Milton Council refused an 18.5-metre digital billboard beside Highway 401 and ordered a review of highway billboards for 2027
In July, Milton Council denied a sign-by-law variance for a V-shaped digital billboard in the CN Rail corridor at Highway 401, near the Regional Road 25 interchange, and asked staff to recommend in 2027 whether such signs belong in Milton.
The details
What Council decided
On July 13, 2026, Milton Council denied a request from RCC Media Inc. for relief from the Town's Sign By-law to permit an oversized, V-shaped digital billboard within the CN Rail right-of-way where it meets the north side of Highway 401, according to the meeting's minutes. Council also directed staff to review the Sign By-law specifically as it applies to digital billboards next to 400-series highways and to bring recommendations to Council in 2027.
According to staff report DS-053-26, the sign would have shown third-party advertising as a programmed loop of still images. It was proposed in the 401 Industrial/Business Park Secondary Plan area, about 550 metres from the Regional Road 25 interchange. The Commissioner of Development Services had already refused the variances under delegated authority, and the applicant asked for the matter to go to Council for a final decision, as the by-law allows.
How far it was from the rules
- 62.43
- 18.5
- 209
- Would sit where the railway passes under a street, about 4.4 m from the highway right-of-way, and rise above the track; the by-law allows rail billboards only at overpasses, 10.7 to 45.7 m from the street line, and no higher than the track
The applicant relied on a provincial Minister's Order that exempts certain CN lands along provincial highways from the Ministry of Transportation's usual 400-metre restriction on highway advertising. Staff noted that the order also requires each billboard to comply with all local municipal requirements, so it does not exempt the proposal from the Town's by-law. The applicant told staff the signs are an important revenue-generating program for the Province and could benefit the Town, the report says.
Why staff opposed it
The report says Milton's Sign By-law, adopted in December 2017, permits billboards in railway corridors but was written for signs tied to local businesses and properties, and that large-scale digital billboards along Highway 401 were not contemplated, having historically not been permitted by the Ministry of Transportation. Staff called the request "not a minor technical variance" and said it would introduce a new form of digital highway advertising, a policy question for Council rather than a variance. Other Town departments, apart from planning and zoning, and outside agencies including Halton Region and Conservation Halton did not object, the report says.
Staff recommended a targeted review so that any future proposals of this kind are handled through a policy framework, location criteria, technical standards and an approval process, rather than through individual variance applications. No date in 2027 has been set for that report.