Bed bugs in Ottawa apartments: who is responsible, what treatment involves, and how to prepare
Updated
What Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act says about bed bugs in a rental, who is allowed to apply the treatment, how heat and chemical treatments differ, and how to get your unit ready.
Who is responsible in a rental
Section 20(1) of Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act makes the landlord responsible for keeping a residential complex, including the units, in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and for complying with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. The Landlord and Tenant Board's guideline on maintenance lists an infestation of rodents or vermin as an example of a condition that can make a unit unfit to live in.
Tenants have duties too. The Board's guide to the Act says a tenant must keep the unit to ordinary cleanliness. A tenant also has to let the landlord in for treatment when proper notice is given. That is 24 hours' written notice, stating the reason and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Tell your landlord in writing as soon as you see signs, and keep a copy. If the landlord does not act, a tenant can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board about maintenance using Form T6. A tenant who blocks access to the unit can weaken their own case.
Who is allowed to treat
Under Ontario's pesticide rules, anyone who applies pesticides commercially on property they or their employer do not own needs an exterminator licence, unless exempt. A business that offers pest control needs an operator licence as well. For work in and around buildings, the licence class is structural.
The Canadian Environmental Law Association points out that it is illegal under the Pesticides Act for a landlord to apply pesticides in a tenant's home. The treatment should be done by a licensed company. It is fair to ask to see both licences.
Homeowners can use domestic-class (Class D) products on their own property without a licence. In an apartment with bed bugs, those products rarely reach the bugs hidden in walls and furniture, and Health Canada strongly recommends hiring a licensed professional.
Heat or chemical treatment
Heat works because bed bugs cannot survive high temperatures. Health Canada says bed bugs die at 50°C. A heat treatment raises the whole unit, including furniture and wall edges, above that temperature and holds it there long enough to reach the bugs in hiding. It usually takes one long visit.
Chemical treatment uses products registered for bed bugs, applied to cracks, seams, bed frames and baseboards. It normally takes 2 or 3 visits, spaced out, to catch bugs that hatch after the first round.
Many jobs combine the two. In an apartment building, neighbouring units should be inspected too, since bed bugs move through walls and hallways. Health Canada is clear that treatment only works when physical control and prevention are used together.
Indicative 2026 ranges from the price guide on this site, before HST: chemical treatment of a small unit over 2 or 3 visits runs $300 to $900. Heat treatment runs $1,000 to $3,000 or more.
How to prepare the unit
Your pest control company will give you a list. Follow it closely. A poorly prepared unit is a common reason a treatment has to be repeated. Health Canada's guidance on preparation includes these steps:
Empty dressers, night tables and storage furniture so they can be inspected. Bag your belongings and keep them sealed. Wash bedding, mattress pads, curtains and clothing in hot water and dry them on the hottest setting. Put small items that cannot be washed, and dry-clean-only items, in a hot dryer for 30 minutes or more. Move furniture away from the walls.
Vacuum daily, with a stiff brush attachment on mattress seams, and seal the vacuum contents in a bag before throwing it out. Do not move furniture or bags into another unit, a storage locker or a friend's place. That is how bed bugs spread.
After treatment
Do not expect results overnight. Some bites can continue for a short time while the treatment works. Keep the bed pulled away from the wall and follow the company's schedule for return visits.
Waiting them out does not work. Health Canada says bed bugs can live from several weeks up to a year and a half without feeding. Freezing is not reliable either. Health Canada says it takes 4 days of steady cold at -19°C and may still not kill all of them, so putting a mattress on an Ottawa balcony in January is not a treatment.
Report any new signs to your landlord in writing, and keep records of every visit.