2020

Project objectives:

The project will create new habitat by planting 10,000 trees and engaging the public as part of our living tribute the 117,000 Canadians killed during times of war. The Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign is planting 2-million trees for each Canadian who volunteered to serve during times of war. Of those, 117,000 trees are being planted along the 401 between Trenton and Keele Street in Toronto, one for each Canadian who lost their lives during their service.

With this grant, we will plant 10,000 trees along the 401 roadside by the end of 2021. This grant will also allow us to expand our community outreach and the community’s understanding of the environmental necessity of restoration and habitat in our urban areas.

Through our exclusive and ongoing partnership with the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), we will have planted over 77,000 trees along this vital stretch of highway by the end of this calendar year.

Trees will be planted along the right-of-ways and on-ramps using the Vineland Protocol, a planting method we helped develop that increases tree survivability in the harsh environment along highways to over 80%. Extreme weather events and invasive species have heavily impacted the tree canopy in our region over the last decade, creating an increased need for the climate change mitigation benefits of trees but limited space to plant new trees. Our project is uniquely positioned to address these urgent concerns. We have the ongoing support and official approvals from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to access and plant along the 401 roadway.