Bedbugs, cockroaches persist at McNay Street public housing building

To escape an infestation of bedbugs and cockroaches at the London and Middlesex Community Housing building (LMCH) where she lives, Sandra Keith has had to resort to extreme measures.

"I slept in my car for a week, I shouldn't have to do that," said Keith, who is 69 years old, uses oxygen and relies on a mobility scooter to get around. 

Keith has lived at 202 McNay St. for eight years and in that time, has been dealing with bugs in her suite on and off. She said that over the past year, the problem has become much worse. 

Earlier this year she went to hospital with cellulitis, a potentially serious bacterial skin infection she says was caused by repeated bites from bed bugs.

Keith said her apartment has been sprayed three times for bugs since January. Each time, she's had help bagging up her things for spraying, but said the follow-up visits required to fully eradicate the bugs haven't always happened.

Calls to LMCH for follow-up service often go unanswered, she said.

"A few times they said it's too messy to spray or they don't show up," she said. "I've asked to move to another apartment and they've said they can't do it. I can't live like this." 

Margarita Calderon has lived at the housing unit for five years. She keeps all her clothing in sealed plastic boxes so it can be protected from pests and had to throw out a new couch because it was full of bedbugs. She sent CBC News videos of bedbugs on her mattress and cockroaches scurrying along the floor of her kitchen. 

"They have to spray the while building up and down and side to side, not just one apartment at a time," said Calderon. 

Matt Senechal, a spokesperson for LMCH, said they've recently added a second pest control company to deal with the problem at the 11-storey building with 252 units, that are all rent-geared-to-income for seniors. 

"We do have some challenges at McNay," said Senechal. "We have our vendors on site and we are working with tenants to help them prep for treatment." 

Better oversight with in-house tracking system: LMCH 

The problem isn't a new one for London's community housing provider. In April of 2023 Tammy Brooks, a tenant representative on the LMCH board, quit over what she called a piecemeal approach to dealing with bug infestations. 

Senechal said that in an effort to step-up its response to the bedbug and cockroach problem, LMCH launched an in-house tracking system late last year to pinpoint which buildings and suites had the infestations. Previously, they would call an exterminator in response to complaints.

"We identified that the program wasn't working in its current state," said Senechal.

Part of the challenge, Senechal said, is that effective treatment requires apartments to be thoroughly prepared for spraying, with clothing bagged up, clutter removed and furniture moved away from the wall.

It's an onerous process for anyone, and many LMCH residents live with unique challenges, from health and physical limitations, to poverty and mental health issues. For many residents of London's public housing provider, preparing for a treatment is more than they can manage without help. 

In 2022 the city began to fund a provincial program that provided cleaning and de-cluttering for Londoners living in low-income housing. The funding was discontinued as part of the last budget cycle, leaving many seniors to struggle with the process. 

Senechal said LMCH can help tenants prepare with logistics such as bagging up belongings and moving furniture. However, he said some tenant issues present a different set of challenges. 

"If it's something where it's more around mental illness, that's where we really need to work with community partners to get the units prepped and ready to go," he said. "There's no one solution, it's really based on the tenant's individual needs."  

Senechal said the new in-house pest management allows for better oversight and tracking to manage the spraying program. He said this has increased the number of buildings LMCH has been able to inspect: it was 72 per cent in the first quarter of this year and 82 per cent in the second. 

"We're definitely able to get into the units more often, which is helping," he said. 

He also said some tenants aren't reporting their infestations, which adds to the challenge when bedbugs and cockroaches can easily live inside walls and travel from apartment to apartment. 

Some tenants told CBC News they're afraid to complain, to the media or to the housing provider, for fear it will paint them as troublemakers. Senechal said they want any problems reported, and that tenants won't be admonished for speaking out.

In the meantime, tenants like Margarita Calderon say despite what LMCH may say, the problem is getting worse in her building. 

"I've complained and nothing," she said. "Everything I have is in boxes, what kind of quality of life do I have?"