Bedbugs | Exterminators busy in Montreal

Bedbugs are spreading terror in France. They bite in public transport, schools, hospitals, cinemas, restaurants… In Montreal, exterminators also say they are observing an increase in infestations this fall, while the City is rather reporting a drop in cases.

At Exterminateurs Associés, the phone never stops ringing. Technicians carry out at least one bedbug treatment in Montreal apartments every day, says Michel Grenier, the company’s owner. His team also decontaminated a taxi, a restaurant and a school bus in recent weeks.

“The best example I can give you is at the Régie du logement. A tenant was sitting in the waiting room and he had two tacks on his coat. This person had probably taken the bus and the metro. The bedbugs had several opportunities to take off their clothes to hide in public places,” says the exterminator.

According to Mr. Grenier, the housing crisis has a direct impact on the number of infestations. Tenants who pay affordable rent are afraid to talk to their landlord if they have a bedbug problem, he explains.

However, the extermination of pests (such as bedbugs, mice, cockroaches, etc.) is the responsibility of the owners.

“There are tenants who pay $700 or $800 for a 4 ½ and who don’t want to talk about it. They are afraid of being thrown out,” he explains. “But there are also owners who don’t want to take responsibility,” he adds.

Sean Jourdain, owner of Royale Extermination, also speaks of “never before seen” this fall. “I don’t know what’s going on!” I could show you my calendar. Normally, bedbugs reproduce less when the cold arrives. However, we have as much work as in the summer, even more,” explains the exterminator who specializes only in the fight against bedbugs. The latter also took part in a world congress on pest control which was held in Honolulu, earlier in October, to find out the best ways to combat the nocturnal creature.

Mr. Jourdain suspects that the epidemic in France has an impact in Quebec. France is a favorite destination for Quebec travelers and Quebec also attracts French tourists, he says.

France has in fact been grappling with an “infestation”, an “epidemic”, a “plague” of bedbugs since the start of the school year in September, according to national media.

There is even talk of “psychosis”, less than a year before the Olympic Games are held in Paris. On social networks, desperate Internet users publish hundreds of images of bites or insects resembling bedbugs.

Bedbugs have been spotted in public transport, hotels and cinemas. Two schools were temporarily closed so that the premises could be decontaminated, according to Agence France-Presse. A hospital emergency room was also moved to allow the eradication of blood-sucking insects.

Decrease in Montreal

In Montreal, statistics show a drop in the number of bedbugs. The City has recorded 1,473 infestations since the start of the year, according to declarations completed by pest managers. In comparison, there were 2,547 declarations in 2022, 1,684 in 2021 and 1,537 in 2020. Before 2019, the City always had at least 2,500 infestations per year. However, these figures are not necessarily accurate, believe Michel Grenier and Sean Jourdain. Even though declarations are mandatory, many exterminators do not complete them, they say.

To 311, the number of calls for the City to come to a citizen’s home for bedbugs is also decreasing. This is because the City can require that an owner hire a pest management company. It can also issue tickets of $1,000 to individuals or $2,000 to businesses that do not comply with municipal regulations.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is not seeing an increase in the number of infestations in its buses or metro cars, either. Since 1^er September, the organization received three complaints about bedbugs, but in all three cases, the users had not seen the insects, underlines Amélie Régis, corporate advisor for the STM.

“When an employee reports or suspects the presence of bedbugs, the bus or metro car concerned is immediately quarantined. An extermination intervention is then carried out. The vehicle is put back into service only when the intervention is completed and conclusive,” explains M.^me Regis.