This list was last reviewed and updated on June 13, 2024.

Embark on a journey towards impactful and equitable climate adaptation. This webinar explores equitable climate adaptation, giving you the knowledge and tools to implement strategies that address local risks, enhance natural ecosystems and build resilience against climate impacts.  

The panel discussion, featuring climate action experts and peers, focuses on equitable approaches and strategies to local climate adaptation, and provides insights into local climate priorities and the resources available to support community climate adaptation projects.

This webinar was delivered in English with French simultaneous interpretation.

Speakers include:  

• Brad Badelt, Director of Sustainability, City of Vancouver 
• Ewa Jackson, Managing Director, ICLEI Canada 
• Emmay Mah, Executive Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance 
• Rachel Mitchell, Senior Manager of Programs, Clean Foundation

Resources discussed in the webinar: 

• Green Municipal Fund, Case study, Vancouver: Climate change adaptation through an equity lens
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Resource hub: FCM Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Efforts 
• ICLEI Canada, Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments 
• Tessa Watkins, Wheel of Privilege (available in English only)
• Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners (CUSP), Energy Poverty and Equity Explorer Calculator
• Prairie Climate Centre, Climate Atlas - Indigenous Knowledges 
• Indigenous Climate Hub, Indigenous Climate Hub 
• City of Vancouver, Sea2City Design challenge 
• Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW), Neighbourhood Heatwave Response Project 
• Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), Sowing the Seeds for Local Climate Leadership: A Learning Guide for Resident Engagement Using a Connected Communities Approach 
• Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), Community Hubs and Community-Based Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons for building a more equitable, resilient and climate-safe Toronto. 
• Climate Caucus, Climate Caucus Handbooks 
• Government of BC, Guidebook: Systems Based Approaches for Climate Resilient Infrastructure 
• HealthyPlan City, HealthyPlan 
• Climigration Newtork, Lead With Listening: A Guidebook For Community Conversations on Climate Migration 
• Quote: “Climate action taken by The City should be framed in a way that builds empathy and communicates how achieving equity for some leads to collective benefits for all.” - Climate Strategy Update What We Heard Report, City of Calgary

FCM’s Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative is delivered through our Green Municipal Fund and funded by the Government of Canada.

Are you searching for best-in-class and tested resources to aid your local government adapt to the challenges of climate change? Check out our curated list of reports, guides, case studies, templates and more, all aimed at helping you advance your community’s climate resilience. 

Our library is organized according to milestones many local governments achieve as they enhance their climate resilience. 

This collection was created with consideration for communities in Canada, with a range of population size, climate readiness levels, climate impacts. 

