In Quebec City's Saint-Roch neighborhood, footage of rats crowding around a person asleep on a church stoop drew attention.
Here's what to know
According to CBC News, Stéphanie Langlois, who was distributing food near the church, counted 15 rats in the video.
She started recording after spotting the animals around a sleeping unhoused person while handing out food near the church.
"I can't believe we're leaving people in these conditions," Langlois told the broadcaster.
Mayor Bruno Marchand acknowledged that the city has been tracking rat activity in Saint-Roch and using professional rodent-control measures known as "deratization."
"It's not acceptable," Marchand said of the incident.
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Marie-Hélène Michaud, who heads Le Marginal — described by CBC News as a mobile community outreach program with the Société Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Québec — said the scene outside the church is worse than the video suggests.
"Within two hours, there are groups of 50 rats gathering there," she recalled.
She said the animals are making physical contact with people who are sleeping outside, not merely moving nearby.
"They even climb onto the people [sleeping]," Michaud added.
More background
Outreach workers said this isn't an isolated wildlife encounter, but a recurring consequence of the conditions people face on the ground.
Ariane Desharnais of the Répit Basse-Ville warming shelter has heard of rats nibbling on people sleeping outside at night.
Desharnais noted that places such as Jean-Paul-L'Allier Park already have rat problems, forcing unhoused people to look elsewhere to sleep.
She also pointed to a basic reality of street homelessness: Many people on the street carry "their whole lives with them," along with clothes and food.
"For sure rats are going to be attracted, because these are things that we're usually keeping inside, in fridges," she explained.
Human activity can shape encounters between people and wild animals — not only through food waste or urban habitat, but also by failing to provide enough safe indoor places for people to sleep.
What's being done?
Marchand said the city's strategy has to include prevention, not just extermination.
He said rats intensify an already dangerous situation, but he argued they are not the underlying cause and that the real answer is "zero homelessness."
In a statement, the mayor confirmed that city teams would visit Saint-Roch to evaluate conditions on site and decide whether any extra safety measures were necessary.
Quebec City's regional health authority, Santé Québec Capitale-Nationale, also told Radio-Canada it would follow up, conduct checks, and decide whether to take further action, per CBC News.
Community groups are also calling for a broader response. Desharnais said warming shelters such as Répit Basse-Ville are a front-line resource but not a permanent housing solution.
She said the city has strong organizations working on the issue, yet the whole continuum of care still needs financing. She maintained that Quebec's new provincial government should be "more generous" in financing the problem immediately.
Desharnais said public outrage could matter if it leads to action.
"We should all be asking for more shelters, we should all be asking for more spaces for people to go," she remarked.
Where can I learn more?
Cities across North America face their own rat problems and other run-ins with urban wildlife.
• In New York City, officials tested a new rat contraception strategy as infestations persisted.
• In Bensenville, Illinois, neighbors said over 100 rats were trapped at one home.
• Around Lake Tahoe, 150 rats were pulled out of a home.
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