Application Deadline: December 21, 2021, 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
There are roughly 3 trillion trees on Earth according to a tally by an international team of scientists. The same team also found that human activity is detrimental to tree abundance worldwide. Since the onset of agriculture about 12,000 years ago, the number of trees worldwide has dropped by 46% (www.nature.com).Today, annual tree harvest vs. production on a world-wide scale shows that humans cut down approximately 15 billion trees a year and re-plant about 5 billion. That’s a net loss of 10 billion trees every year, and a rate that would mean the loss of all trees within the next 300 years.In Canada the forest sector is one of the most important part of country’s economy and a key source of prosperity for people and communities from coast to coast. The forest sector employs about 205,000 people (2018) and contributes $23.7 billion to Canada’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. Given its importance, Canada forest sector actively replants trees. In 2016, over 615 million seedlings were planted on 410,000 hectares in Canada’s forests (approx. 1,500 seedlings/ ha). This number is set to increase with the government recent announcement to invest $3.16 Billion in order to plant an additional two billion trees over 10 years, representing approximately 30% more trees, on average per year. Meeting this commitment will help Canada address climate change by reducing carbon pollution and is a key part of Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
As many countries around the world have tree-planting programs, the solution could also assist Canada in becoming a world leader by having the processes and/or approaches and/or technologies exported worldwide to other countries/jurisdictions around the world that have active reforestation programs.Â
Eligibility
Solution proposals can only be submitted by a small business that meets all of the following criteria:
- for profit
- incorporated in Canada (federally or provincially)
- 499 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
- research and development activities that take place in Canada
- 50% or more of its annual wages, salaries and fees are currently paid to employees and contractors who spend the majority of their time working in Canada
- 50% or more of its FTE employees have Canada as their ordinary place of work
- 50% or more of its senior executives (Vice President and above) have Canada as their principal residence
Application Procedure
The applicant must complete the Challenge Stream Electronic Submission Form with a degree of information sufficient to enable Canada’s assessment of the proposal against the criteria and the Evaluation Schema. The information must demonstrate how the proposal meets the criterion.
Part 1: Mandatory Criteria
Proposals must meet all mandatory criteria identified by achieving a “Pass” in order to proceed to Part 2. Proposals that do not meet all mandatory criteria will be deemed non-responsive and given no further consideration.
Official Website: Cost and Waste Reduction of Tree Planting