Libraries

We’ve curated a list of Canadian and municipally-relevant libraries to help you access information and tools specific to your needs.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Climate Change Adaptation Resource Pathway (ARP)	Natural Resources Canada	Tool	This interactive online tool guides adaptation practitioners at all levels through the vast array of information and tools available on the topics of climate adaptation.
Natural and Nature-Based Climate Change Adaptation Community of Practice - Case Study Map	New Brunswick Environmental Network	Library	This map offers details about projects throughout Canada that employ nature-based methods for either mitigating or adapting to climate change.
Natural and Nature-Based Climate Change Adaptation Community of Practice - Resources	New Brunswick Environmental Network	Library	This page is dedicated to peer-to-peer learning, information exchange and sharing of best practices for natural and nature-based climate change adaptation approaches. The website's resources section includes a cost/analysis tool, video courses, webinar recordings, and a resource library.
Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Platform Webinar Series	Climate Risk Institute	Library	This repository holds the recordings of Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Platform Webinar Series, covering a wide array of topics related to adaptation.
Asset Management for Ontario Municipalities: Tools and Resources	Ontario Society for Professional Engineers (OSPE)	Library	A page dedicated to tools and case studies to support Ontario municipalities in integrating climate change considerations into asset management planning, enhancing resilience and reliability in delivering municipal services amidst the impacts of climate change.
Asset Management Ontario – Case Studies	Asset Management Ontario	Library	A collection of Ontario-based case studies introducing asset management themes through a climate change lens.
Climate-Related resources for Local Governments	Government of Canada	Library	This page, aimed at risk assessments and adaptation planning, holds a collection of links to climate datasets, tools, guidance, and related resources from sources including the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and established international organizations.
CLIMAtlantic Adaptation Library	CLIMAtlantic	Library	This library holds a vast collection of climate adaptation documents, tools, and products relevant to Atlantic Canada and beyond.
Map of Adaptation Actions	Natural Resources Canada	Map	This interactive, searchable map showcases case studies of some adaptation actions undertaken across Canada.
ClimateData.ca	ClimateData.ca	Portal	This portal provides the most recent climate data in accessible formats to support decisionmakers. The website includes a learning zone that provides materials and training for understanding climate science.
ORCCA Resource Library	Ontario Resource Centre for Climate Adaptation	Library	This searchable library contains resources and tools to support adaptation work in Ontario, including reports, videos, and infographics.
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium Publications Library	Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium	Library	A repository of resources related to climate impacts, notably in the Pacific and Yukon region.
Resources – ICLEI	ICLEI	Library	This library contains ICLEI's tools and resources tailored to urban sustainability professionals.
ClimateWest Publications Library	ClimateWest	Library	ClimateWest's library of publications provides climate information relevant to Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The Publications tab contains a repository of reports and guides on climate adaptation.
Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation - Reports and Resources	Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation	Library	A collection of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation's recent reports, infographics and press releases on climate adaptation.
ICLEI Adaptation and Resilience Projects Library	ICLEI	Library	Repository of ICLEI's tools - including guides, webinar recordings, case studies, and reports - related to adaptation and resilience.

Adaptation Awareness Building

Adaptation Awareness Building in a community involves bringing together community members, municipal departments, elected officials, and other rights and stakeholders to build a collective understanding of climate change adaptation concepts, local impacts, and what equitable, inclusive, and Reconciliation-informed climate adaptation could look like in their community.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Learning Journey: Climate Resilience and Asset Management	FCM’S Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program	Guide	This four-part learning journey consists of an instruction video, two factsheets and a guide to help users navigate the steps of managing municipal assets and building resilience.
For our Future: Indigenous Resilience Report	Natural Resources Canada	Report	This Indigenous-led report highlights Indigenous knowledge, perspectives and experiences on the topics of climate change impacts and adaptation.
Communities and Research: Building Relationships & Reconciliation	NWT Association of Communities	Toolkit	A repository of resources related to healthy and respectful collaboration, relationship building and reconciliation in Canada, notably in the NWT.
Canada’s Changing Climate Report	Environment and Climate Change Canada	Report	An extensive report, led by ECCC and published in 2019, that sheds light on the factors propelling climate change and on projections for the future.
Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy	Government of Canada	Strategy	The Canadian government's national adaptation strategy, launched in 2022.

Business Case for Adaptation

Business Case for Adaptation means building buy-in through cost-benefit analyses that consider impacts to services, infrastructure, and assets, while also looking at broader economic, social, health, environmental and equity considerations. This is an opportunity to establish the rationale for why climate adaptation action needs to be operationalized across municipal departments; enhanced through collaboration; attracting private-sector investors, and embedding into systems and projects that serve the community.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Cost of Doing Nothing: A Toolbox for Building a Local Business Case for Adaptation	ICLEI	Toolkit	This toolbox helps municipalities assess the costs of inaction and supports climate adaptation planning by providing guidance on collecting local data and contextualizing it nationally and provincially/territorially.
Risk and Return on Investment Tool	Climate Risk Institute	Tool	This tool aids municipalities, property owners, investors, and watershed agencies in managing flood-related risks by utilizing existing data.
Investing in Canada’s Future: The Cost of Climate Adaptation	FCM and Insurance Bureau of Canada	Report	This report highlights the pressing requirement for substantial investments in local climate adaptation, emphasizing the critical role of such investments in aiding communities to adapt to climate change and mitigate risks from extreme weather events.

