About Ontario ... Forests

Forests

Ontario’s landscape is characterized by its forests. They range in type from the deciduous forest of the Niagara Peninsula area, through the mixed forest of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region in central and northwestern Ontario, to the conifer-dominated boreal forest of the north. 65% of Ontario is classified as forested land, totaling almost 70 million hectares.

Deciduous Forest:

Ontario’s deciduous forest lies along the northern shores of lakes Erie and Ontario, and extends across to the southeastern shore of Lake Huron. Only about 450,000 hectares of mainly private forests remain in this 3 million hectare area. Tree species found here include oak, maple, basswood, walnut and butternut. Within this region is the Carolinian forest, found in a small area in the extreme southwest of the province. The Carolinian forest is noted for trees such as kentucky coffee, sassafras and tulip, and animals such as the southern flying squirrel, all of which are found nowhere else in Canada.

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest:

This mixed-forest region extends along the St. Lawrence River across central Ontario to Lake Huron, and west of Lake Superior along the border with Minnesota. The 20 million hectare region includes both deciduous species (such as yellow birch, sugar and red maples, basswood, red oak) and coniferous trees (such as eastern white pine, red pine, eastern hemlock and white cedar).

Boreal Forest:

Ontario’s 49 million hectares of boreal forest is the largest forest region in the province, covering the area north of the French River to the Quebec border in the east, and most of northwestern Ontario. Black spruce and jack pine dominate the boreal forest. Other species, including tamarack, balsam fir, white birch and poplar, are also found, but to a lesser extent across the region.

Boreal Barrens:

The boreal barrens forest region makes up the remaining 25% of Ontario’s land base. This forest region is a transition zone between the boreal forest and the subarctic tundra to the north. It features scattered patches of black spruce and tamarack woodlands growing on muskeg and other types of lowlands. Denser forests of white and black spruce, balsam fir, trembling aspen, balsam poplar and white birch grow along the better-drained riverbanks. Jackpine is found on landforms of glacial deposits, such as eskers and moraines.

Forest Facts:

Ontario contains about 2% of the world’s forests. The province owns more than 90% of Ontario’s forests, with management overseen by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). Of that area, about one-third (24 million hectares) is classified as production forest – forest managed for a full range of benefits including timber production. More than 20 million cubic meters of wood are harvested annually on Crown land, used to make building materials, pulp and paper, and a wide range of other products such as furniture and flooring. Ontario produces ¼ of Canada’s forest-based shipments.More than 95% of Ontario’s logging jobs are in northern Ontario, while two-thirds of the wood manufacturing jobs are in southern Ontario.