3.3 Sensitive Sites, Occupant Notification & Re-Entry
Key Takeaways
- Food premises, health care, child care, schools and multi-unit residential buildings each add occupant-protection duties on top of the label and O. Reg. 63/09.
- Section 67 of O. Reg. 63/09 governs structural exterminations by qualifying suspensions in air and non-gas fumigants, requiring locked doors, Sign B posted outside every door and a vacant building before the pesticide is introduced.
- The re-entry interval is a label instruction, and under the Pesticides Act the label is legally binding, so re-entry cannot be shortened for a client's convenience.
- In food premises, exposed food, food-contact surfaces and utensils must be removed or covered before treatment and surfaces washed before use resumes.
- Notification in a multi-unit building must reach occupants who are not the person who booked the service, including tenants of adjoining units affected by a shared void or duct.
3.3 Sensitive Sites, Occupant Notification & Re-Entry
[!NOTE] A structural exterminator's workplace is somebody else's home, hospital or kitchen. The label tells you the maximum rate; the occupancy tells you everything else — who must leave, what must be covered, how long people stay out, and who has to be told.
Section 67: The Lock-Out Rule for Suspensions in Air
Section 67 of O. Reg. 63/09 applies to a structural extermination performed by means of:
- a Class B fumigant that is not a fumigant gas;
- a Class B suspension in air;
- a Class C suspension in air whose label indicates entrances are to be locked, barricaded or posted with signs; or
- a Class C fumigant with the same kind of label direction.
Most professional ULV cold-fog and total-release aerosol labels carry that direction, so treat s. 67 as the default rule whenever you fill a fogger. The prescribed sequence is not advisory:
Before introducing the pesticide
- Lock, from the outside, every door into the building except the one you will use for access.
- Post Sign B — Warning — Structural extermination on the outside of all doors leading into the building.
- Confirm the building is vacant of humans and animals other than the target pests.
After introducing the pesticide
- Leave the building and lock the remaining door.
- Allow no one in but emergency personnel or a person authorised under s. 67 until the building is free of the suspension or fumigant.
- Anyone authorised to enter during the extermination must use adequate respiratory protection and be accompanied by at least one other person who is also using it — including in any building physically attached to the treated building.
That last point catches people out. A row of attached commercial units or a semi-detached dwelling is not a separate building for this purpose.
Re-Entry Intervals Are Law, Not Guidance
The re-entry interval (REI) printed on a Canadian label is a use direction, and s. 3 of the Pesticides Act makes using a pesticide contrary to its label an offence. Practical consequences:
- You cannot shorten an REI because a restaurant wants to open, a ward needs the bed, or a tenant is impatient.
- You must communicate it in writing and in a form the occupant will actually see — a note taped to the entry door, not only a line on an invoice mailed later.
- Ventilation may be required before re-entry where the label says so; opening windows early is not a substitute for the stated interval unless the label permits it.
- Document the applied time and the earliest re-entry time on the service record. If a dispute arises, that record is the evidence.
Occupancy-Specific Duties
| Occupancy | Before treatment | After treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Food premises (restaurants, bakeries, groceries, processing) | Remove or tightly cover all exposed food, packaging, utensils and food-contact surfaces; shut down and cover ice machines and food equipment; coordinate with the operator and be aware of the public health inspector's interest | Wash all food-contact surfaces before use resumes; do not release the area until the label REI has elapsed |
| Health care (hospitals, long-term care) | Coordinate with infection prevention and facilities; identify immunocompromised, respiratory and paediatric patients; relocate patients from the treatment area; identify oxygen and sterile-supply areas | Ventilate and clean per label; return patients only after the REI, confirmed with nursing |
| Child care and schools | Schedule outside operating hours wherever possible; remove toys, bedding, art materials and food; parental or guardian notification as the operator's policy and the client's own obligations require | Verify surfaces at child height are dry and, where directed, wiped before children return |
| Multi-unit residential | Written notice to affected and adjoining units; instruct tenants on preparation (laundering, decluttering, moving furniture from walls); identify infants, pregnant occupants, allergy or asthma sufferers and pets, including fish tanks and birds | Confirm all units re-entered only after the REI; supply the product information sheet on request |
| Sensitive individuals anywhere | Ask, in writing, about respiratory conditions, chemical sensitivities and pets before you select a product or a formulation | Prefer baits, dusts in voids, crack-and-crevice and non-chemical tactics that limit airborne exposure |
[!IMPORTANT] Fish, birds and reptiles are radically more sensitive than people. Pyrethroids are acutely toxic to fish, and birds are extremely sensitive to airborne exposure. Aquaria must be covered and their air pumps shut off; birds and reptiles should be removed from the building, not merely from the room.
Notification: Reaching People Who Did Not Book You
The person who signs the work order is often not the person who will be exposed. In a multi-unit or multi-tenant building, plan notification around the shared building systems rather than the unit numbers on the invoice.
- A wall void, plumbing chase, common corridor or shared duct means the adjoining units are affected units.
- Give notice in advance, in writing, with the product name, active ingredient, the date and time of treatment, the re-entry interval, preparation required of the occupant, and a contact number that will be answered.
- Post the notice where occupants pass, and leave a copy inside the treated unit.
- Where the client controls building communications, confirm in writing that they have distributed the notice. "The property manager said they would tell everyone" is not a record.
Field scenario: the restaurant that wants to open at five
You complete a ULV space treatment of a Toronto restaurant kitchen at 2:00 p.m. The label specifies a four-hour re-entry interval with ventilation, and the owner asks to open the dining room at 5:00 p.m., arguing the dining room is a different room from the kitchen.
The correct handling. The REI runs to 6:00 p.m. and cannot be shortened; s. 3 of the Pesticides Act makes contrary use an offence, and the s. 67 rules governed entry while the fog was present. The kitchen and dining room share air, so treating them as separate is not defensible. Ventilate as the label directs, hold the re-entry time, wash all food-contact surfaces before service, and record the application time, the earliest re-entry time and the conversation. Booking the treatment for a closing night rather than a mid-afternoon slot is the planning fix that prevents the argument entirely.
A structural exterminator is about to apply a Class C suspension in air whose label directs that entrances be locked, barricaded or posted with signs. Which sequence satisfies section 67 of O. Reg. 63/09?
A long-term care home asks a technician to cut a label re-entry interval from six hours to three so that residents can return to their rooms sooner. What is the correct response?
Before a scheduled crack-and-crevice treatment in an apartment unit, the tenant mentions a 200-litre tropical fish aquarium and two budgies in the living room. What preparation is required?