Press Release
The provincial government is making life more affordable by bringing relief to Ontario’s tourism operators who rely on the province’s Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing Program (TODS) to generate a positive economic impact in their local communities.
In April, 2018, the previous government signed a contract with Canadian TODS Limited towards the end of their administration.
The people of Ontario have expressed their concerns about this contract and the significant fee increases being placed on small business owners across the province.
Listening to the province’s small business owners and tourism operators, the new government worked with Canadian TODS Limited–the third party responsible for the delivery and maintenance of the TODS program–to freeze all price increases for 2019.
“Our [government] has heard clearly from tourism operators across the province about their concerns regarding the fee increases associated with the TODS program,” said Tourism, Culture, and Sport minister Michael Tibollo.
“The previous government deliberately froze prices for 10 years, ignoring the cost of inflation, and completely failed to communicate with TODS customers,” he charged.
“We are taking real action to ensure businesses and customers have time to adjust to the increased prices, and we look forward to continuing to work with Canadian TODS Limited over the coming year to look for ways we can help mitigate this price increase,” Tibollo added.
The TODS program is designed to provide motorists with signage on provincial highways to direct visitors to tourist attractions, operations, and services.
“Our [government] was elected on June 7 with a clear mandate to respect the taxpayers of this province and to restore trust and accountability in the province’s finances,” said Transportation minister Jeff Yurek.
“We heard loud and clear from small business owners across Ontario and have fixed a problem that the previous government created,” he noted.
“Today we’re providing relief to small business owners as we do our part in promoting and strengthening tourism in Ontario,” Yurek added.