Collaboration

Collaboration within and between communities provides opportunities to share expertise, experiences, knowledge, data, successes, lessons learned, and outcomes achieved. Additionally, it opens avenues to leverage resources across jurisdictions. Inclusive collaboration aims to identify and engage rights and stakeholders, including equity-deserving groups, and create frameworks that foster their meaningful participation in the collaborative process. This includes building relationships that progress Reconciliation and that center Indigenous knowledge to inform climate adaptation.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Communities and Research: Building Relationships & Reconciliation	NWT Association of Communities	Toolkit	A repository of resources related to healthy and respectful collaboration, relationship building, and reconciliation in Canada, notably in the NWT.
Talking it Through: Guide for Local Government Staff on Climate Adaptation	FCM	Guide	This Discussion Guide supports local government staff in undertaking conversations with senior decision makers and elected officials about climate change and the need to build resiliency. It includes various tools and case studies to help guide this work.
Asset Management Insights: Municipal Collaboration	FCM	Report	This report incorporates real examples of what communities are doing to improve their decision-making on infrastructure as well as information on tools communities can use to better manage their assets.

Leadership and Commitment

Leadership and Commitment means establishing organizational-level commitment from leaders to drive equitable climate adaptation efforts forward and includes promoting champions within the community; establishing cross-functional teams to integrate climate adaptation across departments and sectors; obtaining Council endorsement; building relationships with Indigenous people to progress toward reconciliation; and demonstrating a commitment to embed equity and inclusion throughout the climate adaptation process. This is an opportunity to build the case to establish a climate resilience team to champion and drive planning and action.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Learning Journey: Climate Resilience and Asset Management	FCM’S Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program	Guide	This four-part learning journey consists of an instruction video, two factsheets and a guide to help users navigate the steps of managing municipal assets and building climate resilience.
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.
Communities and Research: Building Relationships & Reconciliation	NWT Association of Communities	Toolkit	A repository of resources related to healthy and respectful collaboration, relationship building and reconciliation in Canada, notably in the NWT.
Talking it Through: Guide for Local Government Staff on Climate Adaptation	FCM	Guide	This discussion guide supports local government staff in undertaking conversations with senior decision makers and elected officials about climate change and the need to build resiliency. It includes various tools and case studies to help guide this work.

Climate Data Analysis

Climate Data Analysis aims to understand regional climate hazards using historical and projected climate data. Collecting and understanding locally relevant climate data builds a foundation to subsequently identify and assess local impacts on a community.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Case Study Series: Using Climate Data to Drive Adaptation	FCM’s Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program	Case study	The case studies show how five municipalities used data from the Canadian Centre for Climate Services to improve their resilience
ClimateData.ca	ClimateData.ca	Portal	This portal provides the most recent climate data in accessible formats to support decisionmakers. The website includes a learning zone that provides materials and training for understanding climate science.
Climate Atlas of Canada	Climate Atlas of Canada	Portal	This interactive tool integrates climate science, mapping, videography, and storytelling to enhance users' understanding of climate change in Canada and inspire action.
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium Data Portal	Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium	Portal	This data portal allows users to download key climate-related information pertaining to the Pacific and Yukon region.
Canada’s Changing Climate Report	Environment and Climate Change Canada	Report	An extensive report, led by ECCC and published in 2019, that sheds light on the factors propelling climate change and on projections for the future.
Ouranos website	Ouranos	Website	Ouranos is a Québec-based collaborative innovative hub bringing together a consortium of diverse experts and decision-makers. Their website holds a vast array of data-driven reports, scientific studies, and other publications and learning materials.
Using Better Data to Identify Climate Change-Related Infrastructure Vulnerabilities in Canadian Communities	Canadian Water Network	Report	The summary report of 5 case studies carried out across Canadian municipalities, detailing their approaches to utilizing data for infrastructure vulnerability assessment and climate change resilience, covering various aspects such as asset risk assessment, flood mitigation, and drinking water system vulnerability assessment.

