Pest control costs soaring as Saskatchewan deals with mutating cockroaches

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He recalled when pest control was inexpensive, but now clients spend $3,000 to $5,000 for multiple treatments.

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“What we’re running into is, over the last 25 years a number of products that we had registered in Canada have gone away through deregulation,” he said. “We’re in a situation now where we only have two really decent products to use against cockroaches.”

Sherwood said the products have either lost effectiveness or become harder to use over time.

He’s calling on the federal government to speed up approvals and remove barriers to other safe yet more effective products.

“We need (the Pest Management Regulatory Agency) to not take three to five years to do an approval. Most of these products that we’re looking to get have already been given EPA numbers down in the United States. We need the cost of the regulatory process to come down so that companies that are manufacturing these can be interested in bringing them up here,” Sherwood said.

“If you’re giving me five years to make my money back before I have to give my formula to anybody who wants to make it, I’m not interested in coming here.”

He’s urging Ottawa review its patent laws.

Prevention and treatment

Saskatoon-based entomologist Muhammad Zawar said secondhand items carrying cockroaches can infect homes.

He suggested inspecting goods like appliances and furniture outdoors before bringing it inside, noting that exposure to temperatures around -5 C or lower can kill cockroaches at all stages in their life cycle.

“Whatever you are buying, put it in the garbage bag outside on the deck,” Zawar said.

“You can buy glue boards for just two, three dollars from Canadian Tire, Walmart or Home Depot. You can put those in the bag, and any cockroach hiding in there will want to come out and get stuck on that glue board.”

Zawar said anyone dealing with an infestation should locate and expose colonies behind dishwashers, stoves, fridges, cabinets and drywall gaps, and treat them directly, but he added that total prevention is difficult.

Sherwood said people unknowingly carry roaches from place to place, which can lead to more infestations.

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