Family at wits' end with bedbug battle in Saint John public housing
Hassan Aldaher speaks out after more than a year of infestation, seeks new home for wife and 5 children
Souaad Aldaher, 17, doesn't want to talk about the bedbug infestation at her family's public housing unit in Saint John's north end.
But no words are needed as the teen pushes up the lace-edged sleeves of her fuchsia tunic to reveal a maze of angry red bites, scabs and scars.
For more than a year, Souaad and her family, refugees from Syria, have been battling the tiny, oval-shaped, brown insects that feed on the blood of people and pets as they sleep.
Her brother Ibrahim, 12, remembers the first time he saw one of the flat, six-legged bugs crawling on him. He had no idea what it was.
The next time, they "started biting me, and I see the blood going out," he said.
Now, Ibrahim can't sleep and is tired from the scratching of bites, and the stress over getting more.
"We try to do everything to clean the house," he said.
But it doesn't help.
Twice, the family threw away all furniture in the unit, including three new couches Ibrahim's father just finished paying off, as well as clothing and toys — "everything," the son said. Now, the family sleeps on thin mattresses on the floor.
"[I feel] so bad, so bad," said Ibrahim, standing in front of the Crescent Valley home. "I thought it, like, is good future, but I don't find anything of future in here."
Speaking through an interpreter, his mother, Shamsa Aldaher, said in Arabic that it breaks her heart that her children are struggling, and she feels helpless.
Hassan Aldaher, her husband, said he felt he had to speak out about the family's ordeal after he already complained to N.B. Housing a number of times.
"If I wasn't hurting and tired … I would not have," he said, with his niece, Saada Aldaher, 16, acting as interpreter. The family was on a waitlist for about seven months to get the unit.
"But we are hurt. The kids are hurting the most." Some of the children, who range in age from one to 17, have bites that are infected.
Aldaher said he came to Canada hoping for a better life for them.
"I'd like my voice to reach N.B. Housing and anyone in Saint John. I just want them to feel for the people who live here."
Although N.B. Housing has sent an exterminator to spray the unit a few times, Aldaher contends the entire complex is infested and the bugs travel among units.
"They're everywhere," he said. "They're in the walls, they're coming from the heater and from under the [floor] tiles."
There are so many bedbugs under the flooring that Saada, his niece, describes them as looking like a swarm of ants.
"It's going from bad to worse," said Aldaher.
Aldaher requested a public housing transfer in March 2023 because of the bedbugs but was rejected.
"Due to the large amount of transfer requests we receive, we are unable to consider your request," a letter signed by tenant relations officer Anthony White says. "In addition, according to the criteria we use, you are adequately housed at this time."
A couple of weeks ago, N.B. Housing officials assured Aldaher they'd send someone to inspect the neighbouring units, he said. He still hasn't seen anyone come.
He is at his wits' end and wants N.B. Housing to find his family a new place to live.
N.B. Housing working to 'resolve the situation'
N.B. Housing "works to ensure the safe accommodation of all its residents," Department of Social Development spokesperson Kate Wright said in an emailed statement.
"The corporation is aware of the issue, and is working with tenants, pest control experts and other service providers to resolve the situation quickly and safely."
According to Aldaher's niece, it was the same story about nine years ago, when her family lived in one of the public housing units down the street.
"They'd come spray. Does nothing. Doesn't work at all," said Saada.
"We had to move out of here because of it. We had people who could support us to move out of here, but they don't."
Aldaher, who worked in the tile industry, has been unable to find a job, and no one else in the family is working either, she said. They can't afford to leave public housing and don't know where else to turn.
Long-standing problem
Anne Driscoll, executive director of the Crescent Valley Resource Centre, confirmed bedbugs have been a problem in the community's public housing units for at least 14 years, since she started her job.
In 2015, of the nearly $191,500 Social Development spent on bedbug treatments and removal in its public housing units, more than $115,000 — or 60 per cent — was spent in Saint John.
Since July 2023, the cost of fighting bedbugs across the province has jumped to more than $267,000, according to figures from the department. Saint John alone accounted for nearly $179,000, or roughly 67 per cent, followed by Fredericton at about $58,000, Moncton at about $21,000, Campbellton at $8,000 and Miramichi at less than $2,000.
Social Development has a web page devoted to bedbug information. "Any home can be a haven for bedbugs. No need to be ashamed if these bugs end up moving in with you," it says. "The important thing is to act fast."