Assessment of Current Plans / Processes / Programs / Policies

Assessment of Current Plans, Processes, Programs, and Policies helps a community to establish the foundation that they are building upon. Using a climate adaptation and equity lens to review and assess current plans, processes, programs, and policies, can help identify existing strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement in existing local programs and frameworks.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Changing Climate Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.
Integrating Climate Considerations: Community Planning	FCM	Guide	A guide that highlights the importance of integrating climate change considerations into municipal community plans, emphasizing the benefits of proactive planning to enhance community resilience, providing examples from Canadian municipalities, and offering a variety of tools and resources to support climate-informed decision-making in community planning activities.
Getting Started: Exploring Entry Points Into Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This resource offers comprehensive guidance for integrating climate change adaptation into municipal decision-making, emphasizing diverse entry points such as asset management, public health, and land use planning, tailored to meet the specific needs, resources, and existing programs of each community.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment aims to use climate data to identify and prioritise climate risks and impacts within a community. A risk assessment approach typically encompasses identifying impacts, assessing vulnerabilities, and prioritizing risks using frameworks that consider the likelihood and consequences of identified impacts. Applying an equity lens throughout this process supports identifying and prioritizing impacts with the greatest risk to those most vulnerable.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Learning Journey: Climate Resilience and Asset Management	FCM’S Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program	Guide	This four-part learning journey consists of an instruction video, two factsheets and a guide to help users navigate the steps of managing municipal assets and building resilience.
Changing Climate Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.
Climate Resilience Express: A Community Climate Adaptation Planning Guide	Municipal Climate Change Action Center	Guide	This guide provides a framework around which to build climate adaptation plans from a locally-driven, workshop-based approach.
Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability (PIEVC) Protocol	PIEVC	Platform	This platform contains the PIEVC Protocol - which assesses historical climate data, forecasts future climate changes and events, evaluates the adaptive capacity of infrastructure, and estimates the severity of climate impacts to identify high-risk components and inform engineering decisions for adaptation measures - as well as a resource catalog and an assessment manual.
Using Better Data to Identify Climate Change-Related Infrastructure Vulnerabilities in Canadian Communities	Canadian Water Network	Report	The summary report of 5 case studies carried out across Canadian municipalities, detailing their approaches to utilizing data for infrastructure vulnerability assessment and climate change resilience, covering various aspects such as asset risk assessment, flood mitigation, and drinking water system vulnerability assessment.
City of Calgary Climate Risk Assessment Framework	City of Calgary	Guide	A two-step framework to enhance infrastructure planning and design in a way that builds climate resilience.
Climate Change Adaptation Through an Equity Lens	FCM	Case study	This resource details how the City of Vancouver engaged vulnerable populations to understand their climate-related experiences, resulting in practical recommendations that inform the city’s climate adaptation strategies, with insights on tailored engagement, adaptation solutions, and next steps.

Adaptation Planning

Adaptation Planning consists of formalizing the process of equitably addressing climate change impacts in a community. This includes setting a vision, objectives, identifying actions to address climate impacts, prioritizing these actions, and outlining implementation details to move from planning to action.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.
Climate Resilience Express: A Community Climate Adaptation Planning Guide	Municipal Climate Change Action Center	Guide	This guide provides a framework around which to build climate adaptation plans from a locally-driven, workshop-based approach.
Managing Natural Assets to Increase Coastal Resilience: Guidance Document for Municipalities	Natural Assets Initiative	Guide	This guidance document serves to equip coastal communities with comprehensive instructions for assessing and managing their coastal natural assets, addressing Canadian jurisdictional considerations, and providing detailed procedural guidance and supplementary resources.

