Kitchener's tree planting program receives $2.5 million grant from FCM and Government of Canada

Kitchener, Ontario – The City of Kitchener is the proud recipient of a $2.5 million grant from the Government of Canada through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Growing Canada’s Community Canopies program. This funding will support the City’s Growing Kitchener’s Urban Canopy project and matches the next two years of the City’s planned spending to expedite the growth of Kitchener’s urban forest. The grant will help double the impact of the work.

“The City of Kitchener is thrilled to receive this support from the Government of Canada through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to help us expand our tree planting program over two years,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “Kitchener’s trees give our community incredible benefits all year round like shade in the summer, habitats for wildlife, cleaner air and water, and helping us be resilient against climate change. When governments work together, we achieve things important to Canadians like making improvements to our urban forest that will benefit our community for generations to come. Thank you to Prime Minister Carney and his new government in Ottawa for their continued investments in our Kitchener community.”

The Growing Kitchener’s Urban Canopy project will plant nearly 20,000 new trees in Kitchener’s neighbourhoods, parks and natural spaces in 2025 and 2026. It will enhance local parks, expand naturalized areas, replace trees lost to the Emerald Ash Borer in our natural areas and create vital habitats for local wildlife and pollinators. Planting will focus on communities with minimal canopy coverage to make sure the benefits of trees are equitably distributed across the city. It will not include replacing trees that have been recently removed, which are covered by the existing City program.

The project will support Kitchener’s Sustainable Urban Forestry Strategy, which focuses on sustainable urban forest management and tree canopy coverage growth. Kitchener has a tree canopy target of 30 per cent in each ward by 2050 and 33 per cent city-wide by 2070.

Funding for these projects is being provided by the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees Program and delivered through FCM’s Growing Canada’s Community Canopies (GCCC) initiative. Announced in May 2024, GCCC will support the planting of at least 1.2 million new trees across Canada by the end of March 2031 while offering funding, resources and coaching to communities. Communities looking to expand their tree canopies can apply for funding until September 18, 2025. Tree planting funding will accept applications until September 18, 2025, for the 2026 planting season to support communities in expanding their canopies.

“Planting trees is an investment in the resilience of our communities. This initiative demonstrates how local leadership can spark national progress, delivering lasting benefits for Canadians and the environment. We are proud to collaborate with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to create greener, healthier neighbourhoods that will sustain Canadians for generations,” said Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

“We’ve seen the success of targeted planting programs in helping us advance our goal to grow Kitchener’s tree canopy coverage,” continued Hajnal Kovacs, Forestry Project Manager with the City of Kitchener. “This project will help us make incredible strides toward our goals. I’m excited that over the next two years, we’ll be able to double our impact on our urban forest, our local neighbourhoods and our community as a whole.”

To help celebrate this milestone and kick off the tree planting project, we will be hosting a public tree planting event at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 20 at Mausser Park. With the help of Sustainable Waterloo Region and members of the community, we will plant approximately 200 trees. The event is free to attend, with tools and refreshments provided. Register to join using Sustainable Waterloo Region’s online form.

To learn more about the City of Kitchener’s approach to managing our urban forest, tree planting programs and to suggest a planting location for new trees, visit Kitchener.ca/Trees.

About FCM’s Green Municipal Fund

FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) is a globally unique organization providing funding and education to municipalities to help them both reach net-zero and build resilient communities, while also delivering economic and social benefits such as jobs, housing and infrastructure. Since inception in 2000, it has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.9 million tonnes, funded more than 13,000 person-years of employment, enabled nearly 30,000 sustainable affordable housing units, and contributed $1.24 billion to the national GDP via the more than 2,336 approved projects. GMF manages approximately $2.4 billion in programs funded by the Government of Canada.

The Green Municipal Fund’s Growing Canada’s Community Canopies is a $291M initiative, ending in 2031, funded by the Government of Canada and delivered by the FCM. Capacity building is enabled through a partnership with Tree Canada.

For more information:

Krystin Scheels
Communications and Marketing Associate
City of Kitchener

media@kitchener.ca