CANADIAN ROCKIES STORIES

PEYTO LAKE, BANFF

Bug Repellant Clothing in Canada

Author of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide Brian Patton has written extensively on bug-repellant clothing in Canada, and we give links below. Also, see our post What is permethrin?

Bug-repellant clothing treated with permethrin is permitted for sale in Canada, so long as it has a Health Canada Pest Control Product (PCP) number on the label. Liquids and spray permethrin products for consumers to treat their own clothing are not approved for use in Canada.

bug repellent clothing

For outdoor enthusiasts in the Canadian Rockies, wood ticks are an annual nuisance that we suffer for a couple of months every spring. The main defence is to tuck our pants into our socks and check ourselves carefully for the beasties following every hike. But in many parts of Canada, including British Columbia, Lyme disease has long been a serious threat, and the deer ticks that transmit the grim Borrelia burgdorferi parasite are virtually invisible. In the northeastern U.S., where Lyme disease has been rampant for over a decade, people have been defending themselves with permethrin-treated clothing. But it wasn’t until 2018 that bug-repellant clothing was approved for legal sale in Canada.

In 2018, Mark’s, a Canadian clothing store, became the first to offer a range of bug-repellant clothing for sale within Canada, including shirts, pants, and hats. For the full range at Mark’s website, click here. Mark’s range is produced by Burlington Fabrics (Greensboro, North Carolina) under its No Fly Zone label. Burlington also produces permethrin-treated material for outdoor suppliers like LL Bean, Stetson, and Cabela’s. Read Brian Patton’s review of the clothing range here: Mark’s permethrin-treated clothing.

If you are interested in Brian Patton’s other research and thoughts, click on the following links:

What is Permethrin?

Ticks, permethrin, and Canadian hypocrisy

Permethrin-treated clothing arrives in Canada

Brian Patton was interviewed by the CBC about bug-repellant clothing in Canada here.

We thank Brian Patton, author of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide for the content on this page.