St. Catharines City Council has directed City employees to complete a report that will provide context regarding the state of the municipality’s sign by-law and outline how it can be amended to reflect changes to the way organizations are conducting their marketing operations.
The last sign by-law amendment, which was implemented more than a decade ago, is widely believed to have become outdated, particularly in light of the expanded usage of digital signage in the 2020s marketplace.
“We look forward to receiving the staff report in the next several months regarding proposed changes to the sign by-law, specific to electronic signs,” St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe told The Niagara Independent. “We realize that it is important to change with the times, and we have had a lot of interest from the business community about changes that they would like to see to our sign by-law.”
A motion to kickstart the amendment process was introduced by Ward 3 (St. Georges) City Councillor Kevin Townsend and was seconded by Ward 5 (Grantham) Councillor Bill Phillips, at a May 26 Council meeting.
The motion asks, “that staff consult with local business owners, commercial property managers, the St. Catharines Downtown Association, and other relevant stakeholders to inform the proposed amendments.”
The motion also directs “that staff report back to Council with recommended updates to the Sign By-law, including proposed guidelines for location, size, brightness, content restrictions, and hours of operations for digital signage.”
Ultimately, the goal is to provide enhanced opportunities for the St. Catharines business community to fully utilize the innovative digital signage technologies that are now available, in order to more effectively advertise their products and services to members of the community.
Siscoe, while responding to the presentation of the motion by Townsend, recalled that the sign by-law was “one of the very first things Councillor Harris and I experienced as Councillors,” after joining City Council fifteen years ago, highlighting that an update is needed.
While the motion stated an original deadline for the staff report to be completed being the fourth quarter of 2025, it was delayed slightly to the first quarter of 2026, in order to provide staff with a bit of extra time to study how other towns and cities are approaching the issue in their jurisdictions.
The motion was promptly carried with no debate or opposition from members of Council.
Nick Redekop completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Labour Studies at Brock University. He has previously served in municipal and federal politics. In his free time, Nick enjoys following sports, taking part in outdoor activities, and reading biographies. Nick resides in Niagara Falls
