Benefits of Non-Agricultural Pesticides in Canada
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Benefits of Non-Agricultural Pesticides in Canada Submitted to: February 2019 Benefits of Non-Ag Pesticides in Canada February 2019 Table of Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 5 2 The Non-Agricultural Pesticide Sector in Canada .......................................... 6 2.1 Pest Control Products in Canada ............................................................................... 6 2.2 Non-Ag and Domestic Pest Control Product Sector ................................................. 7 3 Economic Benefits to Canadians .................................................................. 9 3.1 Economic Benefits of Non-ag and Domestic Use Pesticide Manufacturing............. 9 3.2 Economic Benefits of Non-Agricultural Pesticide Use in Other Sectors ................ 11 4 Environmental and Societal Benefits .......................................................... 15 4.1 Protection of Habitat and Diversity ......................................................................... 15 4.2 Control of noxious weeds and nuisance weeds ....................................................... 16 4.3 Roadside, railway, and industrial worker safety ..................................................... 17 4.4 Maintenance of public spaces, infrastructure and investments into landscaping .... 17 4.5 Public health benefits .............................................................................................. 18 4.6 Sports-field safety.................................................................................................... 20 4.7 Fire prevention ........................................................................................................ 20 5 Impacts of Use Restrictions ....................................................................... 20 5.1 Impacts on Municipal Governments ....................................................................... 20 5.2 Impacts on Schools .................................................................................................. 21 5.3 Impacts on Consumers ............................................................................................ 21 5.4 Impacts on Businesses ............................................................................................. 22 6 References ................................................................................................ 24 Appendix 1: Methodology ............................................................................... 26 Appendix 2: Summary of Provincial and Municipal Restrictions on Pest Control Products ........................................................................................................ 27 Page 1 Benefits of Non-Ag Pesticides in Canada February 2019 Executive Summary This report examines the economic, environmental, and social benefits that the non- agricultural pesticide sector delivers to Canadians, including pesticides for domestic use, industrial vegetation management, structural pest control, golf courses, and lawn care. Overall, agricultural pesticides account for 74.7% of all pest control product use by volume in 2016. The non-agricultural sector (e.g. mainly antimicrobials used for wood preservation and water treatment, as well as some herbicides used in industrial vegetation management) has a 20.1% share of pest control product use. Domestic use (e.g. mainly antimicrobials used for swimming pool and spa treatment) accounted for 5.2%. Homeowners also use a variety of insecticides, herbicides, vertebrate controls, fungicides, and disinfectants to control a wide range of pests, including: • insects such as cockroaches, ants, spiders, silverfish, flies, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks and bed bugs • lawn and garden weeds • rodents, such as rats and mice • household mildews, molds and bacteria. Economic Benefits It is estimated that revenues for non-agricultural pest control product manufacturers in Canada amounted to $312 million in 2016 ($248 million for non-ag use and $64 million for domestic use). This level of manufacturing activity generates $617 million in economic activity, $285 million in GDP, and $115 million in income for more than 1,840 Canadians. In addition to these economic benefits, it is estimated that the sector spends about $22 million on research and development on non-ag and domestic use pest control products in Canada, generating an additional $30 million in GDP, 327 jobs and $21 million in wages in the Canadian economy. Impacts across the value chain include sales at the wholesale level, which generate $252 million in economic activity in Canada, $139 million in GDP, $81 million in labour income, and over 1,465 jobs. Retail sales account for an additional $134 million in economic activity in Canada, $76 million in GDP, $50 million in labour income, and over 1,520 jobs. Non-agricultural pest control products are important intermediate inputs to other industrial sectors, generating significant additional benefits throughout Canada’s economy. For example: Page 2 Benefits of Non-Ag Pesticides in Canada February 2019 • Wood preservation: pest control products are a major input used in the Canadian wood preservation industry. There are 55 wood preservation facilities with total sales of $874 million in treated product (industrial and residential). • Industrial vegetation management (IVM): pest control products are also a key input to the IVM sector in Canada, which does about $50 million in business a year, about $20 million of that being for herbicides and $30 million for the cost of applying the herbicides and the other vegetation management methods, such as hand trimming, mowing, etc. Pest control products play a critical role in maintaining the safety and security of critical electrical power and pipeline infrastructure, as well as safety along thousands of kilometres of roadsides and railroads in Canada • Forest vegetation management (FVM): the Canadian forestry sector relies on pest control technology to ensure sustainable forest renewal and to remain competitive in global markets. • Structural pest control: pest control products are critical tools used to control rodents, vermin, insects and wood-destroying pests and organisms which invade buildings or structures, including railroad cars, ships, docks, trucks, airplanes, or the contents thereof. • Turfgrass: this multi-billion-dollar sector involves planting, growing, and maintaining of turfgrass by sod farms, lawn and landscaping companies (households, offices, institutions), municipal parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and sports fields. • Other industrial uses: Raw commodities and packaged grocery products—the foods Canadians eat—are protected from insect contamination by the controlled use of insecticides in processing, manufacturing, and packaging facilities. Pesticides are used in grocery stores to manage insects and rodents attracted to food and food waste. • Domestic use: while most domestic use involves swimming pool and spa products, domestic pest control products are used in plastics, paints, and caulking used in homes prevent mold, and in toilet bowl cleaners and disinfectants to protect health. Environmental and Societal Benefits Non-ag pesticides also deliver a range of environmental and societal benefits to Canadians, including: • Protection of habitat and diversity through invasive weed control • Control of invasive forest pests • Control of noxious weeds and nuisance weeds • Roadside, railway, and industrial worker safety • Power supply security • Maintenance of public spaces, such as infrastructure and parks • Nuisance insect control • Public health and hygiene • Sports-field safety Page 3 Benefits of Non-Ag Pesticides in Canada February 2019 • Fire prevention Impacts of Restrictions on Non-Ag Pesticides For municipalities and schools, restrictions on non-ag pesticides have significantly increased costs of playing field maintenance, particularly for small municipalities and school boards. Bans have also increased costs of maintaining a lawn for homeowners by an average of $80- $100 per year. However, despite various provincial and municipal bans, the most recent data from Statistics Canada (2015) shows that herbicide use by all households across Canada has fallen by only 4 percentage points since 2007. Data for households with a lawn or garden show that herbicide use has actually grown by 12 percentage points in Quebec and 4 percentage points in Ontario. Overall, non-ag pest control products provide significant economic benefits to Canadians. However, proper use of non-ag pesticides as part of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies also deliver significant environmental and societal benefits to Canadians – benefits that often go unnoticed by the public. Page 4 Benefits of Non-Ag Pesticides in Canada February 2019 1 Introduction Properly used, pesticides provide benefits essential to our way of life. There are many kinds of benefits of pesticides that go unnoticed by the public. The most obvious and easiest benefits to calculate are economic benefits that farmers derive from the protection of crop yield and quality, ensuring reliable supplies of agricultural produce at prices which are affordable to Canadian consumers. These benefits have been quantified in a separate report, The Value of Plant Science Innovations to Canadians. (RIAS Inc., 2015) But pesticides are also widely used in a variety