Calgary to plant 930,000 new trees to increase urban canopy
Calgary is set to see a massive increase in the number of trees throughout the city.
The City of Calgary made the announcement on Thursday, saying the move is because of an agreement with the federal government as part of their 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program.
The agreement will see Calgary get 930,000 new trees, thanks to nearly $61 million in funding.
The trees will help the city move toward its goal of nearly doubling Calgary's urban canopy – the amount of ground sheltered by branches, leaves and stems from all publicly and privately owned trees – in the next few decades.
As of 2022, Calgary's tree canopy coverage was 8.25 per cent, and the city says the goal is to increase it to 16 per cent by 2060.
"By planting 930,000 new trees, we will provide more shade to cool our streets, increase our biodiversity, more effectively manage stormwater and enhance our collective social and mental wellbeing," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek in a news release.
Kyle Ripley, Calgary's director of parks and open spaces says healthy trees and a thriving urban canopy are invaluable to Calgarians.
"Not only do they offer climate and environmental benefits, but they also improve our mental wellness and create opportunities for community connection in our parks and outdoors.
According to the City of Calgary, more than 200,000 trees and seedlings were planted on public land over the last two years, and 7,500 trees were provided to residents to plant on their property.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau to announce temporary GST relief on select items heading into holidays
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce a two-month GST relief on select items heading into holidays to address affordability issues, sources confirm to CTV News.
'Ding-dong-ditch' prank leads to kidnapping, assault charges for Que. couple
A Saint-Sauveur couple was back in court on Wednesday, accused of attacking a teenager over a prank.
Border agency detained dozens of 'forced labour' cargo shipments. Now it's being sued
Canada's border agency says it has detained about 50 shipments of cargo over suspicions they were products of forced labour under rules introduced in 2020 — but only one was eventually determined to be in breach of the ban.
DEVELOPING International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
2 boys drowned and a deception that gripped the nation: Why the Susan Smith case is still intensely felt 30 years later
Inside Susan Smith’s car pulled from the bottom of a South Carolina lake in 1994 were the bodies of her two young boys, still strapped in their car seats, along with her wedding dress and photo album. Here's how the case unfolded.
REVIEW 'Gladiator II' review: Come see a man fight a monkey; stay for Denzel's devious villain
CTV film critic Richard Crouse says the follow-up to Best Picture Oscar winner 'Gladiator' is long on spectacle, but short on soul.
Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
'It changed my life': Montreal-area woman learning how to walk after being hit by stray bullet
A 24-year-old woman is learning how to walk again after being shot while lying in her bed in Repentigny, Que.