Winnipeg running low on mosquito fogging chemical, will have to look for alternatives

Running out of chemical to kill mosquitoes Winnipeg could have to deal with more mosquitoes as the city is running out of the chemical that kills them. CTV's Jon Hendricks reports.

The City of Winnipeg will be out of the chemical it uses for mosquito fogging in two to four years unless a change is made, according to a recent report.

The report in the city’s community services committee agenda said the DeltaGuard Chemical, which is used during the summer, will no longer be sold in Canada.

“In April 2023, Veseris, the distributor of DeltaGard, and Envu Canada, the manufacturer, informed the City that 2023 would be the last year this insecticide would be available for sale in Canada,” the report reads. “The Insect Control Branch decided to purchase Veseris’ remaining in-stock inventory of 1,640 litres to add to its own existing inventory of 4,989 litres. The combined 6,629 litres of product is sufficient to treat the entire city four times, which would last two to four years.”

The report asks the city to look for alternatives, including monitoring companies, and convincing them to register mosquito control insecticides in Canada. The process would take two to three years to complete.

“There is no guarantee that any of the insecticide 5 manufacturers will be interested as it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to register a product in Canada, so it has to make sense economically,” the report reads.

The other option would be phasing out the adult nuisance mosquito control program gradually in Winnipeg.

The loss of DeltaGuard has no impact on larvaciding, the city said, as it uses a different chemical.

The report will be discussed and received as information when the committee meets April 10.