Caledon’s tree seedling program a growing effort to fight climate change

Town runs revenue-neutral program for the environmental benefit

By Zachary Roman

Spring has sprung and tree seedlings are available for purchase from the Town of Caledon at a subsidized cost.

The Town is bringing back its tree seedling program, which has seen over 185,000 trees and shrubs distributed to private landowners since its inception in 2003.

Katelyn Tozer, the Town's Manager of Energy and Environment, said she and her team took over the tree seedling program in 2016. She estimates the Town will reach over 200,000 trees and shrubs sold in the next two years.

“My team is responsible for the climate change portfolio at the Town and that is one of the big reasons why we took it over… our team specifically believes that increasing tree canopy and supporting residents and accessing more trees is certainly a positive step in helping individuals address climate change,” said Tozer.

She explained the tree seedling program is completely revenue-neutral for the Town and the reason they run it is for the environmental benefit. Still, there's other benefits to buying plant products from the Town, said Tozer.

“Because of the quantity of trees… and seedlings that we purchase from our partners, there are some cost savings that are directly passed through to residents in purchasing the trees through the program,” said Tozer.

Tozer said the Town has tried to make the process as easy as possible for those looking to buy seedlings, potted trees and the other products on offer. Products are available for purchase online through the Town's website (caledon.ca/seedlings).

Orders must be placed by Friday, May 6 and will be available for pickup on Saturday, May 28.

“We organize a pickup day for residents that's kind of designed like a drive-thru… people simply pull up, they show their identification in their car, they open their trunk, and our staff simply loads their vehicle with their tree order,” said Tozer.

The drive-thru style of pickup started because the Town wanted to offer contactless pickup during the pandemic. However, Tozer and her team realized it was a really efficient way to run the pickup day and decided to continue with it.

She added it's actually one of her and her team's favourite days of the year because they get to be outside meeting so many people as they give them their trees.

“Our team certainly has a lot of fun,” said Tozer.

The subsidized seedlings are available because of Forest Ontario's 50 Million Tree program and are available until the subsidy runs out. At that point, seedlings will be available at their regular price.

Also available for purchase are potted trees, potted shrubs and mulch mats. Mats were chosen instead of prepackaged mulch as the Town said they tend to last longer and stay undisturbed by high winds and decay.

For those interested parties with two or more acres of property, tree services and programs may be available from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority or Credit Valley Conservation (depending on location).

Such services and programs may include free site visits, technical support, cost subsidies, customized planting plans and hand or machine planting services.

“The community is really interested in what they can do about addressing climate change,” said Tozer. “Planting trees on your property is definitely a small action that individuals can take.”