Vancouver Signage Shop brokers projects between Metro Vancouver businesses and trusted sign shops for neon and LED faux-neon signs. Tell us about your project once and get matched with local sign shops for free, no-obligation quotes.
Few cities wear neon like Vancouver does. At its peak the city glowed with thousands of neon signs, and Granville Street was famous for them, a heritage the Museum of Vancouver still celebrates with its neon collection. That look never really left, and today bars, cafes, barbershops, and lifestyle brands across the city want that warm glow back. Neon signs in Vancouver come in two forms now, and choosing between them is the first real decision. Vancouver Signage Shop is a broker, not a fabricator, so we match your project with vetted local shops that make both, at no cost to you and with no markup added to their quote.
Traditional neon is hand bent glass tubing filled with gas that glows when charged. It has a depth and a slight flicker that many designers still prefer, and skilled benders in the Lower Mainland keep the craft alive. LED faux-neon uses flexible LED tube mounted on a cut backing to imitate that look. Faux-neon runs cooler, uses far less power, is lighter and tougher for shipping and for interior walls, and is usually cheaper to run. Real glass wins on authenticity and warmth. Your use case decides which fits.
Indoor feature signs behind a bar or on a brick wall are the most common request, and these are where LED faux-neon shines because it is safe to touch and easy to mount. Exterior neon storefront signs make a stronger heritage statement but bring the building sign rules into play. Custom shapes, logos, and script wording are all doable in either medium.
An indoor faux-neon piece plugged into a wall is simple. But any neon or illuminated sign mounted on the outside of your building is a lit exterior sign, which almost always needs a permit under the City of Vancouver Sign By-law plus a separate electrical permit under the City Electrical By-law. That approval commonly takes two to six weeks, so plan ahead. The illuminated and lightbox signs page covers other lit options, and the Vancouver sign permit guide walks through the process.
It depends on size, whether it is real glass or LED faux-neon, the complexity of the shape, and whether it is indoor or a permitted exterior sign. Typical published ranges start in the low hundreds of Canadian dollars for a small faux-neon word and climb into the thousands for large custom glass. We add nothing to that number. Send us your wording and size and we will match you for a real quote.
For most interior bar and cafe pieces LED faux-neon is the practical pick because it runs cool, sips power, and survives handling. Choose real glass when authenticity is the whole point.
Not for an interior piece plugged into a wall. An exterior illuminated neon sign does need a City of Vancouver sign permit and a separate electrical permit.
Yes. The vetted shops we connect you with build custom neon and faux-neon to your logo, script, and colours.
Yes, across Metro Vancouver, including Burnaby and the wider region. Start at the custom business signs hub if you are weighing neon against a channel letter or LED digital option.
Get matched with a vetted Vancouver sign shop for your neon or faux-neon sign and compare free quotes.
Front-lit, back-lit and halo illuminated letters for high-impact storefront ID.
Retail and restaurant fascia signage that meets the Vancouver Sign By-law.
Tall freestanding signs for roadside and multi-tenant visibility.
Ground-level entrance signs for strata, office parks and retail centres.
We broker signage projects to local sign shops right across Metro Vancouver. Pick your city to see the services available in your area.
Tell us about your project and we’ll match you with vetted local sign shops for free, no-obligation quotes.
