Community-based, non-profit community organizations are eligible to receive financial assistance to help with bedbug education, treatment, management and prevention through the province’s new Bed Bug Grant Program. Specialized bedbug prevention materials will also be made available at reduced cost to qualifying organizations through the Bed Bug Prevention Materials Program. This announcement was made by Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau.
“These new programs are vital pieces of our bedbug-prevention strategy, providing supports to the people and organizations that need them most,” said Rondeau. “This will help to prevent the spread of bedbugs and ensure that infestations are identified and treated as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
The Bed Bug Prevention Materials Program will offer a wide variety of materials at attractive prices to qualifying organizations to help deal with bedbug infestations, said the minister. Materials will include bedbug-proof mattress and box-spring covers, insect monitors and record keepers, insect interceptor traps, dissolvable laundry bags, bedbug stickers and handouts, and clear-view bedbug monitors.
The program will be phased in to ensure supply meets demand, beginning with the Manitoba Camping Association and the Manitoba Professional Property Managers Association, the minister added.
“Each year, approximately 20,000 Manitoba children and youth attend an accredited Manitoba summer camp,” said Bryan Ezako, executive director, Manitoba Camping Association. “We want to ensure that their camping experience is fun filled and unforgettable, and these low-cost bedbug prevention resources are an important tool that will help to ensure that camp days are comfortable and worry free.”
Under the $200,000 Bed Bug Grant Program, which is the first of its kind in Canada, non-profit organizations will be eligible to recover from 50 to 100 per cent of costs related to bedbug treatment or prevention, to a maximum of $2,000.
Rondeau noted that grants could go towards payment for an approved integrated pest-management plan or for preventative equipment such as an industrial dryer which, for example, could be used to heat-treat donated second-hand clothing that could be given to needy families and charitable organizations in the community.
Rondeau noted the new programs build on other bedbug strategies including the recent launch of the bedbug hotline, e-mail address and website, the formation of a bedbug coalition with representation from more than 20 Manitoba organizations, and a marketing and education campaign.
Grant application forms or for more information is available at the toll-free bedbug hotline at 1 855 3MB BUGS (1-855-362-2847), www.manitoba.ca/bedbugs or by email at bedbugs@gov.mb.ca.
