Residents of a Sudbury neighbourhood are raising alarms after multiple videos and images surfaced on social media showing large rats roaming near homes, prompting a flurry of calls to pest control companies and a formal petition to the city. Rhonda Lalonde, who operates Enviro-Eco Pest Control, said her business is fielding multiple calls weekly from the Minnow Lake area alone, with many clients expressing frustration over the sudden appearance of the rodents. “We’re probably getting about 10, 15 calls a week just for that,” Lalonde said. “They’re frustrated the clients because they never had this before.” Jordan Chretien with Orkin Canada said Sudbury appeared on the 2025 Ontario Rattiest Cities list, a ranking driven largely by its historically high mouse population. However, this year’s call patterns indicate a notable shift. “We’ve always had a high mouse population. So, rodents in general, we’re pretty high on the list. Just lately it’s been it’s been rats that’s the issue,” Chretien said. Residents petition city for help Community members have launched a petition calling on the City of Greater Sudbury to assist before the problem escalates. In a statement to CTV News, the city said its bylaw department can investigate when complaints are filed, though it did not specify how many reports have been received to date. Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc said he has contacted the head of the bylaw department about the issue. “I’ve asked her to assign staff in the area to look at it and get back and report to report something back to me,” Leduc said. “At this point in time, I haven’t heard anything back yet.” He encouraged residents to continue using the city’s 311 service to log complaints, stressing that documentation is critical to prompting action. “The more phone calls that we get in there, the more it gets reported and hopefully something will be done,” Leduc said. Health risks prompt caution from public health officials Public Health Sudbury and District has warned that rodents can pose health risks to people. Adam Ranger, a representative with the health unit, said residents should take precautions when dealing with rats or cleaning areas they have occupied. “Typical things could be hantavirus, there’s some bacteria, like there’s some other fevers, rat bite fever, things like that that they potentially can spread,” he said. “So in an abundance of caution, we want people to be aware of what they need to do to protect themselves and our families. If they’re dealing with rats or cleaning up after rats.” Ranger also recommended wet sweeping areas where rodents have been present to reduce the risk of inhaling airborne particles that may carry disease. Experts urge prevention Pest control experts that spoke with CTV News said removing food and water sources is the most effective way to deter rats. “Rats are resource driven,” Chretien said. “Keep your garbage sealed up in garbage containers with lids, picking up fallen fruit, bringing in your pet food and your bird food at night. Just reducing any kind of harbor areas. So, piles of lumber clutter around the yard. Just keeping all that cleaned up.” Lalonde added that rats require a steady supply of water, making outdoor faucets a potential draw. “Any kind of rodent like that needs water, so watching your water faucets outside making sure that there are no drips,” Lalonde said. Both organizations said they are receiving a high volume of calls from Minnow Lake, but the issue is not limited to that area. Chretien told CTV News that the problem extends across the region. “They’re not just in those areas … we get calls from all over the north basically,” Chretien said. “But those areas are hotspots in those specific areas, probably dozens of calls a day,”
