For businesses · 6 min read · Updated November 2026

Advertising for a Small Business in Toronto: What the Rate Cards Say

Toronto transit ads start at $600 per 4 weeks before production; neighbourhood mail is 18.7 cents a piece. Here is what each local channel costs and where car ads fit.

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A Toronto small business can reach its neighbours for a few hundred dollars a month, but the cheapest formats are not all the same kind of reach. On the published rate cards we checked in 2026, a TTC bus tail or king-size ad starts at $600 per four weeks before production, a Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail piece costs 18.7 cents to deliver, and a Lunar plan starts at $500 a month. This guide lays out what each one is, what it costs on paper, and which job it suits. Prices below are the sellers' own, in Canadian dollars, and they change: check the source before you budget.

TTC bus and shelter advertising

Pattison Outdoor sells advertising on the TTC. Its 2026 TTC product media kit (January 2026), as published on the Toronto BIA site, lists a king-size bus ad at $600 net per four weeks plus production. A king plus a headliner is $825 per four weeks plus $605 production, and a Superbus wrap is $7,000 with an eight-week minimum. Those are net rates per four weeks; ask Pattison for the production quote on your own artwork.

What it is good for: a message that follows a route and is seen by riders and everyone beside the bus. What to watch: the route decides your audience, not your neighbourhood, and the production charge on top of the monthly price matters more for a small first buy.

Neighbourhood mail

Canada Post's Neighbourhood Mail price sheet (effective March 23, 2026) lists 18.7 cents a piece for a standard item up to 50 g and 20.7 cents for an oversize one, rising to 21.7 and 23.9 cents between 50 and 100 g. Printing and design are on top of that. A 5,000-piece drop to a few postal walks therefore costs on the order of $935 in postage alone at the standard rate, before print.

What it is good for: a single offer to every door in named postal routes, such as a grand opening or a seasonal promotion. What to watch: it lands once, and the pile on the mat competes with every other flyer.

A sticker on a neighbour's car

Lunar is the car-based option, and Toronto is one of the cities across the US and Canada where it is live. A business chooses target areas on a map, and Lunar's team offers the slot to drivers who live and drive around them. Each driver carries a small circle sticker with your design on a door. There are two plans: Half Moon at $500 a month for 2 cars and Full Moon at $1,500 a month for 7 cars, billed monthly on a 3- or 6-month term. There is no sticker fee and no setup fee. Apart from the $50 deposit, nothing is charged until your first sticker is on a driver's car, and a slot that has no car carrying it is not billed.

Reach is an estimate, not a count: Lunar models 70,000 impressions per car per day, the top of the industry range for a wrapped vehicle, which is about 4,200,000 a month on Half Moon, or a CPM of $0.12. Treat it as an industry estimate, the same kind of figure transit and billboard sellers quote. For how it compares with other formats, see what $500 a month buys in local advertising.

What it is good for: steady, low-cost presence in the streets where your customers already live, week after week. What to watch: matching follows who is available, so there is no promised start date, and a sticker is a reminder of your name, not a coupon. A QR code on each sticker can send people to your website, phone or email, and Lunar counts scans so you can see whether anyone looked.

How the three compare

Which one first?

If you have one event to announce, mail is the direct tool. If you need to be a known name in your part of the city, something that is out every day does more than a single drop. Many small businesses use both: a mailer for the launch, a steady presence for the months after. Whichever you choose, give each its own way to be counted, such as a distinct phone number, a QR code or an offer word, so you can see what worked; how to tell if local advertising is working covers that.

Sources: Pattison Out-of-Home TTC product media kit, January 2026; Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail price sheet effective March 23, 2026. Lunar plan details are on the pricing page.