Tourism signs on Ontario’s roadways
Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing (TODS)
Signs on Ontario’s roadways make it easier for tourists to find local attractions and services. They help travellers feel welcome, safe and comfortable.
More tourists in our communities help stimulate the local economy.
The TODS program
The TODS program –
- places signs on Ontario’s roadways for motorists to find tourist attractions, operations and services
- increases awareness of Ontario’s tourism attractions, operations and services located off provincial highways
- enhances traffic control through “advanced warning of turns” signs
- promotes and strengthens tourism in Ontario on a province-wide basis.
The Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Industries and the Ministry of Transportation supervise the delivery and maintenance of TODS by a third party – Canadian TODS Limited.
Canadian TODS Limited works with specific businesses interested in placing a sign on the highway directing motorists to their attraction or service. Canadian TODS Limited is responsible for operating, managing, maintaining and financing the province-wide TODS program.
Who can apply?
The signs are for tourism-oriented businesses that provide tourism activities or services to motorists. This includes many accommodation properties, tourist attractions, area profile themes and approved permanent tourist routes.
The types of businesses eligible for the program include (but are not limited to):
- Accommodations
- Golf courses
- Campgrounds
- Tourism-Designated Outlet Malls (new in 2015)
- Regional/Local Travel Information Centres (new in 2015)
- Conservation areas
- Natural sites and trails
- Historical sites
- Museums
- Water theme parks
- Zoos and animal displays
- Spas
- Public Beaches
- Rural Downtowns
To determine if you’re eligible for the program, and to find information on how to apply, please call Canadian TODS Limited (toll free) at 1-888-263-9333 or visit Canadian TODS Limited.
TODS Program Review
We have completed the government’s review of the TODS Program. We engaged with a wide range of tourism stakeholders to collect feedback about our tourism signing program.
We received over 800 responses to the TODS Program Review Survey from a wide variety of tourism stakeholders and organizations across Ontario. Input was received regarding signage needs for tourists, their measure of satisfaction with the TODS program, and suggestions for improvement. Respondents indicated that motoring tourists find the TODS signs helpful – and most tourism operators who participate in the TODS Program tell us that this signage is an important tool for profiling and directing customers to their business.
Based on feedback from our tourism partners, we will be implementing a number of policy and program adjustments that will strengthen and modernize the program, including new criteria and new business categories. These changes are being implemented starting immediately.
We appreciate the valuable input from tourism partners across the province about our tourism way-finding program.
Learn More:
The Ministries are committed to continually improving our highway signing program. Additional comments or questions can be submitted by email to: Tourism.Signs@ontario.ca.
The Logo program
The Logo sign program places signs on Ontario’s 400-series highways to help motorists find essential services like food, fuel and accommodations (with over 15 units).
Logo is a program supervised by the Ministry of Transportation. Canadian TODS Limited is responsible for operating, managing, maintaining and financing the Logo program.
For more information about the Logo program, contact Canadian TODS Limited (toll free) at:
1-888-263-9333 or visit Canadian TODS Limited.
