By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
City of Martensville councillors passed a motion during their April 21 meeting to retroactively approve an application to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for funding to complete a plan that would assist in future tree-planting efforts and also help protect the city’s existing trees.
Director of Infrastructure and Operations Matt Gruza wrote in a report to council that Martensville currently has no tree inventory, planting strategy or mechanism for tracking tree health.
“The annual tree planting program is not data-driven, which risks improper tree selection and placement leading to lower survival rates,” he indicated.
Through their Green Municipal Fund, the FCM offers a multi-year program called Growing Canada’s Community Canopies (GCCC), which is intended to help communities expand urban forestry.
With this program, the city could receive up to 80% of the funding needed to complete an Urban Canopy Assessment and Expansion Plan.
Gruza said this plan would deliver a GIS-based tree inventory, including information on tree health throughout Martensville. It would also help identify priority planting areas, develop a species diversification strategy and ultimately support a long-term Urban Forest Management Plan.
As well, because this is a multi-year program, completing this initial step would open the door to Martensville being able to apply for the upcoming 2027 and 2028 FCM Tree Planting Program, which funds up to 50% of eligible planting costs.
“Administration feels that this is a great opportunity,” Gruza said.
He noted that the city’s application has already been submitted; while he would normally come before council and ask for their approval before doing so, this program has a fairly high uptake and the deadline for applying would have closed before he had a chance.
“So we put our application in just so we wouldn’t miss the window,” he said.
That said, completing this Urban Canopy Assessment and Expansion Plan carries an estimated price tag of $140,801, though the costs could be lower if the subsequent request for proposals (RFP) goes smoothly.
If that estimate still proves accurate, FCM would fund up to $112,641, leaving the city to come up with the remaining $28,160.
Gruza said there is $20,000 in the 2026 tree planting budget, and the remaining $8,160 could be funded through operational savings.
However, if that is not possible by the end of the year, he suggested they could withdraw the remaining amount from the Special Projects Reserve, which currently has a balance of $396,180.