Waterloo expects to plant 10,000 trees over the next 3 years

The city of Waterloo is taking advantage of a new tree planting grant aimed at increasing tree canopies in Canadian cities.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities program is called Growing Canada's community canopies. Every dollar a city pledges, up to $10 million, is matched by the grant. For Waterloo, that's $1.9 million for a total of $3.8 million to purchase and plant trees.

The city's director of parks, forestry and cemeteries, Robin Milne, said that amount funds the purchase and planting of 10,000 trees over three years.

"The first two years will actually just be 5,000 trees per year, and then the third year is maintenance," he said.

Milne said the city has identified 82 sites where these trees would be planted, primarily targeting unshaded parks.

"I think the easiest way to put it is if there's a park by your house that has a playground, there's a pretty good chance that you'll see trees going into that park," said Milne.

Milne said this would also cut down on time city staff typically spend mowing these areas, reducing carbon emissions.

"We're kind of mowing grass for the sake of mowing grass."

With what little inner-city canopy coverage there is, some parts of Waterloo are subject to heat islands, Milne said. That's when infrastructure like buildings and roads absorb and re-emit the sun's heat in ways wooded areas and bodies of water don't.

Milne said the city sees some pressures from developers to begin construction in urban areas that may jeopardize what little canopy there is in the city. 

"So this for us was an opportunity to kind of get ahead of that loss of canopy and start getting trees in the ground."

Upon successfully completing the grant application, the city expects to begin planting in Spring 2025.