While Driscoll's not hearing "an unusual amount of complaints" from tenants, she acknowledged it's been a longstanding problem and "concerning."
Still, N.B. Housing has always been receptive when she's called on behalf of a resident, she said.
"Quite often the residents tend to forget that there's a very large area that this department covers. It's, you know, Sussex to St. Stephen. So it's not all about Crescent Valley.
"There are many, many apartments that housing has to maintain and things can't be repaired overnight."
Bedbugs are also very difficult to exterminate completely, particularly in multi-unit complexes, said Driscoll.
"Residents are cautioned about bringing used furniture into their apartment or used items. … And they're very careful too "
When bedbugs are confirmed, some tenants might not provide exterminators with the access they need to spray efficiently, or might not follow all of their instructions about cleaning and disposing of contaminated items, she said.
"I honestly think they'll always be around," said Driscoll, describing bedbugs as a worldwide problem.
Advocate calls for legislation amendments
Tobin LeBlanc Haley, a founding member of the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights, calls the Aldahers' situation "incredibly frustrating" and "a sin."
"This problem needs to be dealt with. It needs to be dealt with now," she said. "It's a public health issue, it's a quality of life issue, it's a wellness issue.
"Bedbugs wreak havoc. It's not just a minor inconvenience," said LeBlanc Haley, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, who supported housing tenants going through the fumigation process in Toronto years ago.
An infestation is unfairly stigmatizing as being related to cleanliness or economic status. Following all the exterminator's instructions is labour-intensive, and it's costly to keep laundering or replacing belongings. The problem is stressful, particularly if there is a language barrier, she said.
"It needs to be addressed immediately and effectively with alternatives provided to the tenants if the landlord can't address the issue."
We now have two classes of tenants. … And it is not fair.- Tobin LeBlanc Haley, N.B. Coalition for Tenants Rights
The coalition has called on the provincial government to amend the Residential Tenancies Act to include public housing tenants and extend to them the same protections other tenants enjoy, such as mediator services offered by the tenant-landlord relations office, said LeBlanc Haley.
As it stands, public housing tenants are often too afraid to speak out against their landlord, N.B. Housing, she said.
"We now have two classes of tenants. … And it is not fair."
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, tenants have a right to, among other things, receive a rental unit that is "safe, clean, and fit to live in," "well-maintained," and to have requested maintenance and repairs completed within a "reasonable amount of time."
A residential tenancies officer may investigate complaints, require a landlord to comply, or complete any required work and bill the landlord.
Despite raising the issue a number of times with Social Development and submitting recommendations, "there hasn't been any movement," said LeBlanc Haley.
N.B. Housing's public housing portfolio falls under the Landlord and Tenant Act, the department spokesperson said.
"This act requires the province, as the landlord, to follow strict requirements that protect tenancies," said Wright, citing rent being capped at 30 per cent of their income as an example.
It does not address safety, cleanliness, maintenance, or landlord obligations with respect to these.
The corporation reviews legislation as part of "ongoing improvement processes," Wright said.
Bedbug-sniffing dog 'super busy'
The bedbug extermination process is also constantly improving, according to Troy Burke, a bedbug specialist with Orkin Canada and one of 16 K9 handlers the company now has across Canada.
Burke, who is based in Moncton, travels the province working with Nova, a bedbug-sniffing golden Lab specially trained and certified, much like drug-sniffing or cadaver dogs.
They've been "super busy" the past couple of years, he said, because of an increase in bedbugs and a greater focus on prevention.
"A lot of our clients were just using the dogs off and on, on a need-be basis," to find where the "tricky bugs" were hiding and determine where to spray, or to confirm treatment was successful, said Burke.
Because of the bedbug increase, some clients are taking a proactive approach, to detect bedbugs or their eggs early and prevent infestation.
Bedbugs multiply quickly, he said. A female bedbug can lay between one and five eggs a day, which typically hatch within two weeks. Within six months, just a few bedbugs can become an infestation of more than 13,000, according to Orkin.
Adult bedbugs can survive for up to a year without eating, so it can take multiple treatments to eradicate them.
To make matters worse, bedbugs have become increasingly resistant to many pesticides, said Burke.
Although N.B. Housing is one of Orkin's clients, Burke, the company's only canine handler in New Brunswick, said he does not recall ever being dispatched to Crescent Valley.