How Serious is Ontario's Bed Bug Problem?

Posted on 2019-03-11

Don’t kid yourself, Ontario has a very serious bed bug problem right now—particularly Southern Ontario.

You may have read that Toronto is the bed bug capital of Canada. But you may not know that Ontario cities made up 6 of the top 10:

1. Toronto
2. Winnipeg
3. St. Johns
4. Vancouver
5. Halifax
6. Ottawa
7. Hamilton
8. Sudbury
9. Windsor
10. Scarborough

Last year, Ontario only made up 4 of the top 10.

What About the Rest of Southern Ontario?

Sure, highly populated GTA-area cities like Scarborough, Toronto and Hamilton have a problem. What about the rest of the area. 

A little bit closer to home:

• In Barrie, several hotels like the Knights Inn have been called out for having huge bed bug problems.
• The Collingwood area is known for its lavish resorts. But not far from the Westin and Blue Mountain Resort, The Comfort Inn has a number of complaints.
• The Simcoe Health Unit has called bed bugs “A reemerging problem.”

It’s very much an epidemic and not going away soon.

Why is This Such a Big Issue?

Bed bugs are a problem everywhere because they’re very resilient and stubborn, yet can travel with you anywhere. People can easily pick them up while staying in a hotel and unknowingly bring them home on their clothes or luggage.

The biggest challenge that’s causing the spread of bed bugs is probably misinformation. People really still don’t know what these pests are all about, until they’ve had to throw out a mattress and fumigate their home.

People will still do things like grabbing a discarded sofa off the sidewalk, without realizing their making bed bugs a problem for their entire apartment building.

People will buy things off of Kijiji without a second thought… Until they now have to think about every fabric and surface in their home. There are also horror stories of people getting bed bugs from something they bought on eBay.

They’re Getting Tougher to Kill

Not helping matters is the fact that Purdue University researcher recently reported that bed bugs are starting to display resistance to several insecticides, like:

• Deltamethrin
• Bifenthrin  
• Chlorfenapyr

You can buy over the counter bed bug killers at hardware stores, but believe us when we tell you that these aren’t effective. You’re much better off calling in the professionals to do the job thoroughly.

What Should I Do if I have a Bed Bug Problem

Don’t delay! The sooner you call an exterminator, the more you can minimize the damage.

Call the areas most trusted exterminators, serving areas such as Collingwood and the Blue Mountains, Owen Sound, Creemore, Alliston, Barrie, and Orangeville.

You can reach us by calling 705-888-0029 or clicking here.