Calgary is a city of haves and have-nots when it comes to trees

City has one of the smallest canopies in Canada with many treeless patches

This is a composite image of two neighbourhoods. On the left, you see full fall colours towering over cars parked. On the right, you see the blazing sun and sky on a nearly treeless street.

A leaf-covered street of Calgary's Mission neighbourhood, left, towers over the comparatively treeless Saddle Ridge, right.Rob Easton/CBC

Rob Easton Nov. 4, 2022

If you took a walk on 5A Street S.W. in Calgarys Mission neighbourhood this October, you would have seen a quiet street draped in magnificent fall colours from mature trees. The noise from busy 17th Avenue, just a block away, would have been muffled by the yellow leaves above.

Compare that to Saddlehorn Crescent N.E. in Saddle Ridge, where a couple trees dot front yards on a wide street without sidewalks. There would have been little shade to protect pedestrians from the hot sun as the distant hum of traffic carried over from nearby 60th Street.

Similar comparisons between communities could be repeated with neighbourhoods across Calgary, a reflection of a city with one of the smallest tree canopies on the Prairies and with pronounced gaps between neighbourhoods.

And the patchy nature of Calgarys tree cover isnt simply an issue of esthetics. Trees have important social, environmental and economic benefits, experts say.

Its endless, really, the values of trees are profound for our species, said Bev Sandalack, a professor of planning and landscape architecture with the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Calgary.

Citywide, Calgarys tree canopy sits just above eight per cent. That is, 8.25 per cent of the land across the city is covered by trees, their branches and leaves. Calgary doesnt do too well when compared to other Prairie cities.

Edmonton, Calgarys sister city and rival to the north, measured its canopy at just over 13 per cent in 2019. Winnipeg estimated 17 per cent in 2018. In other Canadian cities, the canopy is 20 or even 30 per cent.

Here in Calgary, the situation varies widely between neighbourhoods, according to a CBC News analysis. Many areas on the periphery score less than one-per-cent coverage while others, close to city parks, have upward of 40 per cent.

Trees abound in well-established communities situated along Calgarys river valleys and waterways. But as the city has grown and stretched its borders, trees have become harder to come by, with notably fewer trees in distant, lower-income and, often, diverse areas.

The best examples are on the extremes.

A wealthy, established neighbourhood like Upper Mount Royal, where the median income is among the highest in the city, has a 32 per cent tree canopy. Saddle Ridge, a newer community where median incomes were $10,000 less than the citywide median, is under two per cent.

The city wants to grow its tree canopy to 16 per cent citywide and has a strategy to plant thousands more trees in areas where theyre hard to come by.

Coun. Raj Dhaliwal says Calgary must do better to share trees benefits in all corners of the city, regardless of where people live and how much their homes are worth.

The fact is just that there is inequity, said Coun. Dhaliwal, whose Ward 5, which includes Saddle Ridge, has the lowest amount of tree cover of all 14 wards at just 1.29 per cent.

Why the gap?

There are many factors that have contributed to the tree disparity seen in Calgary. In part, its a function of geography, according to the city.

The prairie parts of Calgary have poorer soil quality and arent natural places for tree stands, while the river valleys have water and better soil. Much of the city east of Deerfoot Trail sits on grassland with significantly fewer natural trees and poorer soil quality.

Away from its rivers, Calgary is a high-altitude, half-prairie city with a short growing season. Trees have a spotty record of survival to maturity.

Freshly planted trees can suffer from setbacks such as another drought, hailstorms or a Snowtember when the trees arent prepared for winter weather. The regular freeze-thaw cycle can also spell danger for some trees, especially younger ones.

Downed branches litter a Calgary street in a surprise Snowtember storm in 2014. (CBC)

Altogether, this means the selection of what can grow is more limited than in other parts of Canada, according to Julie Guimond, who has held the position of urban forestry lead at the City of Calgary.

We dont have this list of 100 species that we can pick from, Guimond said. We have a list probably closer to 30 that really thrive.

Yet the city could be doing much better, according to U of Cs Sandalack, with urban planning being another key factor.

Trees, boulevards and economics

The way communities have been planned and developed over decades has helped shape where Calgary has trees and where it doesnt.

Sandalack says the leafiest, green neighbourhoods are the result of visionary urban planners of a century ago who saw the potential for beautiful public spaces.

A single car drives slowly along a tree-lined 13th Avenue S.W. in Calgarys Beltline. Bev Sandalack says parts of the Beltline are a good example of urban planning that encouraged a healthy tree canopy. (Rob Easton/CBC)

Its the cumulative effects of design decisions, planning processes, redevelopment processes, more than anything else, she added.

You can see that in some older central neighbourhoods, built on a grid with treed boulevards cared for by the city. They still reap the rewards of a century-old investment.

But as the city boomed and spread outward, planners changed their emphasis from public spaces to private development.

Meanwhile, suburban communities built over the last 20 or 30 years often have curvilinear streets, limited sidewalks, no street trees, and large front-facing driveways. Alleyways are sometimes eliminated, so underground services come through the front.

And obviously, no room to plant trees, she said.

There was also a post-war period where the city stopped building tree-lined boulevards but required developers to plant two trees in every front yard. Properties were also bigger, which allowed for more space to plant trees, she said.

The other thing was economics, she said. There just wasnt enough money to continue this plan of street trees, regular street tree plantings, in all of these neighbourhoods.

More than leaves

Close to the core in Inglewood, on a warm October day, Calgarians could be seen walking beneath the canopy of Pearce Estate Park.

The park, located near the banks of the Bow River, is an example of a mature balsam poplar riverine forest that towers over the parks two- and four-legged visitors.

