Question Period Note: Two Billion Trees Initiative

Canada committed to using nature-based solutions to help fight climate change – including planting two billion trees to clean the air and make communities greener. The Government of Canada is working to implement the plan to plant two billion incremental trees over the next ten years.

• Our government is committed to using nature-based solutions, such as planting two billion trees over the next ten years, to help combat climate change and restore habitats for species at risk.
• This historic investment will help grow Canada’s forests, while also restoring wetlands and grasslands.
• This investment will create green jobs, improve the sustainability of the forest sector, increase community resilience to climate change, and ensure that our ecosystems benefit the next generation of Canadians.
• Working with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples and stakeholders, we are putting together a comprehensive plan to fulfill this commitment.
• We will build on recent actions to revitalize our forests.
o For example, our $15 million investment to support Forest Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program, and $200 million to support several provinces and territories plant over 150 million trees.
• In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, our government has already taken early action by providing up to $30 million to small and medium-sized forest sector firms, including tree planting operations, to defray the costs associated with the need for incremental health and safety measures. This funding helped ensure a successful 2020 tree planting season, while protecting jobs.
If pressed on no new trees planted:
• Our government has planted hundreds of thousands of trees through the Infrastructure Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Fund.
• Building on these efforts, we remain fully committed to planting two billion trees, and we look forward to sharing more on that soon.

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