Council votes to create plan to clear out problem poplars

The City of Calgary has voted to direct administration to come up with a accelerated plan to remove poplar trees at the end of their life cycle without making residents pay for it.

Calgary city council will create a plan to speed up the removal of thousands of poplar trees and relieve residents of the expense.

The trees, when mature, have aggressive, expansive root systems that can crack or displace nearby sidewalks.

A notice of motion, presented to council Tuesday by Couns. Andre Chabot and Peter Demong, said the problems caused by the trees lead to costly replacements and accessibility barriers.

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The proposal, which was unanimously approved on Tuesday, will direct administration to come up with recommendations to accelerate the removal of problematic poplars.

Chabot says the real issue is that under the current strategy, called the Urban Forest Strategic Plan, residents need to pay to remove and replace problematic poplar trees.

“What this notice of motion is looking at doing is not replacing good, healthy trees, but trees that are declining or have reached their end-of-life,” Chabot told council on Tuesday.

“Part of the challenge is, in order to do that right now, if a tree is unhealthy and needs to be replaced and the sidewalk needs to be repaired, there is a requirement for the adjacent landowner to actually pay for that.”

Demong is concerned that since the majority of Calgary’s poplars were planted in the 1960s and 70s, there is the possibility that thousands will need to be replaced in the next few years.

“They’re all coming to the same end in the same time period,” he said.

“If we can relocate the trees on a more regular basis and take care of some of the problem trees, that would be an excellent start on this problem.”

Under the proposal, the poplars would be replaced with different species that have less invasive root systems.

As well, for every poplar tree removed, another poplar tree will be planted in a more suitable area of the city.

Administration will also be directed to report on the financial implications of the tree removal and sidewalk replacement, “with the program delivered at no cost to residents.”

The report is expected to be delivered no later than the first quarter of 2026.

Officials say poplar trees make up about 19 per cent of Calgary’s tree population and the city manages approximately 100,000 of them through a systematic life-cycle program.