Residents frustrated by rats, blame biweekly trash pickup in Montreal east end borough
'I used to love Montreal a lot, but right now, I'm worried,' says Hochelaga resident
Residents of Montreal's Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough say rat sightings are on the rise in their neighbourhoods — and they believe the borough's every-other-week garbage collection is to blame.
Janique Leblanc, who's lived in the borough for 15 years, says this is the first time she's seen rats in her neighbourhood.
"We have a lot. I never saw rats before April," she said. "I don't want to go outside on my balcony because I'm scared that they're coming," she said.
Leblanc said at night, she hears the rats fighting. And every morning, she finds two trapped rats on her property.
"I used to love Montreal a lot, but right now, I'm worried," she said. "I cannot live with rats."
She's also concerned about the children attending a school next to her place. Although Leblanc says she's called the City of Montreal three times, she says she's seen no action taken.
Residents have also expressed their frustration about the presence of rats in a local Facebook group.
"There are a lot more these days," wrote one person.
"There are more. I've lived here for over 15 years and I never saw one frolicking in the alley before!!" wrote another person.
Lise Legault, another resident, believes the issue stems from the borough's recent switch to biweekly trash collection — a change aimed at encouraging recycling and composting.
She says she contacts the City of Montreal at least twice a week to report people who take their trash out too early — long before the garbage truck arrives.
"Let's say that, on Monday, the garbage truck comes by, and the next day, it's full, full of garbage bags lying around," said Legault.
"We used to have mice, then we got rid of them, but now we don't want rats ... at the price we pay for rent," she said.
The new trash collection schedule, tested since 2022, came into effect across the entire borough as of mid-November 2024.
Borough notes decline in complaints about rats
Michael Sabourin, a pest control technician with Extermina-mic, points to several contributing factors like the waste collection system, the ban on many rodenticides and construction.
"The rat, he's hungry, he goes out, he has a buffet for 13 days and then he has a day when he has nothing to eat [during garbage collection]," he said.
Since the shift to biweekly trash collection, Sabourin says demand for his services has nearly doubled.
"You pass through the alleyways [where there are restaurants], the containers overflow. You can see a dozen garbage bags. You've got five, six rats on the brick wall, chilling and waiting for supper. It's crazy," said Sabourin.
In a statement to CBC, the borough says it has noted a "significant decrease" in complaints related to rodents sightings.
"Citizens are better at sorting waste and therefore compost more, which contributes to the sanitary state of the borough," read the statement.
"The borough carries out daily operations to ensure compliance with collection schedules, the proper storage of residual materials on private property, and the maintenance of cleanliness."
Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve adds that some residents may see rats but choose not to file formal complaints, which could explain the discrepancy between reports and official numbers.
Legault is calling on the borough to return to a weekly garbage pickup schedule.
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With files from CBC's Gabriel Guindi