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Monitoring termites in Guelph
Council Information Report on Newly Identified Infestation Area – March 2026
In 2025, the City identified about 25 properties in the Regent Street and Grove Street area with active termites. We’ve started a City-managed termite control program in this area.
If you are selling a property in this area, we recommend you treat your property with a chemical soil termiticide treatment. We also recommend informing prospective buyers of any known termite activity and consider getting an inspection from a licensed termite inspection company. Please discuss these recommendations—and any related legal obligations—with your real estate agent and/or real estate lawyer.
From 2007 to 2023, the City monitored six termite management areas. Active monitoring concluded once we found no known termite activity in those areas. The termite activity identified in 2025 is not in a former termite management area.
The City continues to enforce the provisions of the Ontario Building Code and the City’s Termite Control Bylaw on a property-by-property basis, if needed.
Managing termites in the Regent Street and Grove Street area
The City has established a termite management area at Regent Street and Grove Street. The map, below, shows where the City inspected for termites (black line) and where we found termites (pink line). The new termite management area, near the Regent Street and Grove Street intersection, is outlined in blue on the map below.
The City is working with property owners in this area to manage termite activity. The City’s contractor, Dr. Tim Myles, Termite Research Services Inc., is completing this work throughout 2026. If you live in this area, and have questions about termites, please contact [email protected].
Property owners and residents in this area should continue to practice yard wood management. Visit the termite tips webpage for details. If you’re disposing of any yard wood, it must be taken to the Guelph Waste Resource Innovation Centre (WRIC) at 110 Dunlop Drive for disposal. Upon arrival, you or your contractor should advise WRIC staff you’re disposing of termite-infested material to ensure proper disposal. Proof of address and ownership may be required.
What to do if you have termites on your property
If you live outside the termite management area at Regent Street and Grove Street, and have termites on your property, discuss treatment options with a licensed pest control company. The sooner you take action, the sooner you can prevent termites spreading any further on your property.
Guelph’s former termite management areas map
Guelph’s former termite management areas map
Don’t move wood or soil from former termite management areas. To prevent the potential spread of termites, please use caution when donating or receiving any wood items that have been sitting outdoors on the ground such as firewood, landscaping ties, wood sheds, mulch, etc.
Buying or selling property in former termite management area
When selling a property in a previously infested area, it is recommended that prospective buyers be informed of previous termite activity in the area, and further consider having a termite inspection be performed by a licensed termite inspection company.
We recognize that some properties in these areas may not have had termite activity for some time.
How did termites get to Guelph?
The eastern subterranean termite was detected in Guelph in the early 1970s near Goldie Mill Park. The non-native insects were accidentally introduced from the United States to more than 30 Ontario municipalities.
Subterranean termites are non-native invasive insects that can cause serious structural damage to homes and can be difficult and expensive to control. Termites are wood-destroying insects that live in large colonies numbering several million. They forage through the soil and expand the colony’s territory as they encounter new wood items to feed on. Termites tend to spread rather slowly, depending on the availability of surface dead wood, at an estimated rate of about 50 feet per year.
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Building Services
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[email protected]