From Quebec to Panama: Where Canadian Christmas trees are grown and shipped


News from Panama / Monday, December 14th, 2015

trees

The bulk of Canadian Christmas tree farmers send their fresh-cut firs and pines to the U.S., but tens of thousands of trees make their way to less wintry countries such as Panama, Aruba and even the United Arab Emirates.

According to Statistics Canada, the country is a big exporter of the holiday main-stay: in 2014, some 1,528,705 Christmas trees where shipped out of Canada, about 1,477,019 of which made their way to the country’s southern neighbor.

 

The holly jolly season generated $64.4 million of revenue for Canadian Christmas tree farms in 2014, up 16.6 per cent from the year before. Quebec has the biggest share of the evergreen industry, having exported more than half of the country’s Christmas trees in 2014.

Quebec and Nova Scotia might have the biggest cut, but it’s very much a cross-Canada industry. There are farms located in every single province, though not all of them are in the export business. Altogether, there are 2,381 farms, which average roughly 54 acres in size. Quebec is home to the largest Christmas tree farms in Canada and some parts of the province are holiday powerhouses: Estrie in the Eastern Townships counted 11,365 acres in 2011.