It’s a bad day to be a cankerworm.
The City of Regina’s annual cankerworm spraying program kicked off on Monday, with more than 4,000 trees around the city included this year. The city said it is focusing its efforts on areas with the highest insect populations and areas where trees are at the greatest risk.
Read more:
- Cankerworms leaving some Saskatoon trees defoliated, but not dead
- City of Regina planning to spray more than 4,500 trees for cankerworms
- Regina sees early mosquito spike after wet spring, heat wave
Cankerworms feed on young leaves, which can cause significant damage or even kill trees completely, the city explained.
“This program helps protect trees from cankerworms,” said Russell Eirich, the city’s director of parks and open space services, said in a statement.
“We’re targeting areas where cankerworm numbers are highest so we can reduce damage and keep our trees in good shape.”
The city said its workers will be spraying the trees with BTK, “an organic product approved by health Canada, which effectively kills cankerworms but is harmless to pets, wildlfie and humans.”
Residents in areas near the work will receive a hand-delivered notification 48 hours before spraying begins, the city said. The notices will advise residents to keep family members and pets away from the workers, close windows and doors and move cars off the street when possible.
More details about the program can be found on the city’s website.









