Rats, beware: Toronto outlines new plan to attack its growing rodent problem

Yahoo

3 days ago

Toronto could soon see a plan to address the growing number of rats in the city as major construction projects and climate change contribute to its pest problem.
Late last month, Toronto's city manager Paul Johnson outlined a rat response plan that would focus on environmental changes to minimize the conditions for rats to thrive in. Johnson will present the plan the economic and community development committee at its next meeting on July 9.
Coun. Alejandra Bravo, who was one of the councillors to ask the city to create the strategy, says she's been hearing from families who live near construction sites and have been impacted by the rodents.
"We got a call from a mother who lives in an apartment close to a construction area. Her daughter was awoken in the middle of the night as a rat jumped onto her bed in her bedroom," Bravo said at a news conference Wednesday.
Can you imagine what that does to a family?"
Last year, the city's infrastructure committee directed the city manager and medical officer of health to report back with a rat response plan by this summer.
If approved, the plan will include several actions, such as a response coordination team and a response enforcement table to lead work within the public service through inspection and enforcement blitzes.
WATCH | How climate change is contributing to Toronto's growing rat population:
As part of the new plan the city says it will need an associate director and an project coordinator starting in 2026, at a price tag of $351,000. It says an additional $150,000 will be required annually to support public communication and staff training related to rat management.
In January, a study from a group of global rodent and public health scientists found growing rat populations are correlated with rising temperatures driven by global warming.
Last summer, councillors asked Johnson to consult with other North American cities on their approach to rat reduction.
Bravo said Wednesday the new plan would bring Toronto in line with other major North American municipalities that have a coordinated approach to managing rats, like New York City and Chicago.
She says some of the complaints she's received from businesses and tenants stress that the cost of getting rid of the rats is also a problem.
"It's really expensive to get rid of rats in a business or in a home. Not everybody has access to that, but the toll on people, the mental health toll, the fear, is all too real," said Bravo.
This isn't the first time city council has tried to tackle Toronto's rat problem.
In 2018, former councillor Ana Bailão spearheaded a push for staff to create a rat reduction plan. That was adopted by council, but work on the report was scuttled by resource constraints during the pandemic.