The City of Hamilton has removed an advertisement from a private billboard located on the City-owned right-of-way alongside the Lincoln Alexander Parkway.
In a statement issued Friday evening, the Mayor stated her “office was made aware of a transphobic ad on a billboard.”
“While the billboard is not City-owned, it sits on City-leased space, and City advertising rules were not followed. We’ve directed Astral Media to remove it and put stronger safeguards in place.”
Astral Media reviews all advertisements for compliance with the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards before permitting display.
The City of Hamilton’s advertising policy states it will permit advertisements that comply with this Code. However, the City policy also states: “Notwithstanding any prior approval, the City reserves the absolute right to order the immediate removal or, if necessary, remove any advertising on its property at any time.”
This is the first reported incident of a Canadian municipality ordering the removal of an advertisement from a private billboard since the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2009 Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority decision regarding the Charter and advertising in publicly-owned spaces.
The Now-Banned ARPA Canada Advertisement
The Association for Reformed Political Action Canada (ARPA) states it paid $18,000 to Astral Media to display its advertisement for the “Let Kids Be” campaign.
The advertisement displays the text “LetKidsBe.ca” with the word “Kids” styled in larger font with three icons representing people behind the text.
Below the large text is the message “Stop medical transitions for minors.”
The website includes ARPA’s viewpoints regarding transgender issues.
The advertisement is visible in a YouTube short clip posted by ARPA.
City Has Not Released Its Reasons for Decision
The City of Hamilton has not provided its written reasons for removing the advertisement.
As a government body, the City’s removal must comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and can be appealed to Ontario’s Divisional Court.
The City is required to provide intelligible reasons for its decision.
The last time ARPA appealed a City of Hamilton decision to ban an ad, the City lost due to failure to provide reasons.
Most Recent City of Hamilton Ban of an ARPA Ad
In March 2021, ARPA sought to purchase advertising space on the side of Hamilton’s public transit buses to display an ad showing four photographs.
One of the images was an ultrasound image of a late-term fetus in the womb. The City of Hamilton banned the ad, stating it was misleading because the ad implied the fetus was a person because the caption labelled it “her.”
The advertisement was part of a broader campaign across Canada. Hamilton was the only municipality to refuse the advertisement.
ARPA challenged the City’s decision in court. One week before scheduled arguments at Ontario’s Divisional Court, the City of Hamilton conceded it failed to consider the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it rejected the ad.
The Court also ordered the City to pay ARPA $20,000 in legal costs.
ARPA resubmitted its ad purchase to the City, and the City determined it lacked legal grounds to prohibit the ad.
In April 2024, the banner ad appeared on Hamilton’s public transit buses.
Ongoing Legal Challenge of City of Hamilton Advertising Bans
In May 2025, Ontario’s Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal (COA-24-OM-0393) to the Christian Heritage Party regarding a 2024 Divisional Court decision that upheld the City of Hamilton’s ban of a CHP ad.
In late January 2023, the CHP sought to promote its position regarding gender issues and submitted a bus shelter ad purchase to the City.
The ad stated, “Woman: An Adult Female. Bringing Respect for Life and Truth to Canadian Politics. The Christian Heritage Party of Canada” and included an image of a young woman. The ad promoted the CHP’s toll-free number and website.
On July 6, 2023, the City declined to permit the advertisement, stating the ad would jeopardize the City’s ability to provide a safe and welcoming transit system.
The City stated the ad would be harmful to trans and gender-non-conforming people.
In November 2024, a three-judge panel of the Divisional Court upheld the City’s decision, ruling that the City’s reasons were intelligible, that the City cited academic research to support the decision, and the outcome was within the range of reasonable decisions available to the City.
ARPA Likely to Appeal
ARPA is likely to appeal the City of Hamilton’s most recent advertising decision to Ontario’s Divisional Court.
Additional info:
- The Hamilton Trans Health Coalition issued a statement denouncing the advertisement. “It is incredibly unfortunate that the disinformation fueling anti-trans laws in the United States and in other Canadian provinces has come to our city.”
- Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch issued a statement supporting the removal decision. “I hope every elected official will address the rise of hate incidents in our community.”
- Canadian Constitution Foundation lawyer Josh Dehaas posted on X, “There is no chance that this billboard counts as hate speech or discriminatory speech outlined by the Supreme Court in Whatcott and Ward.”
Production Details
v. 1.0.1
Published: August 9, 2025
Last updated: August 9, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
v. 1.0.1 added link to statement by the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition.
v. 1.0.2 added links to statements by Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch, and CCF lawyer Josh Dehaas.
We need people to speak up! Have the conversations, not stick your head in the sand and claim ‘Hate Speech’ whenever what is said is counter to your views.
This is censorship by Hamilton City Council.
I think ARPA is right in what it’s doing, keep up the good work, and God bless you in court
Good to see the city stand up against bigotry.
Since the ad would be harmful to trans and gender-non-conforming people, this should be a win in court if needed as well, as with the bus shelter case.