A couple of retail shops in Montreal seem to have a bug problem. Shoppers have noticed bedbugs in their favorite clothing shops and are currently warning others about it. Meanwhile, retailers are scrambling to fumigate and screen their buildings repeatedly just so they can keep the bugs away.

In the past few months, there have been several reports of a bedbug infestation all over the city. Sightings of these creepy crawlers were actually confirmed last month at the BAnQ library in downtown Montreal.

Most people hoped that by now there‘d be news that the infestation has been dealt with and that public spaces were ‘safe’ again. Sadly, the news they got wasn’t they were expecting or hoping for as it appears the bugs are running more rampant all over the city. In fact, the chances that these bugs have occupied your favorite stores in the city are rather high.

In one of the city’s popular store, H&M to be exact, a customer – Ian Burke – spotted a bedbug crawling on one of their items. He recorded a video and immediately posted it on Instagram. Of course, everyone knows that where there’s one bedbug, there are hundreds more.

The situation is worrying because if a high-end shop like H&M is infested, then what would be the situation in the thousands of other shops across the city?

Value Village, another popular thrift store chain across Canada, has also been called out as one of the locations having massive infestations in its Montreal locations. Both stores reached out to say that they have speedily called in an extermination team to get rid of their infestation problem.

Experts warn shoppers and the general public that if they’re making any clothes purchase, they should examine them thoroughly in the changing room, and give them another once-over when they get home. They also recommend placing the clothes in the dryer before you wear them. That way you’re sure that all traces of the bugs are gone.

Harold Leavey, who heads the Maheu Ltee. Extermination firm, said,“bedbugs are becoming more common in major cities all over the country — in particular in places where lots of people congregate such as hospitals, universities,and stores.”

“It’s a problem on the rise in Montreal,” said Leavey. “Pretty much every well-attended public area has bedbug episodes.”

Executive director, Danielle Chagnon of Montreal’s Grande Bibliothèque library say they have between 7,000 to 8,000 people visiting the library daily, comparing it to a self-contained town.

“It may be possible that people carry bedbugs with them when they come to the library and we have a sensible way to deal with that,” she said.

Residents of Montreal can only hope that stores all over the city will take effective action, even if it’s just as a precautionary measure and that by this time next month, reports like this will no longer be floating all over Montreal. Nobody wants to go through the experience of discovering that there’s a bedbug hitchhiking on his or her clothes.