Wild Parsnip Update - Parks Maintenance and Forestry Services
- Ward 5 Staff
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
Further to the memo Public Works General Manager Alain Gonthier issued May 20 on the 2025 Wild Parsnip Strategy, the purpose of this email is to update councillors on the work Parks Maintenance and Forestry Services will be undertaking.
With the first round of mapping complete, operations will begin today, June 23, moving to identified locations from west to east and lasting approximately one week. To minimize disturbance to our parks, only locations deemed to have a moderate to high level of infestation and a high risk to the public will be spot sprayed with Glyphosate, as per the Ontario Pesticide Act. In other areas, lower levels of wild parsnip infestation will be mowed or pulled by hand. Where spraying occurs, residents should expect to see wilting or discolouration in two to four days. The full impact of the spray could take up to 20 days. The contractor will sign locations before spraying and remove the signage once the spraying is complete.
Parks Maintenance and Forestry Services is also responsible for wild parsnip in storm water management areas and hydro corridors. Here, the herbicide Clearview will be applied, and residents should start seeing the early effects within a few hours and the full effect after several weeks.
Residents will see crews of eight in the proposed locations, equipped with backpack-style sprayers.
Forty-six parks and hydro corridors will receive spot treatment of Glyphosate, and 25 storm water management facilities will receive spot treatment of Clearview.
The use of either Glyphosate or Clearview is determined by provincial legislation. Health Canada re-evaluated glyphosate in 2017 and, after assessing human health and environmental impacts, found that there is no significant risk to either when the product is used properly. In Ontario, herbicide use is regulated under the Pesticides Act. While many herbicides are banned, those containing glyphosate may be used to control plants like wild parsnip that are poisonous to humans upon contact.
Please find attached a document with the locations and proposed sequence for the spraying. Individual councillors will be notified the day before crews arrive in their respective wards.
