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A survey done by pest control company Orkin ranks Canada's cities on how bad their bed bug infestation is.
Unsurprisingly, Canada's most populous city ranks first. But I was seriously surprised with the runner-ups, as well as Montreal's place on the list.
READ ALSO: A Quebec Man Shot A Dog For Shitting On His Lawn And Only Has To Pay A $3000 Fine
TL;DR The numbers are in and these are the 25 worst cities in Canada when it comes to bed bugs infestation. Scroll down to see the list and map from Orkin Canada.
Considering Montreal's current issue with bed bugs at the BAnQ (the Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Québec), I honestly thought Montreal would be much higher on this list.
Add onto that the fact that 40% of Montreal's population rents rather than owns their homes and you'll understand why I would have been a lot less surprised to see Montreal in the top five... not that I'm complaining.
I'm most surprised with St. John's making it on the list as it is much less populous than the other cities in the top 10.
Does your city escape the list?
Toronto, Ontario
Winnipeg, Manitoba
St. John's, Newfoundland
Vancouver, British Columbia
Halifax, Nove Scotia
Ottawa, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Sudbury, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Scarborough, Ontario
Edmonton, Alberta
London, Ontario
North York, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario
Moncton, New Brunswick
Calgary, Alberta
Mississauga, Ontario
Montreal, Quebec
Etobicoke, Ontario
Burnaby, British Columbia
Peterborough, Ontario
Regina, Saskatchewan
North Bay, Ontario
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario
Good night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.
We're number 2! Winnipeg is #2 behind Toronto for bed bugs.
Fantastic. pic.twitter.com/qH5hlCexfi
Clearly, Ontario, being the biggest province population-wise, runs the highest risk of bed bug infestation.
Other large cities and travel-hubs are similarly impacted.
Orkin bases the data on the number of bed bug treatments they performed between January 1 and December 31, 2018.
The numbers include commercial and residential treatments, so hotels, as well as apartments and homes, are included.
Having been unlucky enough to have had bedbugs when I was a student living in Halifax (sup #5!), I know first hand the trauma of dealing with these seemingly unbeatable pests.
I can not recommend enough the services of Brian Barton and the Bed Bug Detectives.
Brian has trained his dogs to smell the pheromones of bedbugs. Using his pheromone-smelling pooches, Barton can identify if there are bed bugs in your furniture, apartment, or home.
Eradicating bed bugs is extremely difficult, due to their quick chemical resistance and short gestational period.
Since extermination can be so difficult, here are things the Bed Bug Detectives suggest to avoid or identify an infestation.
- When you move into a new apartment or arrive at a hotel for a stay, check the area for signs of bed bugs.
- Signs of an infestation include:
- Rusty/reddish stains on bed sheets or mattress
- Dark spots on fabric or wood
- Eggs, eggshells, yellowish skins shed by bed bugs
- Check the bedside table, baseboards, and any books in the vicinity.
- "Bed" bug is kind of a misnomer because while they bite in bed, they likely won't hide there. The pests like small, dark, often wooden places.
- Bed bug bites are small, red, sometimes itchy and often appear in a line or cluster.
- Bed bugs are the width of a credit card and like to fit themselves into spaces just that size — so consider the seams of your mattress, any cushions in the vicinity, under loose wallpaper, or other wall hangings.
Bed bugs happily travel up to 20 feet from where they like to hide to where you sleep — so consider that as the "vicinity" to check when checking into a hotel room or visiting a new apartment.
Bed bugs can live in temperatures as low as 7°C but will die at 45°C. For this reason, if you feel you've come into contact with bed bugs at a house party or hostel, stripping down and tossing all your clothes into the dryer on high heat for an hour and those suckers will be dead for sure.