System Integration, Mainstreaming & Monitoring

System Integration, Mainstreaming and Monitoring involves integrating climate adaptation and equity into existing plans, processes, and governance structures; ensuring that climate adaptation that prioritizes equity becomes embedded into everyday operations and decision-making across all departments and divisions; and evaluating and monitoring progress towards adaptation goals and objectives, and ultimately towards community resilience.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Learning Journey: Climate Resilience and Asset Management	FCM’S Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program	Guide	This four-part learning journey consists of an instruction video, two factsheets and a guide to help users navigate the steps of managing municipal assets and building resilience.
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Nature is Infrastructure: How to Include Natural Assets in Asset Management Plans - A Guidebook for Local Governments	Natural Assets Initiative	Guide	The Guidebook aims to aid Canadian local governments in integrating natural asset management into their asset management planning by bridging the gap between mainstream infrastructure practices and natural asset solutions.
Managing Natural Assets to Increase Coastal Resilience: Guidance Document for Municipalities	Natural Assets Initiative	Guide	This guidance document serves to equip coastal communities with comprehensive instructions for assessing and managing their coastal natural assets, addressing Canadian jurisdictional considerations, and providing detailed procedural guidance and supplementary resources.
Integrating Climate Considerations: Governance and Operations	FCM	Guide	This resource equips users to integrate climate change considerations into day-to-day municipal operations and governance, highlighting the role of every municipal employee in addressing climate change impacts and providing guidance on questions to ask and tools to use for effective climate action.
Tools: Operations and Maintenance for Climate Resilience	FCM	Guide	This page provides strategies and tools for municipalities to integrate climate considerations into their daily operations and maintenance activities, offering resources such as handbooks, worksheets, and factsheets tailored to different asset classes to help strengthen assets and safeguard essential services against extreme climate impacts.

Project Identification & Development

Project Identification and Development occurs once a risk assessment or climate adaptation plan has been completed. It involves examining current opportunities, priority risks, funds, capacity, equitability and other factors to identify actions to move forwards. Project development includes setting goals and objectives, assessing existing relevant plans and tools that could guide the work, engaging rights and stakeholders, assigning roles and responsibilities, and project scoping.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Map of Adaptation Actions	Natural Resources Canada	Map	This interactive, searchable map showcases case studies of some adaptation actions undertaken across Canada.
Codes, Standards and Guidance for Climate Resilience	Infrastructure Canada	Guide	This resource provides an overview of the impact of climate change on Canada's infrastructure, highlighting the importance of integrating climate resilience considerations into infrastructure planning and decision-making, along with initiatives to enhance climate resilience through standards, codes, and adaptation strategies.
Natural Assets Bolster Climate Resilience	FCM	Case study	This page provides resources aimed at helping municipalities enhance their understanding, valuation, and management of green infrastructure, which is crucial for municipal adaptation to climate change, often offering cost-effective alternatives to grey infrastructure.

Project Implementation

Project Implementation involves putting the project plan into action, which often requires procuring expertise and resources. The project implementation phase continues to rely on meaningful engagement, collaboration and communication to keep the project on course to meet objectives and achieve equitable impacts.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Map of Adaptation Actions	Natural Resources Canada	Map	This interactive, searchable map showcases case studies of some adaptation actions undertaken across Canada.
Equitable Climate Adaptation: Considerations for Local Governments	ICLEI	Guide	This resource provides examples and promising practices to dismantle the barriers that prevent local governments from centering equity and community engagement in their adaptation measures.
Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.

Project Impact Monitoring, & Analysis

Project Impact, Monitoring & Analysis aims to evaluate and measure the impact once a project is implemented. It gages progress towards objectives, goals and resilience to climate change impacts through a combination of project specific measures and key performance indicators, which in turn guides and sustains project maintenance and ongoing monitoring to ensure long-term success. Reporting, communication, and outreach are essential components of monitoring efforts as these activities play a role in keeping rights and stakeholders informed to continue to prioritize equity and provide opportunities to share success stories and lessons learned.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation	ICLEI	Guide	This Guidebook acts as a framework, built around milestones, to assist local governments in creating their adaptation plans. It is accompanied by a Workbook composed of 17 Worksheets to help guide this work.

