Pesticide and herbicide spraying in your community

The City currently applies some herbicides to control dandelions and other broad leaf weeds. We have established thresholds to determine when to conduct treatments, based on type of site and frequency of use. All sites are assessed prior to treatment to ensure the number of weeds exceed our thresholds.

We apply herbicides more often to sport fields, as they have a high use and too many broad leaf weeds can cause safety issues for users and threaten the health of the turf. For other areas, we apply at a lower frequency, as they have a higher tolerance for weeds.

The City takes the health and well-being of citizens and green spaces seriously, so all herbicides and pesticides are carefully chosen and applied to be the least toxic to off-target plants and animals. Furthermore, all pesticides and herbicides are fully certified by both the federal and provincial governments.

Notification and application signs will be posted in the community before, during and after any necessary applications. Herbicide is not applied within 10 metres of a playground unless the entire area is closed to the public and school sites do not receive applications while students are in attendance. There are also a variety of pesticide-free parks in Calgary. 

We also use some alternative weed management techniques, including using goats to manage Canada thistle and different methods of dandelion control. We continue to explore new techniques throughout the year.

NOTE: applications are weather dependent and may not take place as scheduled.