Managing pests

The City is committed to protecting the ecological balance in our over 10,000 hectares of parkland through sustainable and environmentally-friendly pest management practices. Our Pest Management (PM) approach helps keep invasive pest populations under control without compromising the health of our ecosystems.

What is Pest Management?

Pest Management is a healthy approach to keeping pest populations (weeds, insects, diseases, etc.) under control. PM refers to how The City consolidates and coordinates all necessary pest management techniques effectively, economically, and using environmentally-sound methods. Since pest problems often point to ecological imbalances, the PM goal is to plan and manage ecosystems to prevent organisms from becoming pests.

The City of Calgary PM Policy is one of the leading municipal PM strategies in Canada.

Why it works

PM promotes and practices a better understanding of the ecosystem and why pest problems occur. It also provides a reduced dependence on chemical controls.

The result? Parks and recreation areas are healthier and natural ecosystems in the urban environment are protected and conserved. The City's pest management processes foster the preservation of natural enemies of pests and ensures our tactics are in compliance with municipal, provincial and federal regulations regarding pest management.

Pesticide use report

The City of Calgary has committed to publicly report its pesticide use. In 2016, The City began to update its Pest Management Plan. Coinciding with this project was a 2017 Council report on the toxicity of pesticides used by The City of Calgary and its Civic Partners. In this report, Administration committed to publicly reporting its annual use of pesticides.

We continue to explore how best to present pesticide use by The City. The 2017 City of Calgary Pesticide Use, 2018 City of Calgary Pesticide Use, 2019 City of Calgary Pesticide Use, 2020 City of Calgary Pesticide Use, 2021 City of Calgary Pesticide Use,  2022 City of Calgary Pesticide Use and  2023 City of Calgary Pesticide Use documents list the pesticide products, amount used and reasons for use. As the Pest Management update progresses, the project team will engage citizens and other external partners on the most effective way to publicly report on The City’s use of pesticides.​​

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