Blog Posts
My Degree Program: Pursuing a Career in Chemical Engineering
If you want to use science to design processes that produce our materials, products, and energy, then chemical engineering may be the path for you.
May 7, 2026
Imagine spending your summer hiking through remote forests carrying bags of seedlings, planting thousands of trees, and spending evenings socializing with your coworkers/roommates/new-best-friends. For tree planters across BC, that’s what tree planting season looks like.
This work helps regenerate harvested and disturbed forests, making tree planting a key part of expanding BC’s forestry sector.
Tree planting provides a wide range of benefits for everyone. Tree planting helps with restoring wildlife habits, natural hydrological functions, and soil stability at a faster pace compared to leaving land to regenerate naturally. This is especially critical in BC, where unprecedented wildfires and the mountain pine beetle epidemic have devastated millions of hectares of forest area.
The economic benefits of tree planting for BC ripple through various aspects of the forestry industry. The forestry industry supports 95,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, with 10,000 of these jobs being within the silviculture and tree planting sector. The forestry industry overall provides $3.4 billion in revenue to the federal, BC, and municipal BC governments.
Tree planting has helped the BC forest industry serve as an economic backbone for many rural communities, especially in central and northern BC.
Funding for tree planting supports community forests and woodlot owners, providing them with long-term stewardship opportunities and economic stability. Tree planting can also create more vibrant and attractive spaces for public recreation and cultural use.
Being a tree planter involves highly seasonal, physically and mentally demanding work, with most of them working in remote areas. Additionally, many of them work for parks, private tree planting companies, and federal and provincial government entities.
The tree planting summer revolves around a structured camp lifestyle. Many planters live in rustic, shared tent camps that provide amenities like kitchens, eating areas, hot showers, and laundry facilities.
The standard time tree planters usually start work early, between 4:30 am and 6:00 am. Planters use this time to prepare their lunches, fill their water containers, and organize their gear. Planters usually leave camp around 7:00 am, piling into trucks for a 30-minute to 1-hour drive down rough, remote logging roads to reach the active worksite.
Work in the field generally lasts from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Tree planters unload tree seedlings from delivery trucks, water them, and load them into hip bags. They hike through difficult terrain and use a shovel to clear away debris before planting saplings.
Planters may walk up to 30 kilometres a day carrying heavy bags of trees. Depending on the region, they will plant a diverse range of plant species, some of which include jack pine, red pine, and black spruce. They must carefully manage proper spacing and match the species to the appropriate soil type.
Even in the summer, the weather can be quite variable for tree planting. From rain, wind greater than 60 km/h to 35 °C scorching heat, tree planters work in a variety of weather conditions.
Workers return to camp for dinner by 6:00 pm. Evenings for tree plants are dedicated to free time and physical recovery, with most planters in bed by 9:00 pm so that they are rested for the next day of planting. Tree planting also requires being able to regularly lift at least 50 lbs, being in good physical shape (e.g., no injuries), and having healthy vision.
Tree planting isn’t all hard work! Many people find themselves forming new connections with other planters throughout the summer. Tree planters live together in camps and share meals, tents, and the hardships of the challenging conditions while tree planting. The people you encounter as strangers might be your close friends by the end of the season.
Being a tree planter can be rewarding if you enjoy hands-on work, support reforestation efforts, and are interested in forestry, ecology, or environmental careers. It’s also a great way to get outside and gain valuable work experience.
To learn more, check out Tree Canada or look for job postings on forestry company websites like Blue Collar Group and TreeTime Services.
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