Brampton’s lawns are about to get a lot more political.

After weeks of an unusually sign-free municipal election campaign, candidates can now put their election signs on private property across the city.

The City of Brampton’s election sign window opened at 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, giving candidates less than four weeks to get their names in front of voters before the Oct. 29 municipal election.

And there are plenty of names looking for attention.

Twelve candidates are running for Brampton mayor alone, including incumbent Patrick Brown, as well as Jagruti Bhatt, Gurdeep Singh Dhothar, Vidya Sagar Gautam, Prabh Gill, Wesley Jackson, Najma Khurram, Nathaniel Peart, Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu, Sandeep Somal, Paul Tarriwal and Gaurav Walia.

Across the municipal and school-board races, 125 names appear on Brampton’s candidate list. That includes 39 candidates seeking city council seats, 30 running for regional council and 44 candidates seeking school trustee positions.

One of the candidates, Genevieve Grenier, has been acclaimed to the French separate trustee position, meaning 124 of those races are contested.

With that many candidates competing for votes, the city’s relatively short election-sign window could make for a noticeable transformation in Brampton neighbourhoods over the next few weeks.

This is the first municipal election under the city’s updated election-sign rules, which were introduced following problems during the 2022 campaign.

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In that election, bylaw enforcement officers confiscated a record $6,400 worth of illegal election signs and issued more than $150,000 in fines.

The new rules give candidates a much shorter period in which they can display signs, while also setting out stricter requirements for where those signs can go.

Election signs are allowed on private property, but candidates must have the property owner’s permission. Residential properties can have one sign per candidate or third-party advertiser, while non-residential properties can have up to three.

The signs cannot simply be placed wherever there is an empty patch of grass.

They are prohibited on public property and road allowances, vacant or undeveloped land, trees, fences, construction hoarding, building walls, utility and hydro poles, light standards and other infrastructure.

They also cannot obstruct visibility or create a safety hazard.

There are size restrictions as well. Signs on residential properties can be no larger than 2 square metres, or about 21.5 square feet, and cannot stand more than 1.5 metres high. The maximum height on non-residential properties is 3.6 metres.

Candidates can also put signs on vehicles, although those signs come with their own restrictions.

A vehicle-mounted sign cannot exceed 2 square metres on either side, cannot be placed on the roof and must be securely attached. It also cannot block a driver’s view, licence plate, lights, mirrors or other equipment required under the Highway Traffic Act.

Campaign vehicles also cannot be driven, parked or stopped within 150 metres of a voting location while advance voting or voting is taking place there.

For residents, another important date is Oct. 29. All election signs must be removed by 7:59 p.m. that day.

The city can remove signs that don’t comply with the rules. Removed signs can be stored for 30 days, giving their owners an opportunity to retrieve them, although a $50 fee applies for each appointment to have signs returned.

After 30 days, unclaimed signs can be disposed of.

The city says the restrictions are intended to reduce visual clutter, prevent distractions for drivers and pedestrians and maintain safe and accessible public spaces.

For candidates, however, the message is clear: the waiting period is over.

After spending much of the campaign unable to put their names on front lawns, the 2026 candidates now have less than a month to make their presence known.

And with a dozen people competing for the mayor’s chair and more than 100 other names appearing on the municipal and school-board ballots, Brampton residents may want to get used to seeing a lot more campaign signs between now and election day.


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