Vegetation Management and Tree Compensation Program

Overview

Planting new trees is an important part of the work Metrolinx does as it keeps the people of the Greater Golden Horseshoe moving.

In a built-up and growing region, some trees need to be removed to make room for new transit lines. To offset these removals, Metrolinx follows a detailed, science-based plan for planting new trees and keeping the region green.

Planting more trees

Overall, our practice is to plant more trees than we remove as we build new transit.

Metrolinx has developed a Vegetation Guideline that specifies how many trees need to be planted when any tree is removed, ranging from 1 to 50 new trees based on the size and location of the tree being removed. The Vegetation Guideline is used across our entire network to ensure more trees are planted than removed as we carry out the largest transit expansion in the history of the region.

Our goal is always to keep the number of trees we remove to a minimum and we strive to replace them in areas where they are being removed as early as we can.

Read the Metrolinx Vegetation Guideline.

Partnering to improve ecosystems

Our approach involves partnering with municipalities and conservation authorities across the region, and often goes above and beyond what’s required by local environmental regulations.

While Metrolinx follows municipal bylaws when compensating for trees removed outside of Metrolinx lands, we provide additional compensation when trees are located in designated natural areas, such as ravines. For example, a large oak on the edge of a ravine might be replaced with 50 trees. This recognizes that the value of a mature tree is significantly more than a young one, and we plant to account for that.

Our aim is always to enhance the health of local ecosystems and increase the vegetation cover in the region as we deliver greener transit options.

This strategy is based on the principles of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority Guideline for Determining Ecosystem Compensation, which looks at how a tree absorbs carbon and removes pollution so that trees planted to replace it provide the same or greater level of benefit to the ecosystem while also allowing the new trees time to grow.

If our guideline recommends a higher replacement number compared to local regulations, we always work with municipal partners to plant according to our guideline.

Metrolinx also helps manage dead and hazardous trees and the growth of invasive plants and trees wherever possible, planting only native and pollinator species to help improve the health of local ecosystems.

Any time we have to remove trees, our plans are carefully studied by a qualified arborist and reviewed by our municipal partners and local conservation authorities.

Read the Toronto Region Conservation Authority Guideline for Determining Ecosystem Compensation.