Vancouver councillors pushing mayor to keep promise to plant 100,000 new trees

Two Vancouver councillors want the city to plant more street trees to help protect people from extreme heat, noting that the mayor and his governing majority campaigned on a promise to plant 100,000 additional trees.

Councillors Christine Boyle and Adrienne Carr collaborated on a motion that will come to council Wednesday, which refers to the findings of investigations into the deadly 2021 heat dome done by Vancouver Coastal Health and the B.C. Coroner's Service.

Both of those reports noted that shade trees and green spaces provide "protective cooling" during extreme heat events, while also noting an absence of these things in urban spaces – particularly in poorer, denser neighbourhoods.

"The motion asks to significantly ramp up the city's existing work, to plant more street trees across the city," Boyle told CTV News.

"We know from recent heat events that the surface temperature can vary quite a bit from one neighborhood to another and that there are any big differences in existing tree canopy in neighborhoods across the city."

Extreme weather events are becoming more common due to the climate crisis, Boyle says, which means it is urgent to increase the city's tree canopy but also crucial to plant resilient trees.

"The tree canopy throughout the city is at risk due to extreme weather and drought, as well as the dominance of short-lived tree species such as cherries," the motion says.

Mayor Ken Sim and his party campaigned on a promise to plant 100,000 trees – above and beyond any of the targets the city had already set – during the first term.

"It will take up to twenty years for adequate tree canopies to form and have an impact on heat in neighbourhoods, we need to act now,” a news release from ABC issued in 2022 said.

Wednesday's motion refers explicitly to this promise and asks staff to report back "with a plan, timeline and required operating and capital budget to plant 100,000 new trees across Vancouver."

Boyle told CTV News that the campaign pledge was "incredibly ambitious" and that there has been no action taken since the 2022 election.

"In part, this motion is to try to catalyze efforts on that front and hopefully help Mayor Sim and ABC keep the campaign promise that they made," she said.

In a statement to CTV News the mayor did not say whether he would support the motion.

“Council remains committed to growing our city's tree canopy. All of my teammates on city council share our vision for a greener, safer, and healthier Vancouver," he wrote.

Asked to provide an update on what progress has been made on the 100,000 trees promise, Sim provided the following information: "So far, we've planted 25,000 seedlings in Stanley Park to bring life back to areas affected by the Hemlock Looper outbreak. And since 2023, we've planted another 2,379 new trees across our city."

Boyle says she is hopeful the motion will pass, although worried it will be amended or stalled. However, even if it passes unchanged, she says the real test of council's commitment to increasing the urban tree canopy will be revealed when it comes time to fund a plan.

"It takes an investment. The payoff is huge, it's absolutely worth it – but that's where I would look next," she said.

The motion also asks the city to do two things that would allow residents to play a part in increasing the tree canopy. First, to offer discounted trees for purchase, to be planted on private property. Second, to launch an 'Adopt a Street Tree" program. The latter would allow people to volunteer to care for specific trees on city land, particularly newly planted ones that are more vulnerable during extreme weather events.