If you ever find yourself in the lovely province of Alberta, you are practically guaranteed not to spot something most people despise — a rat.
In fact, a rat population hasn’t existed in the province since the 1950s, so it has been a long, long time.
So, why the lack of rats, you ask? It all changed in 1950 when the provincial government set up a rat-control program. That was also the same year that rats were first reported on the eastern edge of the province, trying to move their way in after sweeping through Saskatchewan.
At the time, the biggest fear of rats in the province was the spread of plague by rodents, so the Alberta government decided to halt, or at least slow, the spread of rats to the west.
By the fall of 1951, 30 rat infestations had been confirmed along 180 km of Alberta’s eastern border, and in 1952, rats were active along 270 km of the border, according to the province.
Most infestations were within 10 to 20 km of the border, so from June 1952 to July 1953 nearly 70 TONS of arsenic trioxide tracking powder was used to treat 8,000 buildings across eastern Alberta.
It turned out to be effective. With most infestations being confined to areas within 10 to 20 km of the border, Alberta Agriculture was given the time to develop a rat-control program. After 1959, the number of infestations dropped dramatically.
The government also developed some intense ads to inform Albertans of rats, like the one above, highlighting that “he’s a menace,” “you can’t ignore the rat,” and “kill him!”
Today, hundreds of suspected infestations are reported each year by concerned citizens, but most sightings turn out to be muskrats, pocket gophers, ground squirrels, bushy-tailed woodrats, or mice. Phew!
The province takes the issue of rats so seriously that owning a pet rat is illegal in Alberta. A few white rats have been brought in by pet stores, biology teachers, and well-meaning individuals who did not know it was unlawful to have rats in Alberta. The white rat or laboratory rat is a domesticated Norway rat, and if they were to escape, they would multiply quickly and threaten Alberta’s rat-free status.
White rats can only be kept by zoos, universities, colleges, and recognized research institutions in Alberta.
There is even a hotline to call if you ever think you saw a rat — 310-FARM — or an official government email, fittingly titled [email protected].
To help prevent rats in Alberta, its neighbour to the east, Saskatchewan, also operates a provincial rat-control program, and the two provinces collaborate by sharing information and resources.
The province still maintains a Rat Control Zone (RCZ) along the eastern border with Saskatchewan. This 600-km-long and 29-km-wide swath of land runs from Cold Lake in the north to the Montana border in the south.
Some municipal employees from Alberta have also worked on rat control in Saskatchewan to reduce rat migration into Alberta.
If and when a rat is found in Alberta, it usually receives immense press coverage, like back in 2023 when the province was hit with its largest rat infestation in over a decade. Imagine that, Vancouver or Toronto.
The province is considered to be the largest jurisdiction in the world to rid itself of the rodent. Simply put, Albertans don’t like rats.
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