In 2024, Council approved the Tree Program Review – Early Actions report (ACS2024-SI-CCR- 0002), which included the introduction of a Private Land Tree Planting Program. In 2025, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) confirmed funding through the Green Municipal Fund’s (GMF) Growing Canada’s Community Canopy (GCCC) funding. EnviroCentre was contracted to administer the new program, called Plant Your Place!
The Plant Your Place! program is part of the Tree Planting Strategy, the feature project of the Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) for this Term of Council and supports Council’s strategic priority of building a green and resilient city.
Through the Tree Distribution stream in 2025, 1,213 trees were distributed to residents from all wards of the city across five in-person pick-up events, while the Full-Service stream supported the professional site visits and planting of 50 trees at seven Ottawa Community Housing properties in neighbourhoods with low tree canopy cover. Feedback collected from participants through City-Wide Tree Distribution follow-up surveys was overwhelmingly positive, with 96% rating the tree pick-up events as “excellent.”
In 2026, the program has been expanded to increase the number of trees planted and to further prioritize neighbourhoods identified through the City’s Tree Equity Analysis as having the greatest need for trees.
EnviroCentre will continue to collaborate with Councillors throughout the spring to provide program updates, including City-Wide Tree Distribution event locations and information about the Priority Areas for the Full-Service Tree Planting stream.
Program Overview and Launch
In 2026, Plant Your Place! will double the numbers of trees planted by supporting the planting of approximately 2,500 trees on private land through two program streams:
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City-Wide Tree Distribution (2,400 trees)
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Full-Service Tree Planting in Priority Areas (100 trees)
Additional program improvements have also been made to further prioritize planting in Priority Areas, where they are most needed. Program uptake and outcomes will be reviewed following the 2026 planting season.