‘Crawls in our food and our faces’: Waterloo, Ont., man claims he’s living in a cockroach infested apartment

CTV’s Heather Senoran speaks to a family who found cockroaches in their beds, in their food and, allegedly, in their ears.

A family in Waterloo, Ont., says a severe cockroach infestation in their apartment has left them traumatized.

Zahir Stanikzai, his mother, his wife and their six kids have lived in the Glenelm Crescent apartment for just over a year.

Stanikzai said the pest problems began a few months after they first moved in and they’ve now taken over his unit, especially when the sun goes down.

“There is a lot. Thousands, hundreds of cockroaches,” he explained. “At nighttime, [they] come out from the holes and crawl in our food and our faces.”

Stanikzai sent CTV News numerous videos which allegedly show what looks like cockroaches crawling all over his home, including under rugs, in cabinets and on counters. He said the insects even get into the family’s food.

“When we opened the teapot, the cockroaches lay the eggs,” he added.

Stanikzai said he even had to bring his daughter to the hospital a few months ago after one creepy incident.

“Because she [felt] a lot of pain when the cockroaches crawl in her ears,” he claimed. “Then when I took her to the hospital, the doctor pulled out the cockroach from her ears.”

Stanikzai said his family can’t sleep or eat, and they wrap scarves around their heads and put cotton in their ears every night.

“If we are not relocated to another safe location, our lives are in threat,” he told CTV News.

Stanikzai and his family have the support of Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife. She said the situation points to a broken housing system.

“What the family needs, at the end of the day, is temporary housing to ensure that a true fumigation can remove the cockroach infestation,” Fife said Monday. “They need to get healthy again in that housing situation. The problem, of course, with the system is that in order to get temporary housing, you have to be unhoused.”

The family said a pest control company has sprayed the unit several times, but Stanikzai worries the fumigation efforts could be adding to the problem.

“After every spray we feel nausea, vomiting, headaches. My mother is 73 and has lung problems,” he explained.

Stanikzai’s family moved from Afghanistan just two years ago.

“I never expected that I will live in such a miserable situation. I still [don’t] feel safe in Canada.”

Stanikzai said he can’t afford to move anywhere else and is losing hope.“If [this] problem is not fixed, we will come to the road and sleep here,” he said.

Management responds

Greenwin Corp. manages the Glenelm Crescent apartment building and said they are aware of the situation.

“We understand that these issues can be disruptive and concerning, and we want to assure our residents and the wider community that we are taking this matter seriously and are actively addressing it,” a Greenwin spokesperson said in a statement to told CTV News.

The management company also confirmed it is working with a pest control company and said it is residents must “fully co-operate” with what it called a “collaborative effort.”

Greenwin did not directly answer questions about when the work would continue or if they would provide accommodation to residents.

In their statement, however, they called the treatment plan “comprehensive” and said they’re committed to providing a safe and healthy living environment.