Do you need a sign permit in Montreal?
For a permanent sign, yes: installing one requires an authorization certificate issued by the borough. The City's official procedure for commercial sign permits covers these signs. For Le Sud-Ouest, the City even specifies that the procedure only concerns permanent signs.
At AGS Signs, we prepare this application for you as part of our commercial signage projects. The City explicitly allows it: you can contact a company specializing in sign installation to apply for the permit on your behalf.
AGS Signs takes care of your permit application on every project. You don't have to deal with it. If you are opening several locations, our multi-site program centralizes the files from one borough to the next.
Permanent or temporary sign: what changes for the permit?
A permanent sign is fixed to the façade or the property for the long term: channel letters, a light box, a blade sign, a pylon sign. This is what the commercial sign permit procedure covers.
A temporary sign announces something limited in time: an upcoming opening, a promotion, a construction project. Each borough's by-law sets the exact definition, and treatment varies:
- for Outremont and Pierrefonds-Roxboro, the City states that some temporary signs do not require a permit;
- Outremont still sets a fee for those that do: $65 per temporary sign, compared with $120 per permanent sign.
In other words, a temporary sign is not automatically exempt from a permit. Before putting up a banner or "opening soon" window graphics, check with your borough.
Documents required
The list varies slightly from one borough to another. Here is the one the City publishes for Ville-Marie, which is representative:
- Professional-quality scale drawings: façade dimensions, unit area, sign dimensions and position, anchoring method, structure and materials
- Photos of the façade and neighbouring buildings
- A certificate of location
- Authorization from the building owner or the condominium association
- A power of attorney from the operator, where applicable
- Engineer's drawings if the sign projects over public property
The City also indicates that the application must come with a valid occupancy permit for the commercial activity, or proof that one was recently applied for.
How much does the permit cost?
There is no single rate: each borough sets its own, most often per sign and sometimes by area. A few examples published by the City in September 2026:
- Ville-Marie: $317 per sign minimum ($20 per m² of sign area)
- Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension: $316.50 per sign
- Ahuntsic-Cartierville: $237 minimum per sign ($15 per m²)
- Outremont: $120 per permanent sign
These amounts can change from one year to the next, and they are collected by the borough, not by the company that builds the sign. Your borough's current rate is on the City's official page (in French).
Timelines and borough specifics
Ville-Marie (downtown, Old Montreal)
An application there may be reviewed by the urban planning advisory committee (CCU) under the site planning and architectural integration programme (PIIA) by-law. If the building or area is protected under Quebec's heritage legislation, authorization from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications is also required. Every extra authorization lengthens the file, which is the main reason Old Montreal calls for more patience. Applications there can be made online, by email or by phone.
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
The City states that the person responsible for reviewing your file will contact you within a maximum of 14 days. That is the first contact, not the issuance of the permit.
Other boroughs
Issuance timelines are not published consistently: they depend on the borough, how complete the file is and, where applicable, committee review. A complete file from the start — drawings, photos, the owner's authorization — remains the surest way not to lose weeks.
A sign put up without authorization breaches the borough's by-law, and the borough can require its removal. Applying after the fact does not guarantee the permit will be granted.
How to apply
Depending on the borough, you apply online or at the permit counter; Ville-Marie also accepts applications by email or by phone. The starting point is the same everywhere: the City's commercial sign permit page (in French), where you select your borough to see the steps, documents and fees that apply.
What the borough reviews
There is no single sign by-law for all of Montreal: each borough has its own. The drawings the City requires show what gets reviewed from one file to the next:
- the sign's area relative to the façade
- its position and anchoring on the building
- the structure and materials
- any projection over public property, which requires engineer's drawings in Ville-Marie
- architectural integration, where the area falls under a PIIA
FAQ
Source: City of Montreal, "Obtenir un permis d'enseigne commerciale" page, updated September 1, 2026 and consulted September 14, 2026. Rules and fees vary by borough and may change: the official page prevails.