Forests Canada
Barrie, Ontario, Canada 路 Nonprofit 路 National 路 since 1949
Formerly Forests Ontario; national charity funding tree planting on private land and forest recovery
About
Forests Canada, known as Forests Ontario until it adopted its national name in November 2024, is a registered charity headquartered in Barrie, Ontario. It subsidizes large-scale tree planting on private and public land through its 50 Million Tree Program and related restoration programs, working with planting partners and landowners from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, and manages a seed bank and seed collection program. The organization traces its history to the Ontario Forestry Association, founded in 1949, and also runs education programs such as Forestry in the Classroom and the Ontario Envirothon.
What they run
Subsidizes large-scale tree planting on private and public land through planting partners, originally funded by Ontario and since 2019 by federal, corporate, and donor funding.
Replanting of burned boreal forest and storm-damaged areas, including projects in Nova Scotia after Hurricane Fiona.
Annual collection of millions of tree seeds and management of a seed bank to supply future plantings, including the Tree Seed Diversity Program with the City of Toronto.
School education programs, alongside the Ontario Envirothon and Tree Bee.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hectares restored | 2025 | 1,800 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | source2024-2025 Impact Report: '1,800 hectares of new forest created' |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 3,600,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | source2024-2025 Impact Report (Oct 1 2024 - Sep 30 2025): '3.6M trees planted', 591 landowners, 620 projects, 6 provinces |
| Trees plantedto date | 2025 | 50,000,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | source2024-2025 Impact Report: '50M+ trees planted since 2004' |
| Trees plantedto date | 2026 | 54,000,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceHomepage: 'Supported the planting of over 54 million trees since 2004' (accessed Nov 2026) |
Upcoming events
- Forest Recovery SummitRegisterWed, Nov 25, 2026, 12:00 AM EST 路 Community meeting 路 Toronto