Why do Ottawa's racialized and low-income neighbourhoods have fewer trees?
And what is Ottawa doing about it?
In its new 20-year urban forestry management plan, the City of Ottawa has committed to combat a growing problem: tree inequity.
Most Canadian neighbourhoods with lower incomes and more racialized residents also have fewer trees than their wealthier counterparts, according to research by Nature Canada and American Forests.
Ottawa is no exception. The city's official goal is for 40 per cent of all space to be covered with tree canopy.
But in the highly diverse downtown Somerset Ward, it's just 22 per cent.
"We started to realize if we drill down to where the areas of low canopy cover are, it tends to be in areas that house equity-deserving communities," said Martha Copestake, the city's senior planning forester.
For the first time ever, the City of Ottawa is calculating its own "tree equity score," which will allow it to pinpoint exactly which communities need support the most.
Trees are an 'incredible technology'
The benefits that people get from trees are "literally endless," said Erin Whittingham, a reforestation organizer at Nature Canada.
People waiting for a bus may have appreciated the shade of a tree on a hot afternoon, for example. Keeping cities cool with trees as temperatures rise is important for "building heat resilient cities," Whittingham explained.
But she said trees also improve our immune system, provide habitat for animals, grow fruit or nuts, reduce the risk of flooding, and improve mental health in the community.
"The way I really like to think about tree equity is thinking about trees as this incredible piece of technology that can really help us make our cities more enjoyable," she said.
"They can make our cities safer. They can make people happier. But right now this piece of technology is only available in certain neighbourhoods."
What will Ottawa do about it?
In Ottawa, natural disasters like windstorms and the 2022 derecho have underlined the urgent need to replant.
But Camilo Ordóñez, a funding advisor at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, explained that the disparity between Ottawa neighbourhoods is a problem with deep roots.
The Glebe and New Edinburgh have plenty of trees, he said, because they're older neighbourhoods and the trees are well-established. There aren't a lot of trees in newer, car-focused areas like around Merivale Road and parts of Alta Vista, which also tend to be more diverse, he said.
Whittingham said many landlords "see trees as a burden" because of the maintenance costs, so the canopy can be scarce in neighbourhoods with lots of rental units.
"In the [city] I live in, Gatineau, you can clearly see properties that are the low-rise walkups and they're all concrete," Whittingham said. "[There's] no incentive or requirement from the city to have trees on those private properties."
Ottawa's "tree equity score" — based on tree canopy cover and socio-economic data — will show which neighbourhoods need the most support. Copestake said they were inspired by similar work in Toronto.
Ottawa uses programs like Trees in Trust to encourage tree-planting.
The programs are popular in affluent areas but not in low-income neighbourhoods, Copestake said, even though that's where they're most needed.
"We [manage the urban canopy] in a more reactive way than proactive way," Copestake said. "That model of program delivery may not work as well for those neighbourhoods."
The tree equity score is expected in the spring of 2025. Once it has pinpointed high-priority neighbourhoods, the city plans to connect with their community members and take steps to plant trees.
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