Cities looking to expand their urban forests now have a new tool to help determine not simply where trees can be planted, but where they are most likely to survive and deliver meaningful cooling benefits.
A research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has developed CanopyFit, a spatial and tree-mapping modelling platform designed to help municipalities identify locations where additional tree cover could increase shade and reduce radiant heat.
“Creating and sustaining extensive canopy cover, by protecting mature trees and planting trees that can grow to large sizes, is one of the most effective investments cities can make to reduce exposure to extreme heat,” said Dr. Melissa McHale, a professor in UBC’s Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship and the lead researcher behind CanopyFit.
The technology comes as cities across Canada develop or update urban forest strategies. One of the challenges, however, is determining which locations can actually support trees over the long term while providing the cooling benefits planners are seeking.
A vacant-looking site on a map may not necessarily be suitable for planting.
“A site can look empty on a map and still be impossible to plant,” McHale said, pointing to hidden infrastructure and other barriers that can prevent trees from reaching the size required to cool surrounding areas.
“Cities don’t want to waste money.”
From Kelowna to Vancouver
CanopyFit was initially piloted in Kelowna, where nearly 80,000 trees are expected to be planted by 2050 by residents, developers and businesses as part of efforts to mitigate rising temperatures.
The platform is now being used in Vancouver under the direction of environmental firm Diamond Head Consulting. The company has incorporated CanopyFit into its spatial forecasting tools to assess Vancouver’s potential canopy growth and support urban planning decisions.
Vancouver has set a target of planting 100,000 trees by 2050, with $7.5 million allocated to urban forestry in its 2023-2026 capital plan.
Before CanopyFit is deployed, McHale said a consultation process is required to establish the objectives and goals for the urban area being studied. Those priorities can differ significantly between municipalities, while the resulting recommendations may also need to be weighted against available budgets.
The platform brings together several layers of information.
LiDAR and satellite data are used to map landscape and vegetation characteristics, including existing treed and grassed areas, across both private and public land within a municipality. Temperature data collected throughout the city is then used to create a heat map.
During the Kelowna pilot, the CanopyFit team went a step further by combining satellite imagery with machine learning to improve the city’s heat-map resolution from 30 metres to 10 metres.
That higher resolution enabled planners to identify much more precisely where cooling interventions were required.
The analysis also incorporates urban information such as underground utilities, sidewalks and local bylaws.
Matching trees to the right locations
CanopyFit brings those datasets together on a single urban map, highlighting objective values and identifying locations that can best meet specific goals.
The model can assess suitable planting locations according to the type of tree involved, including smaller or larger trees and different species. It can also account for practical constraints, such as pruning requirements, watering needs or whether a proposed planting site sits above an underground parking structure.
The system can additionally pinpoint critical hot spots where intervention could help improve radiant temperatures for local residents.
The Kelowna pilot produced an important finding: half of the city’s potential for new canopy was concentrated in roughly 20 per cent of high-value planting sites. The result suggests that municipalities may be able to maximize the benefits of urban forestry by strategically combining planting opportunities with locations where cooling needs are greatest.
McHale, however, emphasizes that CanopyFit is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
The platform provides a way to bring multiple datasets together and identify where planting could have the greatest value, but every municipal application has its own parameters.
“The City of Vancouver and the City of Kelowna have different rules, trees and development and all these things matter,” McHale said.
Diamond Head expands the methodology
Diamond Head Consulting was already working with Kelowna on an urban forest strategy when CanopyFit was introduced. The firm was therefore able to contribute some existing data to the process and also had an established relationship with UBC’s forestry program.
“We had crossed paths,” said Amelia Needoba, Diamond Head’s principal and senior urban forester, describing the collaboration and exchange of expertise between the organizations.
The company subsequently identified broader potential for the platform and began integrating its methodology into its own toolbox for Vancouver and other prospective clients.
“Melissa developed the model and publishing the research and we have taken the methodology and started applying for other uses,” Needoba said.
Vancouver’s objective is to increase its urban canopy from 25 per cent to 30 per cent by 2050.
In 2025, the Vancouver Parks Board voted to update a strategic urban forest proposal aimed at expanding the city’s urban forest. At the same time, the board wanted to maximize the return on investment associated with both trees planted and money spent — effectively ensuring that the right tree would be planted in the right location.
CanopyFit can be applied in municipalities across Canada, Needoba said, noting that Diamond Head already has client relationships in many provinces.
Partnerships support long-term urban planning
Todd Cashin, Kelowna’s urban forestry supervisor, said the work with UBC researchers and the use of CanopyFit have helped guide the city’s planting decisions and can contribute to long-term sustainability.
“These partnerships are incredibly valuable because they allow us to accomplish so much more together than we could on our own,” he said.
Recent wildfires and periods of extreme heat have also increased public awareness of the role urban forests can play in climate adaptation, Cashin added.
“We’ve known about heat effects in desert-style communities like ours, but sharing that message is easier now,” he said.
McHale’s research paper is available through ScienceDirect.
