Vancouver councillors pushing mayor to keep promise to plant 100,000 new trees

Two Vancouver councillors want the city to plant more street trees to help protect people from extreme heat, noting that the mayor and his governing majority campaigned on a promise to plant 100,000 additional trees.

Two Vancouver councillors want the city to plant more street trees to help protect people from extreme heat, noting that the mayor and his governing majority campaigned on a promise to plant 100,000 additional trees.

Councillors Christine Boyle and Adrienne Carr collaborated on a motion that will come to council Wednesday, which refers to the findings of investigations into the deadly 2021 heat dome done by Vancouver Coastal Health and the B.C. Coroner's Service.

Both of those reports noted that shade trees and green spaces provide "protective cooling" during extreme heat events, while also noting an absence of these things in urban spaces – particularly in poorer, denser neighbourhoods.

"The motion asks to significantly ramp up the city's existing work, to plant more street trees across the city," Boyle told CTV News.

"We know from recent heat events that the surface temperature can vary quite a bit from one neighborhood to another and that there are any big differences in existing tree canopy in neighborhoods across the city."

Extreme weather events are becoming more common due to the climate crisis, Boyle says, which means it is urgent to increase the city's tree canopy but also crucial to plant resilient trees.

"The tree canopy throughout the city is at risk due to extreme weather and drought, as well as the dominance of short-lived tree species such as cherries," the motion says.