“VON stands for the Victorian Order of Nurses, a Canadian non-profit organization providing home and community care services.”
Being established in 1897, the VON has been dedicated to delivering home nursing, health education, and various support programs to Canadians across the country.
Everyday nurses and support staff like CCAs hit the road providing critical care to many of our loved ones in our communities across Nova Scotia.
“Civic signs significantly contribute to enhancing the visibility of our clients and the safety of our staff.” – VON Annapolis Valley.
While providing care from home, having civic signs helps provide ease when VON staff have to navigate clients. This ensures they can be easily located.
Working from their vehicles and having a different list of clients regularly, staff visit different locations constantly. Having your or your loved one’s civic sign properly displayed plays a major role in locating and providing care daily.
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been working diligently to highlight the importance of civic signs and why they play a major role in our communities.
The Annapolis Valley VON has also been engaged in the past year, ensuring their clients who need civic signs get them. With the generous help of the Kingston & District Lions Club, they have been installing and delivering signs when needed.
Not only do emergency services rely heavily on such signs, but also other important services such as VON.
In Nova Scotia, it is the responsibility of the property owner to obtain and display their civic address, to ensure they can be easily located.
It’s highly recommended to have a blue and white reflective sign, to ensure your address can be located during the day and night.
Having your sign at the end of the driveway, elevated and facing all directions is crucial for first responders and a variety of other services so they can easily identify your property.
Since December, I have been engaged with educating and highlighting the importance of having signs displayed in our local communities.
I’ve been working with numerous agencies along with the Coldbrook & District Lions Club to ensure education and reminders are at the forefront of this project.
Most recently, the Municipality of The County of Kings brought my initiative up in their meeting minutes following a letter which was sent. This will be discussed further at their next meeting. The Town of Wolfville is also in the process of delivering reminders to the residents of Wolfville.
⚠️ Please Note: Civic addresses are used each and every day for emergencies, carrier companies, delivery companies, nurses etc.
In the communities I cover and most of Nova Scotia, it is your responsibility to ensure you have a sign displayed easily, appropriately and maintained, including properties that are under construction.
Most municipalities and towns have bylaws set in place for civic signs, which can be viewed on their websites.
If you are looking for a list of civic sign suppliers, you can reach out to your town or municipality. There is a list of resources on their websites.
For additional information, such as assigning numbers or bylaws, reach out to your municipality or town who is responsible for assigning such numbers.
Special thanks to VON for taking the time to be part of this important initiative!
Adrian J.
