Pest Control in Maple Ridge, BC

Start at the back fence. The City’s rodent FAQ advises a 1-metre clear buffer between your fence and the greenbelt, because rats hide in dense vegetation, and says not to dump lawn clippings, soil or branches there. It also says to pick up fallen fruit, bring in pet food and leave table scraps out of your compost, especially near natural areas.

If that isn’t enough, the same FAQ says you may need a licensed pest control company. Our rodent program is three visits and seals gaps up to the size of a toonie; larger openings go to exclusion work.

Not the strongest kind. Since January 21, 2023, B.C. has restricted second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to authorized essential services, so they’re no longer allowed in or around ordinary homes, offices, parks, schools or shops. Traps and other rodenticides are still allowed.

The Province says traps are the best way to get rid of rats or mice, and advises sealing openings bigger than 6 mm. The City’s FAQ says to avoid poisons outdoors, because they can harm pets and wildlife. A licensed company’s bait must go in closed, fastened containers or where people and pets can’t reach it.

The City doesn’t collect household garbage, so you choose your own service, but Bylaw 7437 still applies. Bins go out between 5:00 am and 7:00 am on collection day and come in by 7:00 pm. Containers must be closed and out of wildlife’s reach, and a locking wildlife-resistant container is required in areas of high conflict, which the bylaw doesn’t name. You also have to pick fruit as it ripens and remove what falls.

The City says daily fines range from $100 to $500. We don’t handle bears: report one that may put people at risk to the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.

Yes, through wildlife control. At a house, our published price is two traps and two visits over a week for $350 + GST, and relocating an animal is $125 + GST; confirm both for your Maple Ridge address. We can’t guarantee catching the animal. Afterward, exclusion work seals the way in.

B.C.’s rules limit what anyone can do with a trapped raccoon or skunk: 24 hours at most, no more than 10 km, and release on Crown land or your own private land. WildSafeBC says a high percentage of raccoons can carry a roundworm that’s potentially dangerous to people, so take care with their droppings. For squirrels in a garden, see our guide to keeping them out.

Yes. Cockroach treatment starts with gel baiting, dusting and monitoring at $250–$350 + GST, which the office can confirm for your Maple Ridge address, and may need a second treatment 15 to 21 days later. Health Canada says German cockroaches are particularly fond of restaurants, food plants, hotel rooms and nursing homes. Our guide covers what attracts cockroaches, and the preparation sheet lists what to do before a treatment.

It depends on the pest and the property. Phantom publishes its prices, all + GST, and the office can confirm them for a Maple Ridge address. Our three-visit rodent program costs $495–$650 at a house and $395–$495 at a condo, apartment or townhouse. Exterior bait stations start at a $150 minimum setup, then $78.75–$95 per visit, with 30 days’ notice to cancel. Wasp nest treatment is $250 + GST for the first nest and $50 more for each additional one.

For bed bugs, a K9 detection of one unit costs $195–$275, then treatment runs $525–$695 at a condo, apartment or townhouse and $725–$1,595 at a house. Estimates by phone cost nothing, and neither do commercial site inspections.

No. Pesticide Use Control Bylaw 6413-2006 covers cosmetic use, meaning non-essential or aesthetic use. It doesn’t apply to pesticides used onto or inside buildings, where there’s a danger to human or animal health, or to rodenticides. Provincial rules still apply: in a building with four or more units, using a pesticide in suites or shared areas takes a licence, unless the occupier is treating only their own suite, with something other than a second-generation anticoagulant rat poison.

Outdoors, a cosmetic application of a product the bylaw doesn’t exempt needs a permit, with signs posted 24 hours before and after. It can’t go within 30 metres of a stream or wetland, or within 2 metres of a property line without the neighbour’s written permission.

It may be European chafer. The City says crows, skunks or raccoons digging up a lawn can point to an infestation, with the worst damage from October to March, when there’s no effective control. Its chafer FAQ says pesticides aren’t allowed for chafer here, with no exceptions. Its route is nematodes in late July, pre-ordered by mid-May, and proof of purchase gets you a free lawn-watering permit. We also treat chafer beetles; ask the office what’s possible on your lawn. Raccoons and skunks are a separate job.

The City works with Metro Vancouver and its neighbours on a nuisance mosquito program aimed at larvae, and most of the control work is along the Lower Fraser’s foreshore, seepage sites and saltmarsh. That report says the Kanaka Creek area continues to present challenges. To report a problem, call the Mosquito Hotline at 604-432-6228.

Around your own home, the City advises removing warm, stagnant water from plant holders, old tires and bird baths, and Bylaw 7437 also covers standing water that gives mosquitoes breeding conditions. The City says local work will help but won’t resolve it all, since mosquitoes travel kilometres. For your own property, see mosquito control.

For insects, usually the landlord. The Province says landlords are generally responsible for infestations such as bed bugs, and that municipal standards of maintenance bylaws decide who handles rodents and other pests. Maple Ridge’s Bylaw 6550 requires openings in exterior walls to be protected against rodents, insects or vermin, but sets no general duty to treat them, and Bylaw 7437’s duty covers owners and occupiers alike. So rats in a rental aren’t settled by one line.

Fraser Health says landlords can’t legally apply pesticides themselves in rental suites, and must hire a licensed operator. A bed bug job with us starts with a K9 detection, which Phantom requires before treatment.