![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6963354.1720958050!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Here's how much a Christmas tree in Quebec will cost you this year
Those looking to purchase an authentic Christmas tree this year should be prepared to pay about double what they did six years ago.
Christmas tree sellers say prices start at around $80 for a five- to six-foot tree with the price tag going into three digits for anything bigger.
For a 10-foot tree, expect to pay around $150.
Quebec Christmas Tree Growers' Association (APANQ) president Charles Vaillancourt said tree prices are near their ceiling as retailers and growers try to navigate the short selling season.
"We are well aware that the trees are getting expensive, but the artificial trees are getting very expensive as well, and what we want to maintain is a good quality tree at the lowest prices possible for the growers to be able to survive," he said.
Artificial trees start at around $50 and run into the hundreds of dollars.
Vaillancourt said rising fuel and labour costs mean the around 250 growers registered with Quebec's forestry ministry (MATAQ) have needed to increase their prices so that they're around double what they were in 2017.
"Everything is more expensive, so of course, there was going to be an impact on the pricing of the trees this year," he said.
He said growers are planting more trees now than they were in the early 2000s meaning the industry has been able to keep up with demand, but trees take around 10 years to grow, so any shortage cannot be mitigated quickly.
"It is very hard for us to be able to satisfy the demand in a really small window," he said, adding that operating costs were half what they are now a decade ago. "What's really important for us is being able to satisfy the demand with a quality tree and being able to have a price that's going to be respectable for growers."
In the early 2000s, Vaillancourt explained, growers were selling trees at a loss and many left the industry. This prompted a supply shortage.
"This is what created that wave of not enough trees on the market, and also, with COVID, demand went just very high," he said. "There's not a lot of ways to navigate through those things."
BIG BUSINESS
The Christmas tree industry in Quebec is huge. Vaillancourt said the province exports around 1.5 million trees to the U.S. alone, which generates between $60 and $70 million. The three biggest tree-producing provinces in Canada are Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
And the market is growing.
"We have a big 'green wave,'" said Vaillancourt. "People are going back to their ancient values, going back to their basics. They're going back to buy a tree, it's very special as a nice family activity, either go cut a tree yourself or go to the market and buy a tree."
Though production is keeping up with demand, Vaillancourt said growers and retailers know they can only push prices so high to reach as many customers as possible.
"We're at a point that we don't want the Christmas tree to be a luxury product," he said. "We want to we want the Christmas tree to be a product that everybody is going to be able to buy."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6963806.1721000812!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Trudeau says he spoke with Trump after shooting, condemned political violence
The Prime Minister's office says Justin Trudeau spoke this afternoon with former president Donald Trump in the wake of a deadly shooting at one of his campaign rallies on Saturday.
DEVELOPING What we know about the 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., as the suspect in Saturday's attempted assassination of former U.S. president Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
Read the letter from Melania Trump responding to attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Former first lady Melania Trump issued her first public response since her husband, former President Donald Trump, was injured in a shooting at one of his rallies on Saturday.
Donald Trump arrives in Milwaukee for RNC after assassination attempt heightens security fears
Former U.S. president Donald Trump has arrived in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention a day after he was targeted in an attempted assassination at a campaign event.
What an ex-FBI agent noticed in the aftermath of Donald Trump rally shooting
An apparent assassination attempt has many questioning how a shooting that wounded former U.S. president Donald Trump was even possible.
LCBO reverses plan to open select stores on Friday as strike continues
The LCBO has reversed its plan to open select stores on Friday as retail workers continue to strike across the province, according to a statement from the Crown corporation on Sunday.
Obituary Shannen Doherty, '90210' actress, dies at 53, People magazine reports
American actor Shannen Doherty, best known for her role as high school student Brenda Walsh on hit 1990s television drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' has died at age 53 following a years-long battle with cancer.
Spain beats England 2-1 to win record fourth European Championship title
Spain is the king of European soccer for a record fourth time. For England, it's another agonizing near-miss in the team's decades-long tale of underachievement.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, hands Carlos Alcaraz his Wimbledon trophy in a rare appearance for her
Kate, the Princess of Wales, handed Carlos Alcaraz the champion's trophy after the Wimbledon men's final at the All England Club on Sunday in only her second public appearance since announcing she was diagnosed with cancer.