Bugs may not be the only problem when your house needs to be fumigated.

Health Canada’s pest management agency found 90 violations when it inspected 67 pest control operations across the country. According to the most recent annual report from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency some operators had more than one violation.

Bugs may not be the only problem when your house needs to be fumigated.

Rule breaking pest killers racked up 90 violations when Health Canada’s pest management agency investigated 67 pest control operations across the country.

According to the most recent annual report from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency some operators had more than one violation.some operators had more than one violation, including having unregistered and expired products in storage.

The main violation the Pest Control Operations Inspection program found was the misuse of products.

Inspectors found more than 40 incidents in which pesticide applicators failed to follow the instructions outlined on the product.

‘You have to follow what it says on the label’

Exterminators work with a variety of pesticides depending on what the problem is.

Calvin MacDonald, owner of Protec Pest Control in Kingston, N.S., says pesticide products have labels outlining the safety guidelines.

“You have to follow what it says on the label,” MacDonald says. “It says how it can be applied, where it can be applied, at what rate, what safety equipment to wear.”

Not following product instructions can put people’s safety at risk, says MacDonald.

Pest killers need to suit up in proper personal safety gear including safety goggles, rubber gloves and respirators for indoor jobs says MacDonald.

MacDonald says failing to follow the rules won’t result in firing at Protec Pest Control but the employee would need training.

Response from Health Canada

After inspection, pest control operators caught breaking the rules were the ones being bugged.

Sixteen rule enforcement letters were sent out. Other responses included education letters as well receiving verbal education.

All inspected operators were provided with outreach materials.

“The objective is to conduct timely interventions when unacceptable risks of non-compliance are identified,” Health Canada’s report on the inspections states.

But the Pest Management Regulatory Agency does more than respond to violations, it also tries to prevent pesticide use mistakes from happening.

In the 2014-2015 fiscal year the agency organized 233 outreach activates including meetings and exhibit booths at trade shows and distributing materials on pesticide use.

Getting certified

Environmental analyst with Nova Scotia Environment, Solveig Madsen says all pesticide applicators need to pass an exam to receive qualification certification.

The required passing grade for the exam is 75 per cent overall and no less than 70 per cent on the label and calculation section of the test.

Test takers have two options Madsen says, they can study from provided materials or take a training course.

While Nova Scotia Environment says it strongly recommends taking the course, it is not mandatory.

The exam includes general questions regarding safety. But Madsen says it is a requirement that pesticide applicators follow the product’s instructions outlined on its label.

Madsen says Canada has national standards that set out the framework for pesticide education, training and certification.

Health Canada’s pest control operators inspection results

It was a cold, freezing night in January. Deepak Sharma and Jassmeet Singh just landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in the end of a long journey from New Delhi. The flight was delayed for hours because of a snowstorm. The amount of snow they faced that night was the largest they had ever seen; they realized their picker had already left the airport.

“We had to pay $70 for a taxi to get to the Downtown,” says Singh. “$70 back there at home, means $3,500 in Indian Rupees.”

After two years, Sharma and Singh, both Dalhousie University students, still remember that devastating first night in Halifax. That’s why they recently started univfax, a website which provides incoming international students with the local accommodation/traffic/job information and a connection to international students who live in Halifax, so they can prepare for their life in Halifax in advance.

(Source: HALIFAX INDEX 2016 by Halifax Partnership )

Today, the city says it has 6,000 international students in universities from all over the world. This means that international students take up more than 1% of the city’s population. Since 2005, the number of international students in Halifax has doubled over ten years.

In Saint Mary’s University (SMU), more than one in four students are non-Canadians.  The revenue generated by international students is crucial to universities, as they pay differential fees, which often cost as equal to their annual tuition fees. For example, in 2012, the tuition fees paid by international students to SMU had already taken up to 41% of the total student fees in the same year.

However, Sharma says that many of them still have trouble finding adequate housing or struggle with buying groceries. Although each university has an international centre in place to help students, he and Singh say that the sharing of information within the international student community is invaluable.

Since 2009, the economic organization Halifax Partnership, which is run by the government, has launched the Connector Program – which has helped more than one hundred graduating international students, helping them to network with the local job market.

Timeline-What happened to the international students and universities in Halifax [2011-2016]

Denise DeLong, the project manager of the Connector Program, says the city would rather focus on supporting their settlement after the graduation, because keeping young talent in the city is another big challenge for the local economy.

“I’m sure there are challenges when they start their lives in Halifax,” says DeLong, who has years of experience supporting immigrants and international students. “I always tell them to get out of campus, talk to people and have meaningful times.”

Sharma and Singh, however, say that there is a serious need for international students to secure their basic accommodation and transportation before they really get used to the city.

“They need to have everything done before they come here,” says Singh. “We just don’t want them to suffer the thing which we had suffered.”