Growing Canada’s Community Canopies: plant trees in your community
Grants for new community tree planting that improves shade, climate resilience and biodiversity. The current intake is for Quebec municipalities, applying alone or together, until 15 September 2026.
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Plant trees along streets, in parks and neighbourhoods with little tree cover, beside waterways or in forests needing restoration. Growing Canada’s Community Canopies supports Canadian community tree planting with municipal involvement and accountability; the current application window is limited to Quebec municipalities.
Funding covers up to 50% of eligible costs. Across the initiative’s lifetime, all funded planting within a municipality shares a cumulative CAD 10 million limit, including up to CAD 1 million for infrastructure that enables planting. These are shared territorial limits, not fresh allowances for each project or applicant. For projects spanning municipalities, each must acknowledge the funding counted within its boundaries. The guide gives eligible Indigenous communities a separate lifetime CAD 10 million limit; this does not expand the current Quebec municipal intake.
Infrastructure includes work such as modifying pavement or installing irrigation. Only work directly needed for tree planting qualifies; identify the planting-related share of work serving other purposes. Small planting pits and localized vegetation management are outside the infrastructure category.
Eligibility
Your project must have at least CAD 50,000 in eligible costs and add planting beyond normal activities, through a new initiative or expansion of an existing one. Requested GCCC funding cannot replace or displace money already secured. Projects that convert intact non-forested ecosystems, such as native grasslands or wetlands, into forests are ineligible. Voluntary tree replacement can qualify, but planting legally required after commercial activity or an impact assessment cannot. Invasive species are excluded; non-native species are allowed if they are not invasive. Federal land is excluded.
Complete planting and site preparation within two years of funding approval, followed by one year of maintenance and monitoring. Municipal land is preferred. On other land, provide written owner consent and confirmation of long-term permanence, tree ownership and maintenance responsibility. For residential planting spread across properties whose exact sites are not known when you apply, you may instead submit a landowner contract template. Each participating owner must sign it before planting, committing to permanent planting and long-term tree maintenance. The lead applicant remains accountable for the planting and first-year care and survival; duties may be delegated to a third party with proof of that delegation. Every project needs support from the council of the municipality where planting takes place.
Submit a planting plan prepared or reviewed by a professional trained in urban trees or forest health. Cover site conditions, soil preparation, tree stock, species, layout and planting methods. Explain the connection to municipal or regional plans, community engagement and how materials, labour and sites will be secured. Where exact sites are not yet known, example planting designs are allowed; most urban or small projects can use soil observations rather than laboratory tests. Plan short- and long-term care and monitoring, including how you will respond when trees die and replace them.
Explain how the project addresses local climate risks, biodiversity and fair access to tree benefits, including people facing systemic barriers or exclusion. GMF evaluates inclusive engagement, reconciliation and anti-racism alongside the planting design, benefits, budget and workplan.
The same project cannot have received federal 2 Billion Trees funding, including through a province or territory; funding for another project does not disqualify the municipality. Those funds and Tree Canada’s Community Tree Grants or National Greening funds cannot fund your share of the project costs (matching funding). Donated goods, services and volunteer time are not eligible expenditures.
Shrubs do not count as trees. They may qualify if they protect planted trees’ health and survival and/or are native species essential to habitat restoration; shrub-related costs cannot exceed 15% of total project costs.
How to apply
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- Only Quebec municipal governments may apply in this window, alone or with other eligible municipalities. Incomplete applications are deferred to the next assessment cycle. The CAD 10 million maximum is cumulative for planting within municipal boundaries over the initiative, including the CAD 1 million infrastructure allowance.
The Quebec window runs from 27 May to 15 September 2026. Start with the official readiness check and prepare a pre-application with a planting plan. Submit the pre-application to Quebec’s ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH) through its municipal portal, and upload a copy to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) funding portal at the same time. MAMH reviews the project before GMF evaluation and may need up to 20 working days. Obtain required provincial authorizations before work begins. Applications incomplete at closing move to the next funding cycle for assessment.
Only the authorized application contact from the lead organization may submit; consultants cannot sign or submit either application. If invited, complete the full application and GMF’s supplied Excel workbook for the project budget and workplan. Include the planting plan, municipal support, team résumés, applicable landowner and partner letters (or the residential landowner contract template where permitted), and letters for funding already confirmed. All financing need not be confirmed at submission. An invitation does not guarantee funding; FCM’s Board makes the funding decision.
Eligible expenses generally start after FCM receives the application and must be essential, reasonable and invoiced to your organization. Up to CAD 5,000 for preparing the application, including staff or consultant time and planting-plan preparation or review, can qualify if incurred in the preceding 90 days. Retain financial records for at least seven years and use the linked cost table when budgeting.
Submit progress and completion reports, an updated workbook with expense claim and confirmed funding, a payment request and project photos. GMF holds back 10% of the grant, capped at CAD 100,000, until a report on tree care and survival is submitted one year after planting. Continue maintenance and monitoring during that year; an external financial audit may be required by GMF.