The live Christmas tree industry is experiencing a resurgence, but B.C. farmers are finding it hard to meet rising customer demand.
In the last 12 to 14 years—and particularly in the last six—more B.C. consumers have looked to purchase a live Christmas tree, for two main reasons, according to BC Christmas Tree Association president Paul Huesken.
The first is the experiential part of going out and cutting down a tree. Some farms offer everything from tractor rides to petting zoos—an experience retail stores selling artificial trees can’t provide.
The second factor is consumers becoming more conscientious about their carbon footprints.
Since the 1990s, artificial trees have posed a challenge to real tree farmers, given their ease of use, storability and longevity. The shift to denser living has accelerated their rise in popularity, as many strata buildings in the Lower Mainland have restrictions in place for real Christmas trees.
But while artificial trees might last 20 years, they will ultimately still end up in a landfill, said Huesken.
“[Artificial trees] could have Canadian oil that’s been sent overseas and then comes back in the form of a Christmas tree. So, creating that artificial tree uses a lot of carbon, too,” he explained.
Huesken, who is also the owner of Woodsong Christmas Trees near Cultus Lake, added that 2024 has been one of the best growing seasons in the last decade due to summer rain.
Wetter weather was a welcomed sight after the heat dome in 2021 that scorched Christmas trees on his farm and raised seedling mortality rates from five per cent, up to between 30 and 40 per cent.
Nevertheless, rising demand and a decline in farms due to land costs and succession challenges has created a significant shortage of real Christmas trees in B.C.
Land prices, intensive labour
Gord Ferguson is the owner of Z&Z Christmas Trees, located on the corner of Gilbert Rd. and Steveston Hwy in Richmond. He began selling Christmas trees in 1979, and his now eight-year-old business offers a selection of “pre-cut” and “U-cut trees.”
“There’s way less Christmas trees being grown in British Columbia than there were 50 years ago,” he told BIV.
Most of Z&Z’s customers are repeat customers, said Ferguson, who gauges new customer volume by sales of his high-quality tree stands.
Although tree sales have remained consistent year over year, he said the traditional Christmas tree industry has shrunk.
Two of the most significant challenges facing businesses are the cost of land and the intensive labour required to grow a Christmas tree, which can take anywhere from six to 10 years.
“There used to be quite a lot of Christmas trees grown in the lower Fraser Valley and in Greater Vancouver, but that’s not the case anymore because land is so expensive,” said Ferguson
Buying a piece of land big enough to harvest up to 3,000 trees a year and make money is now economically impossible, he added.
The number of Christmas tree farms in the Lower Mainland has fallen consistently fallen over the last 13 years, from 215 in 2011, to 186 in 2016 and 127 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada’s census of agriculture reports, which are released every five years.
If this trend continues, the number of local tree farms could fall below 100 by 2026.
Succession planning
A lack of young farming talent is also playing a significant role in the industry’s slowdown.
“The biggest challenge—it’s not just Christmas trees, it’s all farming—is all the farmers are getting old and nobody wants to work anymore,” said Ferguson. “There’s no new generation of farmers and Christmas tree growers.”
The average age of farm operators in the Lower Mainland has increased over the last 13 years, from 54.2 years in 2011, to 54.7 years in 2016 and 56.9 years in 2021, according to the census of agriculture.
At the same time, the number of Lower Mainland farmers under the age of 35 decreased from 630 in 2011, to 595 in 2016 and 355 in 2021.
Inflation, transportation and exchange rates push prices
Around 550,000 cut Christmas trees are sold in B.C. each holiday season, but only around 150,000 of them are grown locally, according to Huesken.
Land and labour challenges have forced B.C. farmers to source roughly 400,000 trees annually from outside of B.C. to meet demand.
Most of these tree imports used to come from eastern Canada, but are now mostly sourced from the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
Transportation costs, brokerage fees and purchasing trees in U.S. dollars—along with inflation—have driven the price of real Christmas trees higher.
In the last few years, Huesken roughly estimates prices have gone up 40 per cent.
“Typically now, a Noble fir, Northern fir or Fraser fir is going for $20 to $24 a foot. So an eight-foot Noble fir… you’re looking at $160 up to $180,” said Huesken. “To the consumer, that seems like an awful lot of money, but if you look at the cost that’s associated all the way along, people get small pieces of the pie.”
The fact that approximately 10 per cent of trees purchased by sellers are left over also squeezes businesses’ profit margins.
“They’re not like a pair of shoes that you can put back on the shelf,” Huesken said.
Despite the many challenges facing the industry, Huesken—who has grown trees since 1987—said he believes it’s a good time to be in the Christmas tree business. Local demand is rising, and so too is international demand: He said he fields calls every year from customers in Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
Still, the industry could use support.
“I would love nothing more than to have the Ministry of Forests and Ministry of Agriculture sit down with associations such as ours and have a dialogue about … how to increase productivity, because it’s an incredible opportunity,” he said.
Despite higher prices, there could be great demand for live Christmas trees and holiday decorations this year.
Last week, Ottawa announced it would exempt various items and services—including real and artificial Christmas trees—from GST between December 14 and February 15.
Data also shows British Columbians are planning to spend more than $2,334 on average during the holidays. This is $343 more than the national average, according to a BMO Real Financial Progress Index survey.
Respondents said they’re looking to spend $177 for decorations, $504 for gifts, $320 for entertainment and $2,045 for travel.
Some 61 per cent of B.C. shoppers plan to spend the same amount or more this holiday, according to an annual FedEx Canada Online Holiday Shopping Survey issued last week, even though 53 per cent of B.C. residents say holiday spending causes them financial anxiety, according to BMO.
