Christmas tree sellers seeing high demand this year despite some price increases

A young boy in a protective face mask holds the top of his Christmas tree down as the trunk gets trimmed at Aunt Leah's Place Christmas Tree Lot in Burnaby, B.C. on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. Canadians who plan to have a live Christmas tree this season should start shopping now, as the president of the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association expects 2020 to be a record year for sales. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Marissa Tiel

With less than a month to go before the big day, Christmas tree sellers are preparing for some of the busiest days of the year.

An early snowfall in some regions, including a fresh dump Thursday night in parts of Ontario, seems to have stoked customer demand even as some trees are more expensive than last year.

David Thibeault heads Treasy International, a producer that also sells Christmas trees online in Ontario and Quebec. He said he is seeing strong consumer demand so far that has exceeded his expectations. Thibeault added that most other producers that he has spoken to also have good expectations for Christmas tree sales this year, noting that purchases are up.

“I think that this early snow made a big impact. It felt Christmasy ... Even in Toronto, we had snow early in the season, and so we saw that there was a major impact on the sales just because of that snow,” he said.

Benefiting from the early snowfall, Thibeault said his company also tries to cultivate the holiday spirit by completing tree deliveries with drivers outfitted to look like nutcracker soldiers.

He said his company is currently selling more trees than ever, up between 15 and 20 per cent year over year.

“I already sold around 24,000 trees online, and the numbers keep going up.”

Natalia Stuyt, a manager at Fallowfield Tree Farm and daughter of the owner Kenny Stuyt, said that consumers have been coming in earlier this year compared with previous years.

“I do believe that the snow definitely inspires people. As soon as there’s snow on the ground, we know we’re going to get calls,” she said.

Stuyt noted that demand for Christmas trees has been rising over the past five years, but it has started to plateau. Now, she said, Fallowfield Tree Farm gets a lot of repeat customers.

Stuyt said that the family business typically starts to get inquiries about tree purchases at the end of the fall, as soon as Halloween ends.

“And then we get a huge influx of calls as soon as the first snow comes or as soon as cold weather starts coming,” she said.

By the end of November, Stuyt said demand for Christmas trees sharply rises, and there are even some purchases after the Dec. 25 holiday. But by Jan. 1, there are no more inquiries or purchases.

Doug Drysdale, the president of Drysdale Tree Farms Ltd., said his business also saw a bump during the COVID-19 pandemic that has remained. Year-to-year, he said, demand remains consistent, with a part of the population choosing to get a fresh-cut tree each year.

Drysdale said demand this year appears to be consistent with previous years so far, but the early snowfall “definitely gets people in the spirit.”

“By the weekend, virtually all of the tree lots in southern Ontario will have trees on their lot, and then they’ll be ready for this weekend and next weekend, which will be the two busiest weekends,” he said.

Drysdale added that despite consumers facing some economic pressures, Christmas trees are a “once-a-year purchase” that many buyers will find the room for in their budget.

But some who purchase a tree will be facing higher prices.

Drysdale said that every business he knows has been dealing with rising costs.

“In order to cope with those increases, just like any other farm or any other business, you’ve got to raise your prices a little bit to try and offset some of those costs which you’re incurring on a daily basis,” he said.

As a result, Drysdale said his businesses raised prices about two per cent this year.

One of the challenges Drysdale Tree Farms has faced this year included a drought during the summer, which increased the mortality of seedlings it planted.

“You’ve spent a lot of money to plant the trees and get the seedlings in the ground, and then when they die, that money’s gone. And then it takes eight to 10 years to grow a tree,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stuyt said Fallowfield Tree Farm raised its price by about $1 per foot of tree, with prices now sitting around $15 a foot. She said inflation drove the business to raise its prices after they were stable for the last few years.

Thibeault said he thinks prices may now be at a stable point.

“The good news is I think we have seen the last of the increase for a couple of years, and we should have a stabilized price for a couple of years on the market,” he said.

Shirley Brennan, executive director for the Canadian Christmas Trees Association, said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, fertilizer prices rose by about 50 per cent, but have since stabilized.

“We still are seeing increases in labour costs and transportation costs. But for the most part ... farms that I’ve talked to, their prices are staying pretty steady,” Brennan said.

With a strong demand picture in Canada appearing to take shape, Thibeault, whose company also exports trees to the U.S., said the U.S. consumer demand for trees seems to have gone down.

“I think the U.S. economy is suffering a lot. What I see from my clients in the U.S. is that most of the orders that I have are lower than I had from the past year,” he said.

“One of the reasons is, of course, the economy. But also the government shutdown was a major setback for them because most employees didn’t have pay for many weeks, and so I think this had an impact on the sales of Christmas trees in the U.S. East Coast.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2025.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press