Bed bugs, bats and other pests found in federal government buildings

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The federal government has solved the housing crisis for a handful of critters, with Public Services and Procurement Canada receiving 256 service calls about the potential presence of pests in buildings across the National Capital Region already this year.

A list from PSPC showed that 26 Crown-owned buildings had some unwelcome visitors between Jan. 1 and March 31.

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Pests found in the buildings included mice, bed bugs, bats, ants, a skunk, raccoons and insects like silverfish, drain flies, beetles and sand ants.

“Unfortunately, pests are a nuisance commonly faced in commercial real estate, which can be concerning to building occupants,” PSPC spokesperson Alexandre Baillairgé-Charbonneau said. “The number of service calls related to pests can fluctuate depending on levels of occupancy in the building, weather, food sources and other factors.”

The most pest-friendly building in the region has been the C.D. Howe Building on Sparks Street. The presence of mice there has been confirmed 14 times this year, with the presence of insects confirmed once. Treatments included installing mouse traps, with PSPC noting in once instance that calls for mice were mainly attributed to a garage repair project that “disrupted” the mice.

Several other government structures in the capital region have also been entered by mice in recent months, including the Lester B. Pearson Building A, the Exhibition Commission Office, the Sir William Logan Building and the Geomatics Canada Building.

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In addition to mice, bats were discovered in offices of the Geomatics Canada Building on Booth Street three times since January; captured by pest control, they were released offsite. PSPC said bat houses had been installed on the building’s roof to “provide an alternative” for the creatures.

Baillairgé-Charbonneau said integrated pest management programs were incorporated into building operations and all reports of pests were taken “very seriously and promptly investigated.”

The spokesperson also said that, when pests were reported, an investigation was initiated and pest control professionals were hired to advise on treatment options.

“Proactive monitoring is often used to determine the effectiveness of the treatment,” Baillairgé-Charbonneau said. “Treatment plans are unique to every building and type of pest, but each report is taken very seriously by PSPC and their service providers, prompting action as quickly as possible.”

Last summer, when bed bugs and other pests were reported in buildings across the capital region, Public Service Alliance of Canada’s regional executive vice-president Alex Silas said their presence was “disappointing,” but not a new problem.

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“Unfortunately, it’s become the norm to hear stories like this in federal public-service workplaces, especially in the NCR,” Silas said then, adding the issue should have been addressed while federal buildings were largely empty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few months, bed bugs have been found in three federal buildings: once at Les Terrasses de la Chaudière Jules Léger South and North buildings in Gatineau; three times at Place du Centre Office Tower in Gatineau; and three times at the Major-General G. R. Pearkes Building, which houses the Department of National Defence headquarters in downtown Ottawa.

A special visitor made its way to Sir Leonard Tilley building, Annex E, on Heron Road on March 3, when the presence of a skunk was reported. That animal was caught with a cage and relocated.

Later in March, five raccoons were captured and relocated from other sections of the Tilley building.

In addition, it’s possible a squirrel may still be on the loose in one building.

In February, there was a report of a squirrel in R.H. Coats Building (Building 1) on Tunney’s Pasture Driveway. PSPC said the animal was “not found upon inspection and was then never seen since.”

While there were a few instances of cockroaches being reported in buildings across the region, there was only one case where one of those bugs was found.

PSPC said that, in January, no bugs or cockroaches were found after an inspection of the Main Statistics Building on Tunney’s Pasture Driveway, although a tenant had “a live cockroach in a zip-lock bag.”

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