Christmas tree production in Canada totals from 3 to 6 million trees annually. Trees are produced in many of the provinces of Canada but the nation's leading producers are found in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, which account for 80 percent of Canadian tree production. Of the 900,000 trees produced annually in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, most are cut from native pine stands.

Production history

The production of natural Christmas trees in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

developed similarly to that of the United States. Into the 1930s nearly all Canadian Christmas trees were harvested from native stands within local forests. Demand for Christmas trees continued to rise and the interest in Christmas tree cultivation increased with it.Canada's Private Forests
" The State of Canada's Forests: 1997–1998, ''Canada Forest Service'', 1998, p. 40-51, accessed September 23, 2012. Around 40 million

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

s are cut every year in North America; of that number, between 3 and 6 million are cut from

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Christmas tree farms and native pine and fir stands annually.Anonymous.
Christmas tree safety
, ''CBC News'', 4 December 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007. The nation's top three producers of Christmas trees,

, and

, account for around 80 percent of all Canadian Christmas tree production. About half of the total harvest is exported each year, mostly to the United States but also to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

.Canada's Private Forests
, The State of Canada's Forests: 1997–1998, ''Canada Forest Service'', 1998. Retrieved 7 September 2007. In 1995, there were about of land, divided over 4,077 farms, in production with Christmas trees in Canada. Five provinces vied for the title of Canada's top Christmas tree producer, three of which were close to each other in terms of percentage of the total national acreage devoted to the crop. The leading provinces in 1995 were Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario,

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario all accounted for 22–24 percent of the total national acreage used by Christmas tree production, and together the five leading provinces accounted for 95 percent of all land in production with the crop nationwide. The 1995 total crop numbered 3.2 million trees cut, Quebec provided 32.5 percent of the total trees harvested.The 2001 Census and Canada's Christmas tree growers
", 2001 Census of Agriculture, ''Statistics Canada'', 12 March 2002. Retrieved 6 September 2007. Nearly a decade later, in 2004, Canadian Christmas tree production was at 3.9 million trees cut, a 0.3 percent decrease over the preceding 10 years. The 2004 crop was worth around $62 million, 36.2 million of which came from the 2.5 million trees Canadians exported. The 2004 Christmas tree harvest represented a 3.3 percent decrease when compared to 2003.
The State of Canada's Forests: 2005-2006, ''Canadian Forest Service'', 2006. Retrieved 6 September 2007. Overall, between 2000 and 2010 Canadian tree farmers saw revenue decline 12 percent.
, ''

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

'', December 9, 2010, accessed September 23, 2012. By 2015, the number of farms had fallen to just under 2,400 and the industry was valued at just over $78 million.

British Columbia

Each year about 900,000 Christmas trees are produced in

(BC), most of these trees are cut from native stands and originate in the East Kootenay region of BC. While 75 percent of the trees produced are harvested from native stands those that are grown on plantations are grown by about 450 individual growers. All British Columbian Christmas tree plantations are found in the Fraser Valley, on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

, and in the Okanagan,

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

and

Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

regions.Christmas Trees
, BC Farm Products A–Z, ''British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands''. Retrieved 7 September 2007.

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

The Christmas tree industry in

is worth $30 million per year and involves some 3,500 producers and exporters.NSAC Partners with Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia
", ''Alumni E-News'', Nova Scotia Agricultural College, 16 December 2005. Retrieved 6 September 2007. The $30 million crop is represented by a harvest of over 1.8 million trees annually, 95 percent of the trees harvested are sold outside the province. The industry provided 500 permanent jobs and seasonal work for 2,500 Nova Scotia workers.
Remarks of Mr. Len Giffen, ''The Nova Scotia Legislature'', 20 November 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2007. Between the 1996 and 2001 Census of Agriculture the total area devoted to Christmas tree production in Nova Scotia fell 18.1 percent to .
, Sharp decline in number of farms in Atlantic Canada, ''2001 Agriculture Census'', 2 December 2003, ''Statistics Canada''. Retrieved 7 September 2007. Production was spread out over 535 farms, one-third less than in 1996. Despite the overall decrease in land area for the crop, Nova Scotia led Canada in terms of land used for Christmas tree cultivation. In 1996, Nova Scotia had ranked second behind Quebec in terms of land area devoted to Christmas trees. Arguably the most famous Christmas tree produced in Nova Scotia is the Boston Tree, which is donated by the province to the people of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in remembrance of the city's response after the infamous

