Toronto has more rats than any other city in the country, according to a report released by Orkin Canada Wednesday.
Toronto (1) and Mississauga (5) both made the top five, while Toronto neighbourhoods Scarborough (11), North York (22) and Etobicoke (24) were also named individually.
Brampton (18) and Oshawa (23) were the other two cities in the Greater Toronto Area to make the list.
A spokesperson for the City of Toronto says they don’t have an estimate of how many rats there are in the city but they conceded that Toronto Public Health responds to hundreds of rodent-related complaints each year.
“On average, under the DineSafe program, Toronto Public Health (TPH) responds to about 400 rodent complaints a year, of which approximately 80 per cent concern mice and the balance concern rats. Over the past five years, TPH has responded to 1,906 rodent complaints mostly linked to food premises,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said that “noise and vibration from construction projects can also upset rodent habitats and displace populations.”
Orkin’s report says that as Canadian cities begin to operate as they did pre-pandemic, food sources have become more available in urban areas, encouraging growth of the rodent population.
And it isn’t expected to go down anytime soon.
"With more available food, there will be exponential population growth. Food availability favours population growth since there will be less competition for food, which also will result in high reproductive potential, high survival and healthy thriving populations," said Alice Sinia, Ph.D. entomologist with Orkin Canada in a press release.
The report said that during the pandemic lockdowns, rodents became bolder and began migrating to residential neighbourhoods as food was scarce in cities’ downtowns.
Orkin says that this led to aggressive behaviour amongst rodents “such as cannibalism, ‘street fights’ and territorialism.”
The report said that these behaviours are likely to become less common, however the expected population growth will lead to more rodent activity in all areas; commercial and domestic.
The top 10 rattiest cities in Canada in 2022 are:
1. Toronto
2. Vancouver
3. Burnaby
4. Kelowna
5. Mississauga
6. Calgary (mice only)
7. Victoria
8. Richmond
9. Edmonton (mice only)
10. St. John's
Although Alberta’s two major cities, Edmonton and Calgary, made the top 10, their rodent population doesn’t include rats, because of the province’s renowned rat-control program that’s been in place since the 1950s.
“Alberta’s rat-free status means there is no resident population of rats and they are not allowed to establish themselves. It does not mean we never get rats. Small infestations occasionally occur, but when found, the rats are isolated and eradicated through proven control methods,” Alberta’s official website says.
The report warns that as cooler weather approaches here in Ontario, rodents will go looking for warmth and shelter.
Here are some tips provided by Orkin Canada on how you can protect your home:
• Seal cracks or holes in your foundation, in walls, and in expansion joints
• Install weather stripping around windows and doors
• Screen open vents and repair worn out window screens
• Where possible, keep shrubbery at least a metre away from exterior walls of your home
• Remove moisture sources such as clogged gutters
• Practice proper garbage storage, be diligent in keeping garbage and old food away from your house, use tight-fitting lid containers and do not overflow
• Do not store objects near exterior walls, instead store them distanced away from the wall and about 18 inches off the ground
• Rodent proof shed if present. Sheds can be major breeding and harbourage spots during the winter
City rankings are based on the number of commercial and residential rodent (rats and mice) treatments that Orkin Canada carried out from August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022.
