Liberals scrap Trudeau’s 2 billion trees pledge after planting less than half
The Liberal government is abandoning its failing 2 Billion Trees program, having planted less than half of its promised target in five years.
The Liberal government is abandoning its failing 2 Billion Trees program, having planted less than half of its promised target in five years.
The federal government is ending its 2 Billion Trees program. According to the 2025 budget, “The government will wind down the 2 Billion Trees program. Existing contribution agreements and commitments will be honoured, and uncommitted funds will be returned.”
The budget states that Natural Resources Canada will “end the 2 Billion Trees program” as part of broader spending reductions, committing instead to “sustainable forest management practices.”
The 2025 budget allocates $200 million over four years to close out the program. This is part of Natural Resources Canada’s effort to achieve up to 15% in savings targets by streamlining climate programs.
The move marks the quiet end of one of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s signature environmental pledges, first announced in 2019 following pressure from climate activists, including a Montreal rally led by Greta Thunberg. Trudeau had announced the program in a Twitter post at the time.
While the government winds down a climate initiative that generates no revenue, it is simultaneously expanding the industrial carbon-tax regime, which does generate revenue. This expansion locks in rising carbon costs for industry through 2050 and gives Ottawa new powers to enforce its pricing system on provinces that fall short of federal standards.
In 2021, Ottawa launched the $3.2-billion program to plant two billion trees by 2031, promising it would help Canada exceed its 2030 emissions-reduction targets and contribute to “net zero by 2050.” The initiative partnered with provinces, territories, Indigenous governments, municipalities and non-profits to plant trees on both public and private lands.
By September 2025, federal data showed the program had committed to nearly one billion trees through signed or pending agreements but had only planted about 228 million — barely 11 per cent of the total.
A federal update published earlier that year confirmed the program had “reached nearly 1 billion trees to be planted,” with over 23 per cent already in the ground. It emphasized that “getting from seeds to trees takes years,” and that progress would continue through long-term agreements extending to 2031.
The government has opted to terminate future targets for the program.
Natural Resources Canada’s 2025 budget states, “NRCan will streamline its suite of programming, winding down several programs like the Canada Greener Homes Grant. In addition, the department will also end the 2 Billion Trees program.”
By September 2024, the federal government said it had “secured or is negotiating agreements with partners to plant over 716 million trees.”
As of June 2025, the feds say this number has climbed to 988 million trees.
The Liberals previously said that by 2031, up to $3.2 billion would be invested in the tree planting program.
However, in 2021, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that the program would actually cost around $5.6 billion.
Internal memos obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter previously revealed the “two billion trees” figure had been chosen “as a slogan, not to be taken literally.” One departmental source reportedly admitted, “I can’t give an exact date on when the two billion trees will be planted exactly.”
Trudeau’s 2019 announcement promised the plan would create green jobs, restore habitat and help Canada “build the foundations of a net-zero economy.” With the program now scrapped, most remaining projects will end after their current agreements expire.
The wind-down leaves Canada with fewer than half the promised trees and no plan to replace the program, effectively marking the end of the Liberal government’s largest nature-based climate initiative.