Rodent callout drivers: three compounding forces
Three forces compound the 18% rodent increase in our 2025–2026 dataset. First, the 2023–2024 construction churn across the West End, Mount Pleasant, central Burnaby, and Brentwood disturbed established Norway rat burrow systems. When a colony's burrow network is excavated, the colony doesn't disappear — it disperses radially into adjacent buildings and lots, recolonises within weeks, and expands from the new base. Multiple Brentwood construction sites ran simultaneously through 2023–2024; that burrow disruption continues to ripple into adjacent residential properties.
Second, the 2023 SGAR ban removed brodifacoum and its relatives from the residential pest-control toolkit. These actives suppressed populations quickly (3–5 day kill after multi-feeding lethal dose); their replacement first-generation anticoagulants work more slowly, meaning active rat populations persist longer during treatment cycles. Our field techs report measurably more daylight rat activity in 2025–2026 compared to 2022–2023 — consistent with less-suppressed populations operating more boldly.
Third, winter 2025–2026 never sustained freezing temperatures below 2°C for more than three consecutive days in Metro Van below 100m elevation. A hard BC winter culls the weakest juvenile rats from fall litters; the mild winter allowed a higher survival fraction into the 2026 breeding season.
Rodent trends: neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood breakdown
| Neighbourhood | YoY change | Driver | Housing-stock note |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Vancouver (V5K/V5L/V5N) | +31% | Construction churn + mild winter | Mix of 1920s craftsman + new infill |
| Strathcona / Hastings | +27% | SGAR-ban behavioural shift | 1900–1930s wood frame, heritage |
| Marpole | +22% | Roof-rat expansion southward | 1960s bungalows + laneway conversions |
| New Westminster (uptown) | +19% | Dense infrastructure + tree canopy | Pre-war + heritage stock |
| Richmond (waterfront-adjacent) | +15% | Delta hydrology, dyke-system harborage | Post-1985 suburban + ALR edge |
| North Vancouver (Lonsdale) | +12% | Roof rat canopy access + cedar roofs | Mixed 1950s–1970s |
| Burnaby (Brentwood/Metrotown) | +11% | Construction displacement | Dense mixed-use transition |
| Surrey (Cloverdale/Newton) | +9% | New construction + agricultural edge | Post-1990 SFH |
Carpenter ant trends
Carpenter ant callouts up 12% YoY, with strong concentration in North Vancouver and West Vancouver — the wettest urban micro-climate in Metro Van. Older Lonsdale, Edgemont, and British Properties homes with cedar-clad exteriors and aging soffit detailing are textbook Camponotus modoc habitat. The climate-driven trend: increasing winter rain (vs snow at lower elevations) means sustained moisture in roof cavities and wall voids through spring, providing ideal nesting conditions before colony foraging begins in April–May.
Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are emerging carpenter ant pressure zones — rapid residential development adjacent to mixed conifer forest means new homes are being built within flight range of established forest colonies. A new-build in Maple Ridge within 300m of the urban-forest edge will experience annual carpenter ant pressure from forest source populations. Treatment holds; the pressure is renewed each spring from outside the structure.
Bed bug trends
31% YoY increase in bed bug callouts is the sharpest trend in our dataset. The driver is YVR — with international transit volume recovering post-pandemic and now amplified by World Cup 2026 hospitality buildup, bed bug introduction events are running at their highest frequency since 2019. Hotels in Richmond, Sea Island, and downtown Vancouver with heavy airport shuttle traffic see proportionally higher activity. The hospitality sector accounts for 70%+ of our bed bug callout increase; residential uptick is more modest.
World Cup 2026 Vancouver matches run through June–July. Tens of thousands of additional international visitors will cycle through Metro Vancouver hospitality over a 4–6 week window. Wild Pest's hospitality protocol includes increased monitoring frequency (bi-weekly vs monthly) and accelerated response commitments during the tournament window for hotel clients. The risk is real — a bed bug introduction at a major hotel during peak occupancy can affect hundreds of rooms before detection if monitoring is inadequate.
German cockroach trends
German cockroach activity in Metrotown, Brentwood, Yaletown, and downtown Vancouver high-rise stock is broadly stable year-over-year. Migration-driven dynamics in mature concrete towers don't change quickly without building-wide treatment programmes. Cockroaches travel via utility chases and shared wall voids — a single untreated unit in a 1980s concrete tower can sustain pressure through an entire floor indefinitely.
New high-rise builds (post-2010) show markedly lower German cockroach activity than 1980s–90s towers. Modern construction details (sealed utility penetrations, contemporary building materials) reduce the void networks that cockroaches exploit. The pattern: cockroach activity concentrates in older high-rise stock, particularly in buildings without building-wide IPM programmes. Stratas that run preventive quarterly service show 60–70% lower per-unit incident rates in our dataset.
Occasional invaders and spiders
Occasional invader callouts (centipedes, silverfish, pillbugs, ground beetles, earwigs) track moisture in BC homes. With increasing winter precipitation and a mild 2025–2026 season, occasional invader callouts are up 8% — modest compared to the rodent and bed bug trends but consistent with the climate signal. Silverfish concentration in North and West Vancouver correlates with the same moisture conditions driving carpenter ant pressure.