OTTAWA – The emerald ash borer is moving west. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer in the city of Winnipeg. The new finding was outside of the regulated area, which includes some counties in southwest Quebec, all of southern Ontario, and the city of Thunder Bay, Ont. To help prevent the spread of EAB, the movement of ash logs and firewood out of regulated areas is restricted.
Although the emerald ash borer poses no threat to human health, it is highly destructive to ash trees. It has already killed millions of ash trees in Ontario, Quebec and the United States, and poses a major economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas of North America.
The CFIA works with federal, provincial, and municipal governments to slow the spread of this pest.
Effective immediately, the agency is restricting the movement of all ash material such as logs, branches, and woodchips, and all species of firewood from the affected sites. The tree property owner (the City of Winnipeg) has been notified of these restrictions. The CIFA will expand the regulated area in early 2018.
The emerald ash borer has been known to be present only in certain areas of Ontario and Quebec, so far, and is regulated by the CFIA to protect Canada’s forests and nurseries. The emerald ash borer is native to China and eastern Asia. Its presence in Canada was first confirmed in 2002.