This May, Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., is opening the Canadian Tick Research and Innovation Centre, a.k.a. the Tickery. It will be led by Nicoletta Faraone, a tick researcher and associate professor in the university’s chemistry department. Ticks are an increasing threat across Canada: rising temperatures are extending their habitats north, lengthening their activity seasons, and growing their capacity to spread disease. Here’s what you should know heading into cottage season.
Ticks are most active in humid spells and when temperatures are between 4°C and 25°C. “They will be happy and searching for a host,” says Faraone. If the weather gets too hot and dry, they retreat to cool and damp microhabitats, such as leaf litter, to avoid dehydration. That means that late spring and fall, with their wet and mild temperatures, can be some of the most likely times to get bitten by a tick, says Faraone.
Faraone and her team are in the final stages of getting an all-natural, long-lasting tick spray, PureGard, approved by Health Canada; they hope to have it in stores by the end of the year. The spray uses nanoengineered lemon eucalyptus essential oil to disrupt the sensory receptors that ticks use to detect humans and pets, and added food-grade polymers extend the oil particles’ repelling properties by more than a week. At the Tickery, researchers will be rearing ticks to learn about the pathogens they spread, repellent methods, and ways that climate change is impacting tick populations.
And there’s more good news: Pfizer and Valneva are close to releasing a human vaccine for Lyme disease. The vaccine has yielded positive results in its phase-three clinical trials, and Faraone says it will be a useful tool to prevent infection. But she also cautions that Lyme is one of many pathogens that ticks carry. “You can also be exposed to Bartonella and Anaplasma,” she says. Both are “co-infections” that can appear alongside Lyme and cause severe flu-like symptoms.
Another growing concern is Alpha-gal syndrome, which is a red meat and dairy allergy caused by the lone star tick. Though sightings of the tick in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and along the U.S. border haven’t been confirmed, there have been confirmed cases of Alpha-gal, says Faraone. And cases could increase if our climate warms enough to accommodate the more southern species, she adds. “Do your tick checks and wear proper clothing when going outside.”
This article was originally published in the Early Summer ’26 issue of Cottage Life.
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