Canadian Christmas trees provide real jobs for Canadians, from the growers to the farm hands as well as in related industries such as transportation, equipment supply and retail sales.

In Canada, there are currently 33 500 hectares (82 700 acres) of land used for growing Christmas trees. Not only does this provide habitat for birds and other wildlife species, but it also provides lots of oxygen.

As the trees are harvested, new ones are already being grown in the transplant beds to take their place in the plantation

It is generally agreed that the use of an evergreen tree as part of the Christian Christmas celebration started 400 years ago in Germany and spread to most of Northern Europe by the 19th century.

Canada was first introduced to the Christmas tree in 1781 in Sorel, Quebec, by a German immigrant, Baron Friederick von Riedesel. The Baron’s tree was a balsam fir cut from the dense forests of Quebec and was decorated with myriad white candles (for safety reasons, we do not recommend the use of candles today).

While in the 1950s most trees harvested in Canada were grown in forest settings, today 98% of the Canadian production comes from Christmas tree farms.

In the early 17th century Germany, wafer thin strips of silver were used to decorate Christmas trees.

Thus began the tradition of decorating with tinsel.

Considering the high value of gold and silver throughout history, this decorating tradition shows how much value was placed in decorating those early Christmas trees.

Canadian Christmas tree growers put in the same effort and values, if not more, in preparing the majestic natural trees for your home each year.