Scaling Actions

Scaling Actions looks at expanding successful climate adaptation projects both within a community and to other communities. This involves exploring which projects can be expanded or replicated, increasing the size and scope of projects, understanding what will make them successful, and engaging additional rights and stakeholders to enhance project effectiveness, equity and reach.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Map of Adaptation Actions	Natural Resources Canada	Map	This interactive, searchable map showcases case studies of some adaptation actions undertaken across Canada.
Natural and Nature-Based Climate Change Adaptation Community of Practice - Case Study Map	New Brunswick Environmental Network	Library	This map offers details about projects throughout Canada that employ nature-based methods for either mitigating or adapting to climate change.

Financing Adaptation

Financing Adaptation involves building confidence in climate resilience financing and fostering investment in climate adaptation by developing sustainable and equitable models for financing resilient infrastructure that attract public and private investors.

Title	Source	Type	Description
Climate Resilience Express: A Community Climate Adaptation Planning Guide	Municipal Climate Change Action Center	Guide	This guide provides a framework around which to build climate adaptation plans from a locally-driven, workshop-based approach.
Financing Resilient Infrastructure Project	ICLEI	Toolkit	This page outlines the Financing Resilient Infrastructure Project (FRIP), a collaborative effort between ICLEI Canada, Co-operators, and ten Canadian municipalities to identify and prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing, aiming to leverage private capital alongside public funding to address climate impacts.

This is part of a series of factsheets aimed at supporting local governments to expand, manage and protect their community canopies. Full and healthy tree canopies help to sequester carbon, enhance biodiversity, build climate resilience and promote well-being for all.

This factsheet tells you how to properly plant a tree to give it the best chance of survival. It provides step-by-step guidance communities can follow to get their trees off to a heathy start.

Why does tree planting matter? 

Planting trees is an important way that communities can tackle climate change while also achieving other important benefits, such as increasing biodiversity and community well-being. Think of planting a tree as making a nature-based investment: When trees are planted in the right places at the right times, we can maximize the benefits of the investment by ensuring their long-term survival.

With some careful planning and clearly defined objectives we can successfully maximize those benefits.

Selecting the right area to plant in

An important part of planting is ensuring that new trees will have adequate access to light, water and good-quality soil for successful establishment and growth. Sometimes the areas we want to plant in don’t provide the ideal conditions for planting. For example, planting in paved environments (such as sidewalks or parking lots) poses challenges because the soil beneath the pavement has often been compacted to prevent settlement and cracking. Specific techniques to remediate or decompact the soil may be necessary before planting in those kinds of areas can be begin.

How to plant trees

The success of tree planting depends on several factors, including planting site conditions and timing. Here are six key steps: 

1. Choose the right time to plant

Seasonal changes, such as soil temperature and water availability, significantly impact the success of tree establishment. The ideal planting seasons are typically fall and spring, depending on where you live. This is when water availability is adequate and soil temperatures are typically close to ten degrees Celsius to support optimal root growth.

Be sure that weather conditions are cool enough to allow time for new trees to establish roots in their new location before spring rains and summer heat stimulate new top growth. Consider the impacts of climate change on local conditions and adjust your community’s planting schedule accordingly.

2. Transport your trees carefully and store them in an appropriate location

Potted stock and bareroot trees are fragile living things. Inspecting trees and shrubs before planting will ensure that quality standards (such as Canadian Nursery Stock Standards) will be met. Trees of poor quality should be rejected.

It’s also important to avoid damaging trees during transport. Here are some general guidelines for transporting and storing trees:

• Protect trees during shipping by covering them with a tarp or burlap or shipping them in an enclosed truck.  
• Lift trees using root ball straps or container handles, never by the trunk. 
• On the job site, store trees upright and in the shade and water as needed. Try to avoid storing trees on asphalt. 
• Plant trees as soon as possible after delivery. 

3. Prepare the planting site to ensure trees will have adequate access to sunlight, water and good-quality soil 

It’s a good idea to double-check that the chosen planting site is safe and accessible and free from any obstructions caused by utilities or infrastructure. Consider remediation measures if these conditions are not met.  

