The battle for eyes and ears heats up in Toronto's mayoral byelection

It's a literal sign of things to come.

Toronto's mayoral byelection shifted into a new phase this week as campaign lawn signs started to pop up around the city.

By law, campaign teams weren't allowed to put them up until June 1. But their presence gives us new insight into the signals candidates are trying to send to voters and their own competitors.

There were also some unusual settings for campaign speeches and lots more policy was announced.

Here's a glimpse of where things stand after the ninth week of the campaign.

You've probably seen them in your neighbourhood.

Campaign teams have begun to fan out across the city and hammer with lawn signs to boost the profile of their candidates. And experts say they're part of the ratcheted up efforts we'll see from candidates to make an impression on voters in the coming weeks.

Andrew Tumilty, a senior consultant for Enterprise Canada and war room director for former mayor John Tory, said the signs are key.

"There will be people all across the city giving raccoons a run for their money as they as they scurry through the streets in the dark to get signs installed," he said.

The sign war itself isn't really a great read on who is winning or losing the race, but it it tells you a lot about how much money a campaign has raised and how strong their team or organization is, he said.

"It's a show of force and it's a show of organization really more than anything else," Tumilty said.

In a byelection with some 102 candidates, the margin to win could be small. So signs are another way to break through to voters who are just tuning into a race that's been going on officially for a few months, Tumilty added.

"The 'Get out the vote' folks, you know, it's their time to shine, identify votes and put together a plan for how to get them out to the polls," he said.

With advance polling beginning June 8, the runway for candidates to make an impression on the first crop of voters is running out.