at the curb of any street)

Sandwich board sign guidelines PDF file (74 KB)

Third-party signs are strictly prohibited on, and will be confiscated from centre medians, utility poles not equipped with a poster cylinder, boulevards, or any other area of City property.

Third-party advertising sign guidelines PDF file (66 KB)

Brochures and posters in community centres

If you are with a public agency or provide a program at a community centre, you can have brochures or posters displayed and distributed at City community centres.

When preparing your materials for distribution:

• Bundle brochures in groups of 10
• Keep posters unrolled - anything larger than 10 in × 16 in will be folded

Drop off or mail brochures and posters to:

Recreation Office
4575 Clancy Loranger Way
Vancouver BC, V5Y 2M4

Real estate, open house, and sales centre signs

House-for-sale signs are allowed on private property. Signs that advertise or direct people to properties for sale cannot be placed on City property.

Open house signs that direct people to a viewing are allowed on City property only during the showing.

Sales- and presentation centre signs need to follow the rules for sandwich board signs (see Sandwich board and third-party advertising signs, above).

Real estate and sales centre sign guidelines PDF file (74 KB)

Report an issue

If you have concerns about advertising on City property, call 3-1-1 to report the issue.