What is the national tree of Canada?

The maple is Canada's national arborial emblem, designated by Order in Council on April 25, 1996, fifty years and one day after the Maple Leaf flag's design was first proposed in Parliament. Ten species of maple are native to Canada: the sugar maple, black maple, silver maple, bigleaf maple, red maple, mountain maple, striped maple, Douglas maple, vine maple, and Manitoba maple. The sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is the most economically important and the species depicted on the country's coinage and ceremonial materials.

The maple leaf's status as a Canadian symbol predates its 1996 official tree designation by more than a century and a half. French Canadians of the Lower St. Lawrence used it as an emblem from the 1830s. It appeared on the Canadian Red Ensign from 1868, on Canadian regimental badges in both world wars, on the five-cent coin since 1937, and on the Canadian flag adopted in 1965.

Maple syrup, harvested from the sap of sugar maples, is the most distinctively Canadian product of the species. Canada produces about 75 per cent of the world's maple syrup, with Quebec accounting for roughly 90 per cent of Canadian production and the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers operating a strategic reserve to stabilise prices. The 2011 Strategic Reserve Heist, in which thieves stole $18.7 million worth of syrup, became national folklore.

Maples shape the Canadian autumn. The fall colour displays of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes draw millions of leaf-peepers each September and October, with Canadian Tourism Commission campaigns highlighting Algonquin Park, the Cabot Trail, and the Eastern Townships. The Canadarm space robot, Canadian astronauts, and Royal Canadian Navy vessels carry the leaf as their primary national insignia.