Jan 23, 2025 - The report highlights how Canada’s tree nurseries anchor both forest renewal and rural economies. Growing more than 600 million seedlings each year, the sector supplies the backbone of national reforestation efforts and supports thousands of jobs. With rising wildfire damage and growing restoration needs, nursery production now plays an essential role in carbon storage, climate resilience, and long term forest health across the country.

Cat Lake First Nation (CLFN) and PRT Growing Services Ltd., North America’s largest producer of forest seedlings, have signed a memorandum of understanding today, establishing a significant new partnership to drive sustainable, resilient socioeconomic development in Northwestern Ontario through the regrowth and renewal of Canadian forests.

Visitors from the Canadian Tree Nursery Association would find real value in the Government of Canada’s Grants and Contributions portal because it brings all federal funding opportunities into one easy place to search. Tree nurseries play a major role in reforesting Canada, supplying hundreds of millions of seedlings each year, so projects tied to restoration, wildfire recovery, climate resilience, biodiversity, and community forestry often qualify for government support. The portal helps nurseries quickly spot programs that match their work, whether they’re looking to expand production, upgrade facilities, or adopt new growing technologies.

This presentation outlines the launch of the Canadian Tree Nursery Association, introduced at the 2023 Atlantic Forest Nursery Conference in Fredericton. It gives an overview of the challenges facing Canada’s reforestation supply chain, the origins of the association, and its role in strengthening national capacity to meet forest restoration goals, including the 2 Billion Trees program.

The following is a compilation of comments and recommendations from Canadian nurseries representing 85 percent of the national tree nursery capacity regarding NRCan’s proposed joint venture and aggregator concepts presented during the May 15 to 17, 2023 consultation sessions.

The session was convened in response to observations by Forest Ontario’s CEO Rob Keen and COO Liz Celanowicz, who met with several tree nurseries and planting organisations across Canada during two site visit series in 2022 and 2023.