(AGENPARL) – Fri 23 May 2025 City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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City of Toronto begins treatment to protect vulnerable ash trees
To help protect Toronto’s vulnerable ash trees against the Emerald Ash Borer, a highly destructive invasive beetle, the City of Toronto will inject more than 5,300 ash trees with a protective insecticide between Sunday, June 1 and Sunday, August 31.
The Emerald Ash Borer has killed millions of ash trees in Ontario, including more than 800,000 in Toronto, since its arrival in 2007. In response, select City-owned ash trees are injected with TreeAzin Systemic Insecticide every two years to control borer populations and protect ash trees from this insect.
This insecticide works by targeting the beetle’s larvae during the spring and summer, blocking its ability to grow. While the Emerald Ash Borer will never be eradicated entirely, these efforts help reduce its population and increase the chances of ash trees surviving.
TreeAzin is approved for organic use by the Organic Materials Review Institute and is permitted under Ontario’s cosmetic pesticide ban. It is also registered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency for use in controlling the Emerald Ash Borer.
More information about the Emerald Ash Borer and how the City is working to protect its urban forest is available on the City’s website at https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/trees/forest-management/threats-to-trees-insects/emerald-ash-borer-agrilus-planipennis/. This page also includes a map of areas that will be treated with insecticide.