![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
Get them while you can! Calgary Christmas tree vendors expect to sell out fast amid rising demand and falling supply
Calgarians looking for the perfect Christmas tree this holiday season might find it a little more difficult with increasing demand and falling supply.
Colin Atter, the owner of Plantation Garden Centre says up until two months ago he had zero trees available to order because one of his main suppliers stopped shipping to Alberta.
It was a forgone conclusion that he wouldn’t have any trees to sell this year, but he experienced a ‘Christmas miracle’ when a new supplier was discovered.
“These trees have been hard to get, but I got a little bit lucky and with some good timing found a new supplier that was willing to work with me. We've now got more trees than we've ever had before,” he said.
“It just seems like the U.S. is taking a lot of trees out of the out of the Canadian market, they're buying up a lot of the trees because of this North American-wide shortage.”
Atter says he now has roughly 1,700 trees and his customers are becoming increasingly aware of the shortages as he’s already sold a few hundred this week alone.
Despite a huge increase in what Atter had to pay for these trees, he won’t be increasing his prices and hopes to make up any lost revenue through extra volume sold.
Other local vendors like Tricia Katelnitkoff, the owner of Cobblestone Garden Centre says her store also experienced a supply shortage for more than two months and was just recently able to finally fill its inventory.
Cobblestone Garden Centre has already sold half its Christmas tree inventory this week.
“We get a couple hundred trees in every year. Typically, it takes us until about the last week of December to sell through, but we got our trees less than a week ago and they're half gone already,” she said.
Katelnitkoff adds that demand has increase drastically over the past three to four years ever since the COVID-19 pandemic.
She pointed to a growing population of newcomers to Canada who wish to have a real tree and take part in the Canadian holiday tradition, but also the fact that there are fewer vendors and climate change concerns.
“There’s been some supply issues in regards to drought and fire and some health issues on some of the tree nurseries across the country so there's definitely been a crunch,” she said.
“Christmas trees, of course take a few years to grow and as a result, there are several different factors that play into the production of the trees themselves. Typically, these trees like a lot of light, a lot of sun and adequate freeze-thaw cycles throughout the year to control growth and to control disease. As a result we’ve been seeing a lot of trees go stateside."
CHRISTMAS TREE PRICES INCREASING FIVE TO 20 PER CENT
That being said, the Canadian Christmas Trees Association says tree prices are going up anywhere from five to 20 per cent across the board this year.
Shirley Brennan, the association’s executive director says the rising cost of transportation is what’s leading to this mark up.
“So that's where it really does impede some of the trees coming into Alberta because you don't have a lot of tree farms to get your trees locally from so you have to bring them across Canada so those prices have gone up,” she said.
Brennan adds that on top of the increase in prices, forest fires, extreme heat and droughts have affected growers across the country as well.
“The heat from the forest fires and the drought are a real concern for the younger trees, so that may mean that some of those trees are lost and I do know that there are farms that did lose some of their seedlings, and that may be where it stunted the growth," she said.
“So instead of having that trees that are 10 to 12 years, you're looking at 14 to 16 years for that tree to be mature.”
According to Statistics Canada, there were about 1,360 tree farms across the country in 2021, compared to 2,381 in 2011. It means approximately 1,000 farms have vanished over the past decade.
Brennan says Canada has lost around 8,000 hectares of Christmas tree farms as growers begin to retire or age out of the business.
“In Alberta, I can tell you that you have lost 438 acres that are used for Christmas trees, which is only 60 Christmas tree farms in the whole province,” she noted.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976944.1721898750!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.