Pesticide-free
The Pesticide Bylaw, established in 2009, regulates cosmetic, nonessential pesticide usage on residential properties. Pesticides include such products as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides and weed and feed type products. A list of less toxic, excluded pesticides can be found in Schedule 2 of the bylaw document. Read the label to determine if the pesticide is permitted under the bylaw.
Please report the application of illegal pesticides through our online service request system. Pesticides can only be applied by Certified Pesticide Applicators in Kelowna.
If you would like to be notified prior to commercial pesticides being applied to bordering residential properties, you can register with the Pesticide Notification Registry during the registration period each year. The 2024 registry is now closed. Check back in January for 2025 dates. Please note: this registry includes commercial spraying on residential properties only and does not include notifications for spraying on agricultural properties or orchards.
Benefits of reducing pesticide use
Pesticide use can negatively impact the health of our community and environment. Using home and garden pesticides may not always be the best solution, as they often amplify lawn and garden problems and pose a risk to people, pets, wildlife and beneficial insects (like bees and ladybugs).
Rainfall and overwatering can cause excess pesticides and fertilizers from your lawn and garden to run off via storm drains into our creeks and lake, impacting the health and habitat of fish and aquatic organisms.
As part of the Pesticide Free education and awareness campaign, the City offers free, virtual workshops designed to provide residents with the knowledge and tools to make healthier, more environmentally friendly yard maintenance choices.
View the Pesticide Free Workshop videos:
Yes, unless the fertilizer contains herbicides. The majority of weed and feed type products aren’t permitted because they contain pesticides not permitted under the bylaw.
Read the label on the product under the Guarantee and avoid products that contain ingredients like 2, 4-D, mecoprop or dicamba. Instead of buying these products, use a natural fertilizer made of organic compost, such as our OgoGrow and GlenGrow composts; this will increase the health of your soil, and a healthier lawn will be more likely to choke out weeds and retain moisture.
The provincial government created a complete list of pesticides that will be excluded from the bylaw, meaning you will be able to use them even when the bylaw is in effect.
See the pesticide bylaw Schedule 2 - Excluded Pesticides to view the list of excluded pesticides. To understand this list, you must be able to read the label on the pesticide container.
Choose pest control products only if they contain one of the following active ingredients listed under the Guarantee:
- Soap
- Mineral oil, also called dormant or horticultural oil
- Silicon dioxide, also called diatomaceous earth
- Biological pesticides including Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) and nematodes
- Borax, also called boric acid or boracic acid
- Ferric phosphate
- Acetic acid
- Pyrethrum or pyrethrins
- Fatty acids
- Sulphur
- Corn Gluten Meal
Yes. The bylaw refers to residential properties only. The following are exempt from the bylaw:
- Certified pesticide applicators
- Noxious weeds and insects
- Fruit trees
- Vegetable gardens
- Agricultural land and farms
- Greenhouses
- Pests that transmit human diseases
- Excluded pesticides
To apply for an additional exemption, please contact ask@kelowna.ca or phone 250-862-0438.
The bylaw applies to all residential lands, including strata land.
The bylaw applies to residential properties only.
A person may apply to the Environment Manager for an exemption in the form prescribed for that purpose by the Environment Manager.
When granting an exemption under section 8(b) of Bylaw No. 9920, the Environment Manager may impose one or more conditions relating to: the species of pest to which the pesticide may be applied, the pesticide that’s allowed to be applied, the area of land on which the pesticide may be applied and an application prescription that outlines information such as the frequency and the period of time in which the pesticide may be applied (Consolidated Bylaw No. 9920).
Please do NOT dispose of your pesticides at the landfill or in your curbside garbage bin.
Year-round disposal of pesticides and other hazardous materials with a corrosive, poison or flammable symbol on the label is available at the Battery Doctors located at 1972 Windsor Road. For more information about hazardous waste disposal, call Battery Doctors at 250-860-2866, or visit the Regional Waste Reduction Office web page.
The bylaw will be enforced through complaint only. A person who violates this bylaw will be subjected to a minimum fine of $500 up to a maximum fine of $10,000.