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

.O'Brien, Keith.
Oh! Christmas Tree
, ''The Boston Globe'', 26 November 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2007. Usually, the Boston Tree is cut from an open stand, where trees are allowed to grow uncontrolled, but occasionally it has been donated by a Christmas tree grower.

Ontario

According to 2001 Canadian agriculture statistics the Christmas tree crop in Ontario covered and was worth a total of $8.3 million.Chapeskie, Dave.

, ''Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs'' (Ontario), June 2003, 24 November 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2007.

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

has a small Christmas tree industry; some growers cater to the "u-cut" and local retail trade.Prince Edward Island Forest Products
, ''Department of Agriculture and Forestry'', Prince Edward Island, Updated April 10, 2012, accessed September 23, 2012. The primary species is Balsam Fir with pines and spruce accounting for most of the rest.Island Christmas Trees: Safe, Natural, Renewable
, ''Department of Agriculture and Forestry'', Prince Edward Island, November 27, 2006, updated January 2, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012. Many growers plant seedlings on old fields but there is increasing interest in managing balsam fir that establishes itself naturally on many old cutover sites. In 2009, approximately 80,000 Christmas trees were exported from Prince Edward Island to the United States.

Quebec

, along with

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and the other provinces of

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

, is a primary producer of Balsam Fir trees for use as Christmas trees;McCullough, Deborah G. and Koelling, Melvin R.
Integrated Pest Management in Christmas Tree Production
", Integrated Pest Management World Textbook, ''University of Minnesota'', 20 September 1996. Retrieved 7 September 2007. the Balsam Fir is one of the most popular species of Christmas tree in North America.
, Plant Materials Program, ''National Resources Conservation Service'', 16 December 2003; 23 January 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007. Quebec Christmas tree production in 1997 totaled nearly 1.9 million trees, 80 percent of which were exported for sale in the United States and Mexico. The remaining 20 percent of the 97 crop in Quebec was sold locally.Balsam Fir (Christmas Decorations)
", (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), Fact Sheets: Gaspé Peninsula's Non-Timber Forest Products ''Union des producteurs agricoles'' (UPA). Retrieved 11 September 2007.

Other areas

Aside from the main Christmas tree producing provinces of Canada, Christmas trees are grown in smaller numbers in other parts of the county. In 1998, the government of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

instituted a policy aimed at encouraging potential Christmas tree growers to join the fledgling industry. The province imported approximately 17,000 Christmas trees, a $400,000 value, per year, according to 2000 numbers. Between 1998 and 2000 the government held training workshops throughout the province in an attempt to increase the number of local Christmas tree farmers.Aylward, Kevin.
Christmas trees and wealth industries
, (Ministerial statement), Forest Resources and Agrifoods, ''Government of Newfoundland and Labrador'', 14 December 2000. Retrieved 6 September 2007. The Christmas tree industry in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

is small and in the early 21st century was just getting off the ground. The province of Saskatchewan produces about 12,000 Christmas trees per year. The Saskatchewan Christmas Tree Growers Association has 25 members, five of whom reside in Alberta.Patience Pays Off for Christmas Tree Growers
, ''Farm and Food Report, Week of November 6, 2006'', 6 November 2006, ''Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food''. Retrieved 7 September 2007.

Notes

{{North America topic, Christmas tree production in

Agriculture in Canada