CFIA Expands Areas Regulated for the Emerald Ash Borer

OTTAWA, April 18, 2012: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has expanded the ministerial order for the emerald ash borer to include new areas of Ontario and Quebec.

As a result of new detections of the beetle in 2011, in addition to the areas already regulated for EAB, the ministerial order expands one existing regulated area and creates two new areas.

New areas regulated for the emerald ash borer include:

• Manitoulin district in Ontario, and
• Montréal, Baie-d’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, Kirkland, L’Île-Dorval, Montreal East, Montreal West, Mont-Royal, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Senneville and Westmount in Quebec.

The existing regulated area—which had included the city of Ottawa, the united counties of Leeds and Grenville in Ontario and part of the city of Gatineau in Quebec—now also includes:

• the united counties of Prescott and Russell in Ontario, and
• the remaining parts of the city of Gatineau in Quebec.

All other areas already regulated for EAB remain unchanged under the ministerial order.

Under the Emerald Ash Borer Infested Places Order, in those regulated areas of Ontario and Quebec, the movement of all ash tree materials and all firewood will be regulated. Those who move these materials from a regulated area without prior permission from the CFIA could face fines and/or prosecution.

Although the emerald ash borer does not pose a risk to human health, it is a highly destructive beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in Ontario and the north eastern United States. It poses a major economic threat to urban and forested areas of North America.

The CFIA continues to work with its partners and stakeholders towards slowing the spread of the emerald ash borer.

A list of all the areas regulated to for the beetle, including maps, can be found at www.inspection.gc.ca/pests.

For media inquiries

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media relations: 613-773-6600