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Compare current Canadian prices on the coils people actually buy — PIC, OFF!, and citronella:
Best Mosquito Coils in Canada Compared
There are really only three coil families worth knowing in Canada: the pyrethroid workhorses (PIC and OFF!), and citronella coils for people who want a plant-based option. Here is how they compare, with a live Amazon.ca price check on each:
| Coil | Active ingredient | Best for | Approx. price (CA) | Price check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIC Mosquito Coils | d-allethrin | Best value · widely stocked | $6 – $12 / pack | Check price → |
| OFF! Mosquito Coils | Metofluthrin / allethrin | Trusted brand name | $8 – $14 / pack | Amazon.ca → |
| Coghlan’s Citronella Coils | Citronella oil | Camping · plant-based scent | $6 – $10 / pack | Amazon.ca → |
| Generic Citronella Coils | Citronella oil | Budget · sheltered patios | $5 – $9 / pack | Amazon.ca → |
Rule of thumb: if you want the most bites prevented per coil, buy a pyrethroid coil (PIC or OFF!). If you dislike the harsher insecticidal smoke and accept weaker, shorter-range protection, a citronella coil is fine on a small, sheltered patio. Check PIC coil price →
How Mosquito Coils Actually Work
A mosquito coil is a tightly wound spiral of a combustible paste — typically sawdust or dried plant material — blended with an active ingredient. You light the outer tip, blow out the flame, and it smoulders slowly inward like an incense stick, burning for five to eight hours. As it burns, it heats and vaporizes the active ingredient, carrying it into the air on a thin ribbon of smoke.
In most insecticidal coils sold in Canada that active ingredient is a pyrethroid — usually d-allethrin (the classic PIC coil) or metofluthrin (used in some OFF! coils). Pyrethroids are synthetic cousins of pyrethrin, the natural insecticide in chrysanthemum flowers. In the vapour phase they act as a spatial repellent: mosquitoes flying into the treated air are irritated and driven off, and a smaller number are knocked down outright. Citronella coils swap the pyrethroid for citronella essential oil, which masks the human scent cues mosquitoes home in on — a real but weaker and shorter-range effect.
The key limitation is the smoke plume. A coil only protects the air the smoke is actually drifting through — roughly a one-to-two-metre bubble downwind of the coil. Sit in the plume on a still night and you will notice fewer bites; step out of it, or let a breeze carry the smoke sideways, and the protection largely vanishes. Coils defend a chair, not a yard.
Citronella tiki torches sit in the same short-range family and land below a coil rather than above it: the plume is thinner, and the flame usually stands at the edge of the patio instead of beside your chair. If you were weighing a set of torches against a pack of coils, our look at whether tiki torches repel mosquitoes sets out what to expect from each.
The one safety rule that really matters: outdoors only.
Because coils work by burning, they release fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and combustion byproducts like formaldehyde along with the active ingredient. Peer-reviewed indoor-air studies have measured a single coil burned in a closed room emitting particulate matter comparable to burning dozens of cigarettes. That does not mean coils are useless — it means they belong in open air, where the emissions disperse quickly and exposure drops dramatically. Never burn a coil indoors, inside a tent, in a screened gazebo with the flaps down, or in a garage. Set it upwind, keep it away from where kids sleep or anyone with asthma sits, and put it out fully before you go inside.
Outdoor & Camping Use — Where Coils Shine
Coils earn their keep precisely because they are cheap, flameless once lit, and need no power. That makes them a natural fit for a handful of situations where a plug-in trap or a battery device is overkill or impractical:
- Camping and backcountry — a $7 pack of coils and a lighter weigh nothing and need no batteries or butane; stake one upwind of the picnic table.
- Docks and cottage decks — a still evening by the water is the ideal coil environment, with an open sky to carry the smoke away.
- Small, sheltered patios — where you sit in one spot for the evening and the coil plume can settle around your chairs.
- One-off evenings — a single barbecue or fire-pit night where a seasonal plan makes no sense.
- Around a fixed work area — gardening in one bed at dusk, painting a fence, or grilling.
Position matters more than most people think. Put the coil upwind of where you are sitting so the smoke drifts across you, use two coils spaced a metre or two apart to bracket a group, and always seat it on the metal stand it ships with — never directly on a wooden deck, dry grass, or anything flammable.
When a Mosquito Coil Is the Wrong Tool
- Whole-yard protection — a coil defends a chair-sized zone, not a property. For that you need barrier spray.
- Windy or breezy nights — the smoke blows away and takes the protection with it.
- Anywhere indoors, or in a tent — non-negotiable; the smoke exposure is too high in enclosed air.
- Tick control — ticks live in grass and leaf litter and ignore airborne smoke entirely.
- Kids’ play areas and anyone with asthma — even outdoors, keep coil smoke away from sensitive lungs.
- All-evening moving-around use — you have to stay in the plume, which a coil can’t follow you around.
Mosquito Coils vs Other Personal & Yard Solutions
| Solution | Cost | Coverage | Tick coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mosquito coil | Under $1/evening | 1–2 m plume (outdoor only) | None |
| Thermacell | $80–$150 first year | 4.5 m zone · no smoke | None |
| Citronella / natural repellents | $5–$20 | On-skin or small zone | Limited |
| Professional barrier spray | $549–$994/season | Whole yard · 21–30 days | Yes — full coverage |
The Honest Verdict for GTA Buyers
Mosquito coils are a legitimately useful little tool for the right job: a cheap, no-power way to buy yourself a smoke-bubble of relief on a still evening at the campsite, on the dock, or on a small patio. Keep a pack in the shed. Just respect the two rules that make them work safely — outdoors only, and sit in the plume, upwind of the coil. If you want more than a chair-sized zone, a Thermacell does the same personal-zone job without the smoke, and for actual mosquito-and-tick coverage of your whole property, nothing a coil can do replaces a professional barrier spray. For a full rundown of what works on GTA lawns, see our Ontario mosquito repellent guide.
