Pest Management Profile: Commercial Buildings

In this instalment, we focus to the backbone of the city’s economy: Commercial Buildings.

From high-rise office towers in the Financial District to sprawling multi-use complexes in North York, commercial property managers and owners face a high-stakes battle to maintain professional pest-free environments.

1. The Local Culprits

In the GTA, commercial buildings act as "islands of warmth" during the harsh winter months. Because these structures often have complex HVAC systems and high foot traffic making them prime targets for specific pests.

• The House Mouse: Unlike the Norway Rat found in alleys, the house mouse is the primary indoor threat for office buildings. They can survive on crumbs in a break room for weeks and utilize internal wall voids and wiring cable trays to travel between floors making the rodent difficult to track. Between August 2024 to July 2025, phone calls for rodent pest control increased by 35 per cent compared to the previous year.
• The Bed Bug: While typically associated with residential spaces, bed bugs are a growing threat to commercial offices. They are "hitchhikers" brought in on employee backpacks or visitor luggage. In a professional setting, 9a single sighting can trigger office-wide panic and HR nightmares. Not even Government of Canada buildings are not safe, bed bugs were detected in a Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) building located in Toronto.
• Structural Ants (Carpenter Ants): In many of Toronto's older commercial properties or those near wooded areas (like the Don Valley), Carpenter Ants can cause silent structural damage. They don't eat wood, but they hollow it out to create nests often going unnoticed until the damage is significant.
• Nuisance Birds (Pigeons & Gulls): For building owners, the exterior is as important as the interior. Pigeons and gulls congregate on ledges and HVAC units. Their droppings are acidic damaging building facades and creating slip-and-fall hazards for tenants and pedestrians. As well as potential infection of Histoplasmosis, an airborne infection spread by fungus found in bird and bat droppings.

2. The Regulatory & Professional Stakes

For property managers, pest control isn't just about insects, rodents, and birds; it’s about Tenant Retention and Liability.

• Occupational Health and Safety: Under Ontario law, employers and building owners must provide a safe and healthy workplace. Persistent infestations can lead to work refusals by employees and investigations by the Ministry of Labour. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) considers pests as biological hazards and are threats to workplace safety and employee health frequently acting as causes for disease and triggering allergies.
• The LEED & BOMA Standard: Many premium Toronto towers strive for LEED or BOMA BEST certifications. These require "Integrated Pest Management" (IPM) plans that prioritize prevention and non-toxic methods over heavy chemical use.
• Tenant Leases: Most commercial lease agreements include clauses regarding the "quiet enjoyment" and "sanitary condition" of the premises. A failure to manage pests can lead to rent abatement requests or even the breaking of long-term high-value leases.

3. Commercial-Specific Pest Challenges

• The "Vertical Highway": In a 40-story tower, a pest issue on the 4th floor can become a problem on the 14th floor within days. Pests utilize elevator shafts, plumbing stacks, and electrical conduits as their private transit system.
• Shared Loading Docks: Most commercial buildings share loading bays where multiple vendors deliver goods daily. This is the #1 entry point for pests. Without a strict "Inspect upon Arrival" policy, cockroaches and rodents enter the building via pallets and cardboard boxes.
• 24/7 Mixed-Use Complexity: Many modern Toronto buildings feature retail or food courts on the ground floor and offices above. This creates a "constant food source" at the base of the building that supports a permanent pest population if not managed with a unified strategy.

The Impact of Pests on Commercial Property Management

1. Financial Loss & Property Damage

• Equipment Failure: Rodents have a biological need to gnaw. In commercial settings, they frequently target server room wiring and fibre optic cables leading to massive data outages and expensive emergency IT repairs. in 2017, rodents chewed up fibre wiring at Laurentian University affecting the internet connection.
• Devaluation of Asset: A building known for "having a pest problem" will see its market value drop. Prospective high-end tenants conduct "due diligence" that includes interviewing current tenants about building maintenance and sanitation.

2. Brand and Reputational Damage

• The "Empty Office" Effect: In the era of hybrid work, employees need a reason to want to come to the office. A pest sighting is a fast-track way to ensure staff stay home, reducing the vibrancy and utility of your commercial space.
• Social Media & Glassdoor: It’s not just Google Reviews anymore. Employees often post photos of office pests on platforms like Glassdoor or Reddit making it difficult for your tenants to recruit top talent—which eventually leads them to look for new office space elsewhere.

3. Operational Friction

• After-Hours Logistics: Pest treatments in commercial buildings often require after-hours access as the property needs to be vacant. For example, a cockroach spreay requires the property to be vacant for 6 hours for the chemicals to fully dry and become a safe state. Coordinating this across dozens of tenants, security teams, and janitorial staff is an operational burden that requires a highly organized pest partner.
• Tenant Relations: Dealing with an angry tenant over a bed bug or rodent issue takes up hours of a property manager's day distracting from more productive tasks like leasing and building improvements.

Get Rid of Your Pests Today!

Do you have a pest problem in your commercial property that needs to be addressed? Whether you are a commercial tenant, property manager, or owner, Guard More Pest Control will work on solving your pest problem. Contact us at 647-710-0481 or contact@guardmorepests.com today!