toronto sign

The Toronto sign is being replaced and a small town in Ontario wants it

Toronto may be getting rid of its iconic sign to replace it with a more durable version, so why shouldn't another town inherit it?

It seems like they just might. 

According to CTV News, residents of a small town just one hour east of Toronto called Orono often refer to themselves as "Toronto without the T's," and they're hoping to be the sign's new home. 

Orono residents have reached out to Mayor John Tory in request of the sign ⁠— they're hoping it'll help boost their struggling tourism industry. 

Mark Rutherford, an Orono resident, told CTV the town used to get hundreds of thousands of travellers each year.

That was until a newly-installed highway divider, intended to improve traffic safety, diverted people away.

Rutherford told CTV the town's businesses began to struggle due to the lack of visitors, and in the past year alone they've lost a grocery store, an LCBO, a CIBC bank, and other small shops, too. 

Each letter in the sign stands individually, so residents are hoping to receive only the letters necessary for their town's name. 

Still, Tory told CTV he's willing to talk to them but doesn't think the sign should be broken up. 

"We need more love for Toronto in the province of Ontario, including from Orono, so maybe we can do something where some of the time it's lit up saying Orono and the rest of the time lit up saying Toronto," Tory said. 

But Rutherford said Orono would even be willing to accept the T's if need be — anything to help get the town back on its feet. 

Lead photo by

Dustin William


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Ontario to start discouraging employers from asking for doctors' notes to prove illness

Secret walled-off staircase is all that remains of long-lost Toronto train station

Toronto's most cursed intersection appears to finally finish years-long construction

Ontario temperatures about to spike and it will feel like 30 degrees this weekend

Shocking video shows another brazen robbery at Toronto jewellery store

Ontario is about to change the speed limits on some major highways

Self-replicating predatory 'water fleas' are taking over Ontario lakes

TTC will shut down a large stretch of subway this weekend