August 19, 2013, Ottawa: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the following locations:
- Mont-St-Hilaire in the Municipalité régional de comté (MRC) La-Vallée-du-Richelieu, Quebec
- Orangeville in Dufferin County, Ontario
- Pakenham and Carleton Place in Lanark County, Ontario
Movement restrictions, which prohibit the movement of all ash materials—such as logs, branches and wood chips—and all species of firewood from the affected site, will be put in place. Property owners will be notified of these restrictions. Further regulatory measures will be considered once all survey work has been completed for the year.
The presence of EAB has now been confirmed in 34 Ontario counties, and in eight areas in the province of Quebec. EAB is a highly destructive beetle. 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.
On April 1, 2014, the Agency will consolidate most of the regulated areas into one large area in Ontario and Quebec. This large area will include Highways 400, 401, 416 and 417 in Ontario and Highways 15, 20, 40 and 50 in Quebec. This pest management approach takes into account the CFIA's current understanding of the distribution of EAB and will more effectively slow the spread of this pest to other parts of these provinces and to the rest of Canada.
The Agency will continue its surveillance, regulatory, enforcement and communications activities across Canada, and the focus will now be placed on preventing EAB from moving out of the large consolidated area to areas where it is not currently known to be present. The remainder of 2013 will be a transition to this new approach.
EAB can spread rapidly if it is moved by people. The public can play a key part in helping to control the spread of EAB by not moving potentially infested materials such as firewood or any ash materials such as logs, branches, nursery stock, chips or other ash wood.
The CFIA continues to work with federal, provincial and municipal governments towards slowing the spread of EAB. We all have a responsibility to protect Canada's forests.
The CFIA is now reporting EAB confirmed finds in Ontario and Quebec on a monthly basis. This monthly reporting reflects the confirmed finds for the month prior (for example, reporting for August includes all the confirmed detections from July).
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Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media Relations: 613-773-6600
