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Summary<\/p>\n
Urban forests cool city streets, sequester and store carbon and absorb stormwater runoff, among other benefits.<\/p>\n
But city trees face compounding stressors, from disease and pests to heat waves and droughts, which makes looking after them an intensive process.<\/p>\n
In Winnipeg, the municipal government has increased its efforts to nurture the urban forest, with a goal of growing canopy coverage to 24 per cent by 2065.<\/p>\n
Only a handful of years ago, the outlook for Winnipeg\u2019s iconic urban forest was grim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ash and elm-dominated canopy, best known for its elegant boulevard archways, had fallen into the clutches of Dutch elm disease and a scourge of emerald ash borer beetles. The city was losing public trees far faster than they could be replaced, planting just one tree for every three removed, according to the city\u2019s 2021 \u201cState of the Urban Forest<\/a>\u201d report.<\/p>\n But the introduction of Winnipeg\u2019s urban forest strategy in 2023 changed the trajectory.\u00a0<\/p>\n The comprehensive planning document laid out a 20-year path to restore forest health, grow the city\u2019s picturesque tree canopy and minimize the risks to tree assets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In response, the city hired more forestry staff and increased the department\u2019s spending from approximately $11 million (where it had hovered since 2016) to an average of more than $17 million between 2023 and 2025, according to a review of city budgets.<\/p>\n Results followed: Winnipeg had planted an average 2,500 public trees each year between 2018 and 2022. In the years since the urban forest strategy was finalized, it has planted more than 6,000 per year.<\/p>\n Since 2023, the city has replaced felled trees on public lands at about a one-to-one pace (though this does not account for trees on private property or in natural areas such as the Assiniboine forest or the city\u2019s riverbanks).\u00a0<\/p>\n But planting alone does not guarantee Winnipeg will make progress toward the urban forest strategy\u2019s ultimate goal: to grow the city\u2019s tree canopy cover from 17 to 24 per cent by 2065.\u00a0<\/p>\n Young trees must survive heat waves, droughts, severe storms, pests and disease to reach maturity and deliver the full benefits of the urban canopy.\u00a0<\/p>\n How a municipality cares for its trees \u2014 especially under increasing climate pressures \u2014 is just as critical to forest health as planting.<\/p>\n Planting a tree is just the first step. Then comes the weekly watering and the hand-weeding<\/p>\n According to Dave Domke, Winnipeg\u2019s manager of parks and open space, the city\u2019s trees are managed by a mosaic of forest stewards. Trees in new neighbourhoods are planted and maintained by developers, while the city\u2019s urban forestry crews are responsible for replacing felled trees on boulevards or in parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Community groups, neighbourhood associations and volunteers also plant and care for smaller trees in natural areas. Typically, these trees are planted as seedlings.<\/p>\n Domke calls the bigger trees the city looks after \u201clarge, ornamental trees.\u201d These trees leave the nurseries when they are between seven and 10 years old and their trunks have grown to a 60-millimetre diameter.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to be a substantial size in order to withstand our snow,\u201d Domke said in an interview. \u201cIt also gives a nice aesthetic and it\u2019s quite a nice size to grow on into the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After planting, volunteer groups, developers and city staff are then responsible for two years of dedicated tree maintenance called the \u201cestablishment period.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you remove a tree from the nursery, you\u2019re leaving about 80 per cent of the roots in the ground. You\u2019re trying to get the trees re-established as quickly as you can,\u201d Domke said.<\/p>\n During this time, trees are watered, weeded, mulched and protected according to a detailed list<\/a> laid out in the city\u2019s tree-planting and maintenance specification.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crews are expected to water trees immediately upon planting, then every one to two weeks throughout the summer. Trees should be hand-weeded during this time, the specifications say, and supported with protection collars and stakes.<\/p>\n Dive deeper on this topic<\/p>\n Domke said the city\u2019s maintenance work has been successful. Newly planted trees on boulevards and in parks survive about 90 per cent of the time, he said, about on par with the city\u2019s expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smaller trees in natural areas have a much lower survival rate, between 50 and 80 per cent, because they face more environmental challenges, he noted. The city compensates for the higher mortality rate by over-planting trees in these areas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with living things here, and you\u2019re not going to be 100 per cent successful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A healthy urban tree cools city streets and sequesters carbon \u2014 and costs at least $1,000<\/p>\n Healthy and mature trees provide a variety of environmental, health and affordability benefits to communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n A robust tree canopy provides shade, which can cool city streets, reduce the risk of heat-related illness and reduce air conditioner use by up to 30 per cent, according to the urban forest strategy. Winnipeg\u2019s forest also stores an estimated 500,000 tonnes of carbon<\/a> and sequesters nearly 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year \u2014 roughly double the city\u2019s annual emissions from building electricity. At the same time, the city\u2019s trees scrub pollutants from the air and produce approximately 15,000 tonnes of oxygen annually. Trees also absorb stormwater runoff, reducing strain on sewer systems.