Item - 2025.EC22.5

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Rat Response Plan as described in the report (June 24, 2025) from the City Manager.

2. City Council request the Executive Director, Development Review, to include a rat management plan within the Construction Management Plan as an advisory comment in the Notice of Approval with Conditions issued through the Site Plan Control application review process.

3. City Council request that the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, and other City officials as appropriate, include a requirement for rat management as a component of City-led construction projects.

This report outlines the City's Rat Response Plan that was developed in response to direction from City Council. The Rat Response Plan is the City’s coordinated, proactive and strategic approach to manage rats. Rats can pose significant issues for residents and businesses, and effective management requires action from the City, private property owners, residents, businesses, and construction site managers.

The guiding principles of the Plan emphasize integrated pest management (IPM), focusing on environmental changes that minimize the conditions for rats to thrive, holistic urban pest and wildlife management, data-driven approaches, and leveraging and building on current rat response actions.

The objectives and outcomes of the Plan focus on reducing access to food, water, and shelter for rats, delivering municipal services that support a clean city, supporting residents and businesses, prioritizing rat response efforts in high-issue neighborhoods, improving coordination across City divisions and stakeholders, embedding rat response within broader urban wildlife and environmental strategies, and continuously monitoring and evaluating the City's approach.

The Plan's actions focus on governance and administration, public education, inspection and enforcement, waste management, maintaining a clean public realm, managing rats on municipal property and data collection, monitoring and evaluation.