City reaches another milestone towards tree planting goal |
December 9, 2025
The City planted a record-breaking 484,091 trees and shrubs in 2025, making substantial progress towards its long-term tree planting goals.
“We are excited to keep our upward trajectory of planting more trees year-over-year as we expand our urban forest. These efforts are an investment in our collective health and well-being, contributing to a climate resilient future, cleaner air and increased biodiversity, enriching our quality of life,” said Mark Beare, Director of Parks and Urban Forestry.
The number of plantings in 2025 surpasses the previous record from 2024, when 342,157 trees and shrubs were planted. The majority of the City’s planting work was carried out through the naturalization program, which includes the Root for Trees volunteer tree planting program.
“We are incredibly thankful for the efforts of thousands of dedicated volunteers, who helped Root for Trees plant over 45,000 trees and shrubs throughout the city,” said Lindsay Vander Hoek, Root for Trees Team Lead. “Their amazing effort is helping transform our community and will benefit future generations of Edmontonians.”
City naturalization efforts also expanded, with plantings at 59 locations this year compared to 45 in 2024. To increase equitable tree distribution, the City’s Grow Together program collaborated with three neighbourhoods to plant 50 new boulevard and open-space trees and host multiple community educational events. The City also replaced boulevard and open-space trees that were removed and planted 'net new trees' – a concept used to indicate the total number beyond replacement – to expand the urban forest canopy.
The net new trees planted support Edmonton’s City Plan goals of planting 2 million trees and achieving 20 per cent canopy cover by 2071. Since 2021, the City has planted 810,546 trees and shrubs toward these goals.
The City is receiving $48 million in funding from the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program, along with approximately $66 million in approved municipal capital budget funding to support this work. Planting began in April 2022 and will continue until the end of 2030.
“This record planting season is great news for Edmonton,” said the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience, and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada. “Adding more trees makes our neighbourhoods cooler, greener and more welcoming. It’s the kind simple, practical work that genuinely improves quality of life for families across our city.”
Trees Planted in 2025 through City Programs
Naturalization Program - 339,165 trees and 137,829 shrubs
Boulevard and Open Space Tree Renewal Program - 3,077 trees
Boulevard and Open Space Backlog Renewal Program - 3,000 trees
Boulevard and Open Space Growth Tree Planting Program - 866 trees
Boulevard and Open Space Community-driven Planting Program - 154 trees |
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