Every year around June, condominium boards and property managers start receiving the same question: "Why are there suddenly so many raccoons around the property?"
The short answer: it's the season. The longer answer involves a mother raccoon who has decided your parking lot is a perfectly reasonable place to raise a family, and she would like you to know she was here first.
Why raccoons are more visible in June
Raccoons typically give birth in early spring. By late May and June, the young are old enough to start leaving their dens and exploring with their mothers. Families are moving around the community together rather than staying hidden, the kits are curious and less cautious around people, and longer daylight hours mean more daytime activity.
Think of it as a field trip. The mother knows exactly where she's going. The kits do not, but they're very enthusiastic about finding out.
What looks like a sudden increase in the raccoon population is usually just a seasonal increase in visibility. The animals were there before — you just weren't seeing them.
Seeing a raccoon during the day does not mean it is sick
This is one of the most common misconceptions boards encounter. Healthy mother raccoons frequently forage during the day while raising young — wildlife organizations throughout Ontario regularly advise that daytime sightings alone are not cause for concern. If an animal appears injured, disoriented, or aggressive, that's worth reporting. A raccoon walking across a parking lot at noon in June is not. She has places to be.
Why condominium communities attract raccoons
Modern condo communities offer most of what raccoons are looking for: trees and shrubs for cover, decks and sheds for shelter, landscaped areas, accessible garbage, pet food left outside, bird feeders, and water. Raccoons are highly adaptable and thrive in urban environments — Toronto's raccoon population is, at this point, essentially a parallel municipal government.
Their populations track directly with food availability and den sites, which means a well-maintained property with secured attractants is a less appealing one. You will not eliminate raccoons from your community. You can, however, make it slightly less of a destination resort.
What can the corporation do?
It depends on the situation.
If raccoons are passing through the property, there's generally very little that can or should be done. Corporations aren't expected to remove wildlife that's simply present on common elements.
Action may be appropriate if raccoons are entering attics or crawlspaces, denning under decks or structures, gaining access to buildings, causing damage to common elements, or creating health or safety concerns. In those cases, humane wildlife control measures may be required. The focus should be on identifying and securing entry points rather than repeatedly trapping animals — wildlife professionals generally work through exclusion, one-way exits, and preventing future access.
Ontario law on trapping and relocation
Many people are surprised to learn that Ontario has strict rules on wildlife relocation. Under provincial regulations, a captured raccoon generally must be released within one kilometre of where it was captured. The province introduced this rule because relocated animals often struggle to survive in unfamiliar territory.
The old practice of trapping a raccoon and driving it somewhere rural is generally not permitted — and in most cases wouldn't solve anything anyway, because the conditions that attracted the animal in the first place remain unchanged. You'd also be doing the raccoon a disservice. It knows your property. It does not know wherever you were planning to take it, and it would like to register a formal complaint.
What local municipalities recommend
Across Waterloo Region, Barrie, Norfolk County, Haldimand County, and Central Elgin, the advice is consistent: secure your attractants, seal your access points, and call a professional if something moves in. Garbage and recycling containers should be secured. Pet food shouldn't be left outside. Decks, sheds, and rooflines are worth inspecting before animals find them first.
Most municipalities no longer provide direct removal services for nuisance raccoons on private property — they'll point you toward a licensed wildlife control provider when intervention is actually needed.
When should you report a raccoon?
Contact management if you observe a raccoon entering a building, denning inside or under a structure, causing property damage, behaving aggressively, or if an animal appears injured. Otherwise, regular sightings this time of year are a normal part of living in Ontario.
The good news
It doesn't last. As the young mature through the summer they become more independent, more cautious around people, and considerably less interested in your parking lot. By late summer the family groups have dispersed and things quiet down on their own.
The kits that were tumbling around your visitor parking in June will be perfectly competent, appropriately secretive raccoons by September. They grow up fast. It's almost touching, if you can get past the garbage situation.
Secure the attractants, keep an eye out for denning activity, and let the season run its course.