Urban Forest Master Plan

Burlington City Council approved the Urban Forest Master Plan and Woodland Management Strategy. Staff will use both as guiding documents to protect and improve Burlington’s tree canopy over the next 20 years.

The Urban Forest Master Plan and Woodland Management Strategy have five focus areas to help the City work collaboratively with partners and the community to protect and manage Burlington’s urban forest. These actions include:

1. Maximizing the life expectancy of trees by:

1. expanding the City’s program capacities,
2. formalizing the City’s maintenance standards and
3. improving how the City monitors and reports on its trees.

Trees are most expensive to maintain when they are first planted as well as later in life when their health begins to decline. Keeping mature trees healthy for as long as possible makes the most of the City’s investment.

2. Increasing canopy cover on both public and private land including woodlandsthrough:

1. formal planting agreements with partners,
2. issuing community tree planting grants and
3. applying for provincial and federal grants.

3. Developing best practices to manage climate change and invasive pests.

This will be done through the creation of a city-wide biodiversity strategy, and other tactics. It costed $10 million to manage the invasive Emerald Ash Borer. By increasing biodiversity, the City can reduce the risk, impact and costs associated with invasive pests.

4. Expanding opportunities for the community to get involved

Meeting the goals set out in the Urban Forest Master Plan will be a shared responsibility. The City has identified an opportunity to establish a Community Tree Board and invite representatives from all wards, the Indigenous community, home building associations, environmental agencies and conservation authorities to collectively work together to implement the action items set out in the Urban Forest Master Plan.

5. Improving data analytics

Every five years, the City will share a State of the Urban Forest Report. It will measure maintenance activities and adapt to climate challenges. The last State of the Urban Forest Report was published in 2022.

City staff project that it will cost $300,000 a year over the next 10 years to implement the 47 action items in the Urban Forest Master Plan. Funding will be requested and managed through the City’s annual budget process.

The City wrapped up its second phase of Engagement for the Burlington Urban Forest Master Plan in June of 2023. The purpose of phase two engagement was to inform community members about the draft Burlington Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) and to seek their insights on proposed goals and targets. Public input was collected through an online survey as well as a hybrid public information centre. Read the full report,

Thank you to everyone who participated either in-person or online for our UFMP information sessions. Your feedback is very important to us. Staff and consultants are reviewing the feedback and will use the information where appropriate. We have updated the project page with the information boards that were used during the sessions.

The online survey is still open until June 30.

Stay tuned for next steps towards finalizing the UFMP.

Public engagement for the Burlington Urban Forest Master Plan will begin on May 30, 2023. The engagement objective for this engagement phase is to consult community members on the draft Plan to refine it and inform implementation priorities.

We want to hear from you! You will have the following opportunities to provide your input on the draft Urban Forest Master Plan:

• Survey: open from May 26 to June 30, 2023
• Review the draft Plan: open from May 26 to June 30

Hybrid in-person and online Public Information Centre:

• Wednesday, June 07, 2023 - 7:00 p.m., presentation at 7:30p.m.
• Tansley Woods, 1996 Itabashi Way
• Or register at this link to join online (7:30 p.m.)

The UFMP phase 1 engagement report is now available to read. Phase 2 of the engagement process will happen in early 2023. Burlington's Urban Forest Mast Plan will update and replace the city's existing plan (2010). It will provide strategic direction for the management of the City's urban forest in the face of contemporary challenges which range from urban development to climate change, extreme weather and invasive pests.

Between May 30 and June 29, 2022, more than 1,200 people visited the Burlington’s Urban Forest Master Plan project page on Get Involved Burlington. Through the engagement tools posted to the project page, Burlington residents identified 50 locations where they either particularly value or otherwise want to improve the urban forest. In addition, 465 people responded to the public survey. Through your responses, we have learned that most would like to live on a street with regularly spaced, large trees. This is despite few respondents currently living on such a street. In addition, more than 80% of respondents want canopy cover to increase in Burlington and would be willing to pay at least a little more in taxes to support those efforts.

The State of the Urban Forest report provides you with more information about the current state of Burlington’s urban forest. Our project team will prepare an engagement summary and use it to inform the drafting of Burlington’s Urban Forest Master Plan. Stay tuned for more opportunities to provide input on the draft Master Plan in the winter of 2022/2023! We will also offer opportunities to provide input on the City’s Woodlot Management Strategy this coming fall.

The June 8 recording of the PIC meeting and Q & A are now available. It can also be found on this page in the document library. To enable the closed captioning, hover over the video and select the CC icon.

Visit the interactive Urban Forest Story Map: View data, graphics, and maps that highlight the current state of Burlington’s urban forest.

Don't forget to complete the survey to help shape the urban forest vision and strategic directions for the Urban Forest Master Plan

Public engagement for the Burlington Urban Forest Master Plan will begin on June 8, 2022. Engagement objectives for this project are to:

• Inform the public about the status of the urban forest, the many benefits the urban forest gives to the community, and the current challenges and opportunities for urban forest management.
• Involve the community in developing a long-term vision for the urban forest and goals for its management.
• Consult the community to find opportunities to preserve and protect, grow, and improve the health of our urban forest.

We want to hear from you! Visit this page between June 8 to June 29 to provide your input. Save the date to attend our virtual public information centre on June 8 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to learn more about the state of Burlington’s urban forest.