Its beautiful. Its nice this time of year with all the leaves and stuff. Its great, said Bonnie Bode, who was strolling through the park with her husband, Arno.

Its a perfect fall scene, but there may be more going on here than is obvious.

The mature trees have many cavities that serve as habitat for nesting birds such as tree swallows, northern flickers and common goldeneye ducks.

Environmentally, trees collect and filter rainwater. That reduces runoff from storms and stores water for later when its drier. They help with climate change by providing shade and acting as a carbon sink. Theyre also good for people.

A flock of magpies perch in a dead tree in Mount Royal. Trees provide critical nesting habitat for this signature bird species seen across Calgary (Rob Easton/CBC)

Theres research that shows healing after a surgery or an injury goes up if you can see a tree outside of your window, but we also know that they promote wellness overall, Guimond said.

A tree-lined street will also encourage drivers to slow down, which ultimately reduces collisions and pedestrian injury and death, she said.

On the economic side, Guimond said trees reduce energy consumption by providing shelter from the wind in winter and shade from the sun in summer, reducing the need for heat and air conditioning. Also, commercial districts with more trees can see higher revenues as people gravitate to more enjoyable sidewalks, she said.

The city measures canopy over the number of trees in an area because the indicator shows whether tree planting is ultimately successful. (Rob Easton/CBC)

These effects can create a feedback loop where those with the money can buy into a well-treed neighborhood, Gauri Sreenivasan, director of policy and campaigns at Nature Canada told CBC News in an interview.

When you already have multiple barriers to the ways in which you feel both welcome or literally comfortable in your city, she said, the lack of green space sends a message back to you about where you can live your life to the fullest.

Feeling left behind

For Dhaliwal, the Ward 5 councilor, a lack of tree cover in northeast Calgary is a big concern.

Walking through the community of Taradale in the councillors ward, Dhaliwal points out the design of the neighbourhood.

The residential area began to be built out in the mid-1980s. Just three trees about the same height as the houses line the whole street. The driveways are wide and plentiful.

In the above-normal fall temperatures in the mid-20s C, those few trees provided little respite from the heat as the concrete warmed the already hot air.

Sikh seniors stop for a chat between laps of the Taracove drainage pond in Taradale. (James Young/CBC)

Taradale had 2.67 per cent total tree coverage in 2020 higher than the average for the ward. Median individual incomes are roughly $10,000 less than the citywide figure of $44,800, according to the 2021 census. More than three-quarters of residents did not speak English as their first language, and Dhaliwal says the majority are people of colour.

Compare that to the citys wealthiest neighbourhoods of Bayview, Altadore and Upper Mount Royal, median incomes are around $80,000 and tree cover is about ranges between 17 and 32 per cent. Non-native English speakers range from 14 to 19 per cent of the population.

Dhaliwal says his constituents see the discrepancy as a conscious decision by the city that the northeast doesnt see the same level of attention because northeast residents are a bunch of newcomers and are just happy to be here.

In a way, Dhaliwal said, its an environmental injustice and racism that is happening to people who are living here.

The northeast area of Calgary isnt the only area with low tree cover. The east, north and southeast all have less than five per cent tree cover.

Coun. Raj Dhaliwal grew up in and represents Ward 5, which has the lowest percentage of tree canopy of any ward in the city. (Rob Easton/CBC)

But, broadly speaking, environmental advocates say those who have the means to buy into the older, leafy, tree-lined streets will do so, while those who are newcomers will find their community in more affordable areas. The northeast skews lower income than areas with similar tree cover, according to census data.

A study examining Toronto, Gatineau-Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City also found that not only are low-income areas more likely to have fewer trees, but those trees are also more susceptible to environmental challenges.

Until things improve in his own northeast neighbourhood, Calgarian Warly Butac says he will continue to drive down to places like Pearce Estate Park to take strolls under the trees.

This is the best park that we could visit close to our place, he said.

And all I can say is that Im encouraging other people to visit this area because in our area, like [the] northeast, we dont have that [many] trees like this.

Not easy being leafy

Nature Canada recently called on cities to boost their urban canopy to 30 per cent.

Others, like Sandalack, point to American Forests, a conservation organization, which says prairie cities like Calgary should aim for at least 20 per cent canopy.

The City of Calgarys goal is 16 per cent by 2060. Its tree canopy now is at 8.25 per cent.

So were still low in our aspirations, Sandalack said.

Calgarys goals are baked into the citys urban forestry strategic plan. The tree canopy target is an aspirational goal given Calgarys climate challenges and natural prairie growing conditions.

Looking down from Nose Hill along McKnight Boulevard. Deerfoot Trail and the airport act as a barrier between the leafy western half of the city and the prairie eastern half. (Rob Easton/CBC)

We want to not just add trees, Guimond said. We dont want to think about them as just trees. We want to think about them as a forest, that they are interconnected. The benefit of it comes as the whole, but we have to manage the individual tree.

As of early October, the city had planted about 80 per cent of the 7,000 trees budgeted for the year.

A significant portion of that work has taken place in areas with lower levels of tree equity, including the northeast. Still, just 25 per cent of the citys canopy grows on city land. The remaining 75 per cent is on institutional or private land, which means the city can only do so much by planting trees on its own.

One of the things thats lacking is engagement, engagement with private landowners, private house owners who are willing to plant more trees, Dhaliwal said.

Saddle Ridge in Calgarys northeast has just under two per cent tree cover. (Rob Easton/CBC)

Moreover, it will take 40, 50 or more years for many of those trees to provide the full public good of a healthy tree canopy, according to Guimond.

Dhaliwal said he is going to keep advocating for more tree planting on council as the next budget cycle approaches Nov. 8.

Its an opportunity to get serious not just about not just trees and greenifying our city, but also show residents that we are committed to net-zero by 2050.

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