Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy said a recent graffiti blitz conducted in the spring by the town’s summer students, identified 367 locations with graffiti.
“Of these, 87 were on town infrastructure and the remainder were on third party infrastructure such as utility boxes or regional equipment. This is a slight increase from the 2024 blitz, which identified about 330 locations,” Roy said in her monthly newsletter.
Commonly targeted areas include utility infrastructure, streetlight and hydro poles, Canada Post boxes, buildings, road signs, bridges (both underneath and on top), and directly on roads and sidewalks.
Graffiti on infrastructure owned by rail lines has proven especially difficult to address, said Mayor Roy.
She said the town’s Graffiti Task Force works closely with the road patrol team to respond promptly to graffiti complaints on Town of Whitby infrastructure.
Graffiti found on infrastructure owned by third parties is documented during the annual blitz and forwarded to the appropriate owner for action — however, complaints from the public involving third-party infrastructure are sent immediately to the responsible owner for follow-up.
Offensive Graffiti
The mayor said if graffiti is derogatory, offensive, or hate motivated, staff respond as soon as possible to remove it.
As a prevention measure, the town applies anti-graffiti coatings to certain infrastructure, which make graffiti more difficult to apply and easier to remove.
Rapid removal is also a key deterrent, because graffiti that is removed quickly is less likely to reappear in the same location.
For this reason, business and property owners are encouraged to remove or cover graffiti as soon as possible.
Residents can report graffiti through the “Report an Issue” section of the town’s website.