<\/p>\n But these benefits don\u2019t come without maintenance, according to the Green Municipal Fund, an endowment group that supports Canadian municipalities investing in sustainability projects, including urban forestry initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTrees should be considered valuable natural assets, and like all assets they require maintenance,\u201d communications director Julie Smithers said in an email.<\/p>\n But unlike traditional, grey infrastructure, which has a peak value when it\u2019s first installed and deteriorates over its lifetime, trees are least valuable when first planted, but mature into their peak value over a period of several decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGiven that the benefits of trees grow with time, maximizing their health and life expectancy is essential,\u201d Winnipeg\u2019s urban forest strategy says. \u201cTree assets cost the most at the beginning and end of their life cycles (planting and removal), so extending their time in healthy maturity ensures the urban forest maximizes the return on investment in tree planting and maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n The strategy gives the example of a single linden tree planted on a Winnipeg street: the city pays for its planting and annual maintenance until its removal. If it lives a long life, the strategy says, it will produce enough benefits \u2014 including carbon storage, avoided runoff, energy savings and pollution scrubbing \u2014 to give the city a positive return on its investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n But if it dies before maturity and must be repeatedly replaced, that single linden tree can cost the city a net loss of $18,000 over 100 years. That figure doesn\u2019t account for the lost opportunity costs of having a healthy, mature tree over the same time period.<\/p>\n Climate change makes maintenance more challenging. More frequent storms mean more pruning is necessary, and more frequent droughts and heat waves necessitate more watering \u2014 especially for young, vulnerable trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the city does not have exact figures outlining the cost to maintain a tree throughout its lifetime, Domke said the average public tree costs roughly $1,000 to plant and care for through the establishment period.<\/p>\n Winnipeg\u2019s public tree inventory valued at up to $740 million<\/p>\n Winnipeg has used that $1,000 figure, called the replacement cost, as a baseline to define the value of its trees. The city\u2019s 2018 asset management plan<\/a> valued the public tree inventory at just $226 million, based on a replacement cost of $740 at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cThis replacement valuation did not account for the fact trees grow and their value increases with size, age and health,\u201d the urban forest strategy noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cValuing trees based on their size and condition would provide a better indication of the true cost of replacing Winnipeg\u2019s tree assets, and the cost avoided by investing in maintenance to maximize their safe useful life expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n The forestry strategy recommended valuing trees according to a diameter-based replacement system, which it already employed for trees removed for construction. Small trees, with diameters of less than 10 centimetres, are valued at $1,000, while larger trees must be appraised according to a standardized formula.<\/p>\n According to the strategy, this approach pegs the value of the city\u2019s tree inventory between $683 million and $740 million \u2014 more than double the asset management plan\u2019s previous assessment.<\/p>\n related<\/p>\n Cities across Canada are employing tree appraisals and other natural asset valuation systems to better account for the benefits of urban forests, according to Tree Canada, a national rural and urban forestry non-profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Using remote sensing and mapping technologies, as well as on-the-ground sampling, cities are better able to quantify the ecological and economic benefits of the forest canopy, Tree Canada notes in its urban forestry guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n These valuations make it easier for municipalities to measure the return on investment in tree maintenance.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/220920_mulvey_trees_06-_-WEB-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
Winnipeg\u2019s trees have suffered in recent years, and many have been felled as a result. The city\u2019s urban forest strategy aims to reverse the trend and regrow the city\u2019s urban canopy cover, but planting and caring for the trees will require cooperation from many stakeholders. Photo: John Woods \/ Winnipeg Free Press<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/260604-Tree-Planting-4-WEB.jpg\"\/)
Young trees require a lot of care. Winnipeg prescribes regular watering and hand-weeding for its new trees. About 90 per cent of the trees the city plants survive. Photo: Ruth Bonneville \/ Winnipeg Free Press<\/p>\n![\"Seen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/33825002_220920_MULVEY_TREES_17-_-WEB-1024x640.jpg\"\/)
Unlike traditional infrastructure, which begins to deteriorate after it is built, trees are least valuable when first planted, and grow into their value as they age. If a tree lives long enough, it will produce enough benefits to offset the cost of planting and caring for it. Photo: John Woods \/ Winnipeg Free Press<\/p>\n