Pest Control in Annex

The unique character of The Annex, with its heritage homes and vibrant student population, also creates specific challenges when it comes to pest control.

• Mice: The neighbourhood’s historic homes, built between the 1880s and 1910s, have settled over time. This creates small cracks in foundations, gaps around utility lines, and spaces between original structures and newer additions, offering mice plenty of entry points. Once inside, the many internal partitions, drop ceilings, and plumbing runs created by subdividing these large homes into apartments allow mice to travel freely and unseen between units.
• Bed Bugs: The Annex has a highly transient population, with many residents moving in and out each year, especially during the student move-in season. This high turnover increases the risk of bed bugs being introduced into buildings via second-hand furniture, mattresses, and personal belongings. A single infested item can quickly lead to a building-wide problem.
• Cockroaches: The restaurants and cafes along the Bloor Street strip create significant pest pressure. Cockroaches can easily migrate from these commercial kitchens into the adjacent student housing and apartment buildings through shared plumbing, drains, and structural connections.
• Silverfish and Carpet Beetles: The historic construction of Annex homes provides the ideal environment for these pests. The old wooden beams, plaster walls, and wallpaper in Victorian-era houses retain moisture and provide the cellulose that silverfish and carpet beetles feed on. The dark, humid, and undisturbed basements and attics in these properties are perfect breeding grounds.