Designed, built and installed by our Saint-Léonard workshop, for all of Greater Montreal.
AGS Signs is a sign manufacturer based in Saint-Léonard, Montreal. The company has been in business since 2013, and its founder has worked as a sign maker for more than thirty years. That experience shows most where a mistake is costly: the load calculations for a pylon sign, the weatherproofing of a light box that has to get through fifteen winters, the preparation of a permit application. We design, build and install our signs ourselves, in our own workshop. Channel letters, LED light boxes, push-through signs, pylon signs, blade signs, awnings and marquees — every piece comes off our machines and passes through our team's hands before it reaches your storefront.
We don't resell another shop's work, and that changes three concrete things. Lead times, because there is no middleman to chase. Corrections, because a letter that is slightly off gets remade on site instead of being reordered. And price, because you pay for the manufacturing, not a reseller's markup. Not sure which type of sign you need? Our guides compare channel letters and push-through signs, and pylon signs and wall signs.
We handle the project from start to finish: site visit, 3D mock-up, choice of materials, municipal permit application, manufacturing, installation and commissioning. We serve all of Greater Montreal — Laval, the North Shore, the South Shore, Longueuil, Brossard — and we travel elsewhere in Quebec depending on the scope of the project.
Each type calls for a different level of technique and different materials. Here is how they compare, from the most accessible to the most imposing.
A closed aluminium structure with an acrylic face, backlit with LEDs. It is the classic and most affordable option: simple to build, effective from a distance, ideal for displaying a name clearly. Because the face is printed, a detailed logo costs no more to reproduce.
One step up from the light box. The lettering physically passes through the face and stands out in relief, creating a shadow and a depth that printing alone cannot give. The result is more modern and more upscale, without the cost of individual letters.
Each letter is an individual housing, built by hand in three dimensions, then wired separately. It is the standard for distinction in shops and restaurants: the storefront carries letters, not a panel. Front-lit, halo-lit, or both.
A rigid aluminium structure fixed above the entrance or across the entire storefront. It shelters your customers from rain and snow, transforms the look of the façade, and can incorporate your sign. It is our storefront specialty — it lasts 15 to 25 years through Quebec winters.
A flexible fabric structure on a metal frame, often retractable. Lighter and less expensive than a marquee, it suits terraces and storefronts that want a lighter look. It holds up less well under snow: we steer most businesses toward a marquee, but an awning remains the right choice for a seasonal terrace.
The most imposing structures: freestanding and visible from the road, they mark the entrance to a parking lot or a shopping plaza. They require foundation work, sometimes in concrete, and a load study. It is a construction project as much as a sign.
Mounted perpendicular to the façade, it is read by pedestrians walking up the street — where a wall sign stays invisible until you are right in front of it. Essential on a busy commercial street. Often paired with a storefront sign.
An LED strip encased in silicone that reproduces the continuous line of neon, without the glass tube: unbreakable, low voltage, and it uses a fraction of the energy. It bends to the shape of a logo or a handwritten signature. Very popular indoors, in shop windows and in bars.
Every sign is a unique project: the right type depends on your storefront, your image and the signage rules of your borough. We advise you on site, with no obligation.
Two signs of the same width can have very different budgets. Four factors explain almost all of the difference: the size and complexity of the logo, because an emblem full of curves and shading takes far more fabrication work than a clean outline; the number of letters, each one built and wired separately in the case of channel letters; the materials — aluminium gauge, type of acrylic, stainless steel finishes; and access for installation, since mounting at street level has nothing in common with bringing a lift up to the third floor.
Allow 3 to 6 weeks between design approval and installation. If a municipal permit is required, add 2 to 4 weeks — more in Old Montreal, where the delay rises to 6 to 12 weeks. We prepare the permit application for you. The permit fee itself is charged by the borough, not by us: each borough sets its own rate, most often per sign. The full details are in our borough-by-borough permit guide.
A well-built sign lasts 10 to 15 years. An example to put it in perspective: a sign invoiced at $6,000 and amortized over ten years works out to $50 a month, or about $1.64 a day. For that amount, it points out your business to every passer-by, day and night, including when you are closed — and it never stops doing so. We explain this reasoning in what a sign costs in Montreal and how many customers it brings in. For your specific project, the safest approach is a site visit: the quote is free and with no obligation.
We manufacture, and we manufacture everything. Whatever the type of sign, it comes out of our Saint-Léonard workshop — design, manufacturing and installation included. That is what lets us meet deadlines and remake a part without reordering it elsewhere.
It depends on four things: the type of sign, its dimensions, the materials chosen and how difficult the installation is. A simple light box and a freestanding pylon sign on a foundation are not in the same category. Rather than quoting an amount that wouldn't match your storefront, we prefer to come and see it: the site visit and quote are free and with no obligation.
Yes, for a permanent sign: it must be authorized by the borough before it goes up. The permit fee is set by each borough — it is paid to the City, not to us — and the City requires, among other documents, the building owner's authorization. We prepare the application for you. The details are in our permit guide.
Three to six weeks between design approval and installation, plus the permit delay if one is needed. A simple project without a permit can move faster; a pylon sign with a foundation takes longer.
Channel letters are individual housings, built and wired one by one, mounted directly on the façade. A push-through sign is a single light box whose lettering passes through the face in relief. Channel letters give a more upscale look; a push-through sign gives relief at a lower cost. The details are in our comparison.
An awning is a flexible fabric structure on a frame, often retractable. A marquee is rigid, made of aluminium, and permanent. Through our winters, a marquee stands up far better to snow and ice and lasts 15 to 25 years, much longer than fabric. We mainly manufacture aluminium marquees.
Yes. We cover all of Greater Montreal — Laval, the North Shore, Longueuil, Brossard and the South Shore — from our Saint-Léonard workshop, and we travel elsewhere in Quebec depending on the scope of the project.
Ten to fifteen years for a well-built sign. LEDs gradually lose brightness rather than failing all at once; the aluminium housing lasts much longer. Upgrading the lighting costs a fraction of the price of a new sign.
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