Next, prepare the necessary tools and equipment for planting. Inspect trees one more time before planting to ensure they are undamaged and still of adequate quality.  

4. Dig the soil pit according to the size of the root ball 

The hole you dig to plant the tree in should be at least two times as wide as the tree’s root ball and the same depth as the root ball. You’re aiming for the trunk flare (the part of a tree where the trunk meets the ground and flares out as the trunk transitions into the root system) to sit at ground level. If it is above or below ground level, this will damage the tree. Be sure to loosen any surrounding compacted soil to facilitate root growth.  

5. Prepare the root ball and plant the tree 

Carefully remove the tree from its container. For ball and burlap trees, trim as much burlap material from the root ball as possible. If trees are in wire baskets, cut or remove the baskets prior to planting. Inspect the roots for any girdling or circling patterns and lightly cut or scrape them away to encourage healthy root growth. 

Place the tree into the hole and then backfill the soil pit with the soil that was removed during digging. Ensure the soil is firmly packed around the roots to eliminate air pockets and stabilize the tree. Create a well at the surface for watering. Apply five to ten centimetres of mulch around the trunk, but do not create a sloped pile (it shouldn’t have a “volcano” shape). Don’t allow mulch to touch the stem. 

6. Water the soil  

Immediately after planting, water all around the root ball to settle any air pockets and ensure there's plenty of water available to the new planting's roots. Fill the soil well with water and moisten the mulch as well. Water often to help the root system establish itself in the planting site. 

What post-planting care do trees require?  

In most regions, newly planted urban trees usually require some care after planting. It’s common for watering or irrigation during dry seasons to carry on for two to five years after planting. Installing tree guards or wire mesh can protect against potential hazards, such as lawn equipment or animals. And large tree stock or trees in busy or windy areas may require staking or other support to maintain stability, but this should be removed after the first year of growth.  

It’s a good idea to develop a maintenance plan to guide young tree care and to monitor quality after planting is done. Post-planting inspections of all or even just a sample of newly planted trees will tell you whether the targeted planting standard was achieved.  

How to involve your community in tree planting 

It’s a great idea to get your community involved in tree planting. Getting people together for planting activities builds community by making people feel they are contributing to greening and beautifying their environment. It also provides valuable educational opportunities for participants to learn about the urban forest.  

Community members and businesses can be engaged through planting events held in parks, schools or other community spaces. Communities can seek funding from programs like Tree Canada’s Treemendous Communities Grant to support such events, and municipalities can receive funding for community engagement as part of a planting project through the Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative.

Next steps   

This factsheet has presented an overview of how to plant trees to give them the best chance of survival. In addition to following the guidance here to get trees off to a heathy start, please consult the other factsheets in this series (coming soon).  

Here are some further resources that can help you with your next tree planting project: 

1. Tree Canada, Canadian Urban Forest Strategy 2019–2024
2. Tree Canada, How to Plant a Tree 
3. Vibrant Cities Lab, Tree Planting 

This resource was created in partnership by Tree Canada and FCM’s Green Municipal Fund for the Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative, which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada. 

For over 20 years, the Green Municipal Fund has been supporting sustainable municipal projects with a unique mix of funding, training and resources across Canada. Last revised in 2015, our energy, transportation and waste funding offers were updated to be flexible, adaptable and aimed to maximize the impact of local climate action in communities of all sizes.  

With our revised funding, GMF is better positioned to support Canadian municipalities in delivering high-impact projects that focus on net-zero emissions and prioritize biodiversity, sustainable materials management, and anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and reconciliation. This webinar explores how with GMF funding, municipalities could make local buildings more sustainable, electrify fleets, recover energy from waste, and much more. 

Watch this webinar recording to:  

• Learn about the new changes to our funding.  
• Increase your understanding about the types of projects GMF supports.  
• Discover the multiple co-benefits municipalities experience by completing projects with GMF funding. 

Speaker:  

• Athia Kabanguka, Advisor, Programs Outreach, Green Municipal Fund.