Rats! How Ontario failed where Alberta succeeded

Five years ago, the City of Toronto warned about an explosive growth in its rat population and planned to study it. Now, both Toronto and Ottawa are desperate for a plan to tackle their highly visible rodent problems. But nothing’s worked yet.

Sheila Reid is a reporter who wrote about rats for The Canadian Press.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think much has really moved in terms of a coordinated city-wide rat prevention program,” says Reid.

Meanwhile, Alberta has been “rat-free” for decades, and the woman in charge of keeping the province that way has some thoughts about more experimental methods that might be considered.

So, how does Alberta do it? Why can’t Ontario cities emulate their methods? And why does it seem like rats are everywhere in (most) big cities right now?

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