The city of Vancouver is expected to make a decision regarding the growing problem of rats in the city's downtown core, CTV News has learned.
Last week, Vancouver Coastal Health appealed to the city to address the rodents, saying hundreds of the furry pests had been displaced by recent construction and were roaming free around Granville Street looking for a new home.
Now it appears the city is listening to the health authority's request for the city to make pest control mandatory during demolition orders.
Will Johnston, Director of Licenses and Inspections with the city of Vancouver, said it did a trial pest control at one demolition site several months ago with some success and is now willing to consider making it permanent.
"The building is down and we haven't received any complaints [about rats]," he told CTV News.
"As a result what we've been doing is seeing what policies we can put in place to get rid of rats before a building is demolished."
But there are some concerns to the proposal. In addition to the extra cost that will be put onto land owners, some fear leaving the buildings open longer will put them at extra risk for squatters and fires.
Peter Steinfort of CARE Pest and Wildlife says removal isn't always easy and may cost the contractor more money.
"The entire program is going to take a few days to maybe even a few weeks before we can actually say that the building is rat-free," he said.
"The contractor will be under deadline to get it demolished and this will delay that process."
One demolition company told CTV News they already have to bring in specialized workers to clean asbestos and hazardous materials out of buildings before they get knocked down and that the mandate would just be another small step in a long and complicated process -- so it wouldn't be much extra hassle.
The city is now assessing if it is legally allowed to impose pest control on demolitions and examining what bylaws would have to be changed in order to do so.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Norma Reid
