Cockroach control

Cockroaches are a health problem as much as a nuisance. Health Canada notes that they contaminate food and spread disease through their waste and their contact with sewers, and that people with asthma may react badly to their droppings and body parts (Health Canada, cockroaches). In a household with an asthmatic child, that moves the problem from unpleasant to urgent.

Identify the species, because it changes the plan. The German cockroach is the one most common indoors, about 1.3 to 1.6 cm long, tan to light brown with two dark streaks behind the head. Despite having wings, they are unable to fly. They breed quickly, stay close to food and warmth, and live in kitchens and bathrooms. Larger species that wander in from outside are a different and usually simpler matter.

Step one: inspection and monitoring. Sticky monitor traps placed under the sink, behind the fridge, beside the dishwasher and in bathroom cabinets over several days tell you where the population actually is, which is rarely where you saw one. The technician also looks for droppings resembling ground pepper, egg cases, and the characteristic smell of a heavy population.

Step two: gel baits, not sprays. Modern control is bait-led. Small placements of gel bait go into cracks, hinges, voids and the underside of surfaces where the insects travel, and are eaten and carried back. Health Canada notes that bait stations kill about 48 to 96 hours after the active ingredient is ingested. Aerosol sprays make this worse by contaminating bait placements and scattering the population into neighbouring rooms or units.

Step three: insect growth regulators. An IGR prevents nymphs reaching breeding maturity. It does not kill adults quickly, which is why it is used alongside bait rather than instead of it, and it is what stops the population rebuilding after the visible insects are gone.

Step four: sanitation and moisture. Health Canada's prevention advice is specific: seal food in containers, clean spills immediately, repair leaks to remove water sources, and seal and caulk all cracks, crevices and pipe openings. Regular vacuuming removes food sources, cockroaches and egg cases. Cockroaches can survive a long time on very little, but a kitchen with no crumbs, no standing water and no cardboard is a kitchen that supports a much smaller population.

Step five: harbourage reduction. They hide in the gaps: behind kickboards, inside the motor housing of a fridge, in the void around plumbing under a sink, in corrugated cardboard, in the hinge recess of a cabinet door. Sealing those cracks and removing cardboard storage is slow, unglamorous work and it makes the baiting far more effective.

Step six: repeat visits. Egg cases are resistant to almost everything, and they hatch after treatment. A single visit is not a treatment. Expect a programme of two or three visits spaced two to three weeks apart, with monitors checked each time.

How long it takes. Each visit is one to two hours. A full programme runs four to eight weeks. In a multi-unit building, clearance depends on neighbouring units being treated at the same time, and a single untreated unit can reinfest a whole stack.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges only, and note that this site's price guide does not yet carry a cockroach row, so treat these as planning figures. A programme of two or three visits for an apartment or condo unit commonly runs $300 to $800. A house is often $500 to $1,200. Multi-unit buildings are quoted per unit and per building. What moves the price: the number of visits, the severity, the amount of clutter and cardboard, and whether adjoining units are included. A one-visit quote for an established German cockroach population is not a serious quote.

What makes Ottawa different. German cockroaches are an indoor, building-borne pest rather than a neighbourhood one, which makes this a multi-unit issue in practice. Ottawa's apartment stock in Centretown, Vanier, Sandy Hill, Lowertown and the older Nepean high-rises, combined with high turnover in student and short-term rentals, is where most calls originate. Second-hand appliances and furniture are the classic vector. Winter concentrates the problem, because heated buildings are the only habitat these insects have here. There is also a legal angle: Ottawa's Property Standards By-law requires dwellings to be kept reasonably free of pests and from conditions encouraging infestations, requires cracks, pipe openings and floor drains to be sealed against pests, and requires pest control methods to comply with provincial and federal law (City of Ottawa, Property Standards By-law 2013-416, section 13). Tenants should report in writing and keep a copy.

Who should do the work, and the licence. Ontario requires a pesticide exterminator licence in the structural class for commercial application in a building you do not own, and the business needs a pesticide operator licence, all under the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and O. Reg. 63/09 (Ontario, pesticide licences and permits). Ask which class the technician holds and whether they are working under supervision, which the regulation permits under conditions.

What to ask before you hire. How many visits and over what period. Gel bait, IGR, or spray, and why. Will you place monitors and show me the results. If I am in a multi-unit building, are neighbouring units being treated. What preparation do you need from me, in writing. What is the guarantee and what voids it.