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AMENDMENT TO COMPENSATION REGULATIONS TO AID IN TREE-REPLANTING EFFORTS

Related News Releases: 2005-09-01 | 2005-05-19 | 2004-05-12

OTTAWA, September 1, 2005 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced today an amendment to extend the Introduced Forest Pest Compensation Regulations to compensate property owners in Ontario and Nova Scotia for the replacement of trees ordered destroyed to control the spread of three invasive forest pests. Tree owners receiving CFIA notices from January 2005 to March 31, 2006 will be eligible for compensation.

As in the past, compensation will be available to property owners whose trees were ordered destroyed due to measures used to combat the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle (BSLB) in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, the Asian Long-Horned Beetle (AHLB) in parts of Toronto and Vaughan, Ontario and the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Essex County and parts of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario.

"I am committed to supporting the tree-replanting effort in these communities and to forge ahead with the process of renewal. I am pleased to announce that homeowners affected by the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle, the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer will be compensated," said Minister Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Minister responsible for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Three categories of land have been established as the basis for providing compensation: privately-owned, public or municipal lands and woodlots.

Compensation is provided on the basis of the direct cost of replacing a tree up to a set maximum amount. The maximum amounts are $300 per tree ordered destroyed on privately-owned land, $150 per tree on public land, and $40 per tree in woodlots. The maximum applies to both the purchase of a tree and to reasonable costs for planting. The CFIA has established an administrative process to reimburse those affected in each region. The regulations exclude certain lands from compensation, such as railway and utility right of ways, drainage ditches and unmanaged or wild areas.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) estimates that the replanting effort between January 2005 and March 31, 2006 will cost approximately $5.75 million.

For more information on this process, please see our website at www.inspection.gc.ca.

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For more information:

Minister’s Office
Matthew Tolley
Press Secretary
(613) 759-1059

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media Relations
(613) 228-6682