Sign Permits

General Requirements

• All signs are require required to comply with the Ontario Building Code and/or the City of Barrie’s Sign By-law.
• The Building Services Department is responsible for the review of sign permits for compliance with The Building Code Act. 
• Municipal Law Enforcement is responsible for administration of the City’s Sign Bylaw, which includes height and setbacks restrictions. Applications for sign permits can be made at the Municipal Law Enforcement Office, 45 Cedar Pointe Drive, Barrie, Ontario during regular business hours, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 – 4:30 p.m or online at www.barrie.ca.

Excerpts from Section 3.14 to the Ontario Building Code

• 3.14.1.1. Application
  
  Except as provided otherwise in Article 3.14.1.2. this Section shall apply to the erection of all signs.
• 3.14.1.2. Exceptions
  
  The following signs shall not be subject to the provisions of this Section,
  • signs for regulating traffic or similar devices, legal notices or warnings at railroad crossings,
  • signs in display windows including writing, representation, painting or lettering directly on the surface of any window or door, or other signs not affixed to the building interior,
  • small signs displayed for the direction of the public including signs which identify rest rooms, freight entrances and such other similar directional signs,
  • signs painted directly on a building, and
  • incidental signs or other signs subject to municipal approval.
• 3.14.3.1. Structural Design
  
  Except as provided herein, all sign structures shall be designed in accordance with Part 4.
• 3.14.3.2. Professional Design
  
  A sign structure shall be designed by an architect or professional engineer where it is,
  
  • a ground sign which exceeds 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) in height above the adjacent finished ground,
  • a projecting sign which weighs more than 115 kg (254 lb), or
  • a roof sign that has any face that is more than 10 m² (108 ft²).(2) A projecting sign shall not be attached or fastened in any manner to a parapet wall unless designed by an architect or professional engineer.

Excerpts from City of Barrie Sign By-law 

Definition of Mobile Sign: means any mounted sign on a trailer or on a supporting frame which is designed to be transported from one site to another and includes mobile signs with changeable copy and/or illumination.

Definition of Poster Panel Sign: means a sign that advertises goods, products, services or facilities that are not available at the location where the sign is situated or that directs persons to a location different from that where the sign is located, and shall include free standing structures and signs attached in any manner to the wall of a building or structure and includes a standardized sign structure erected and maintained by a business engaged in the sale or rental of space upon which advertising copy is displayed advertising goods or services that are not necessarily conducted within or upon the lot upon which the sign is located.

Definition of Ground Sign: means a sign in a fixed location, wholly supported by one or more uprights, poles, braces or located on a structural base placed in or upon the ground, and includes soft landscape treatment at the base of the sign or supporting structure.

Various types of signs may or may not be prohibited under the City of Barrie Sign By-law, please review the by-law to ensure you are in compliance at all times prior to any sign being installed or erected