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Moving firewood in Quebec: the emerald ash borer regions, the Beauce-Sartigan beetle notices and Dutch elm disease

What the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says about moving firewood in Quebec: the emerald ash borer regulated area by region and expansion date, the 2024 brown spruce longhorn beetle detection and its prohibition of movement notices, Dutch elm disease and the spongy moth.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows the CFIA firewood page and pest pages, read October 9, 2026.

What the CFIA lists for Quebec

The CFIA firewood page, modified September 22, 2026, lists Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer and spongy moth as the regulated pests for Quebec. It says moving firewood outside a regulated area is prohibited and that moving firewood from places where regulated pests have been found can violate the Plant Protection Act, with penalties of up to CA$50,000 and/or prosecution. Its emerald ash borer page, modified July 27, 2026, says the beetle is present and regulated in all of the southern and middle areas of Quebec, and that it spreads most commonly through movement of firewood and other infested ash wood, although adults can also fly up to 10 kilometres.

The emerald ash borer area, region by region

The CFIA regulated areas page, modified August 12, 2026, lists the Quebec area as the Montréal and Longueuil agglomerations and a long list of regional county municipalities (RCM), plus the City of La Tuque. Its activity list shows how the area grew:

DatePlaces the CFIA names
January 24, 2018Centre-du-Québec (Arthabaska, Bécancour, Drummond, L'Érable, Nicolet-Yamaska), Chaudière-Appalaches (including Beauce-Sartigan, Bellechasse and Lévis), Estrie (including Sherbrooke and Memphremagog), Lanaudière (Matawinie) and Maurice (including Shawinigan and Trois-Rivières)
February 26, 2024RCM of Avignon, La Mitis, Les Basques, Matapédia, Rimouski-Neigette, Rivière-du-Loup, Témiscamingue and Témiscouata
March 11, 2025RCM of Charlevoix and the City of Saguenay
April 30, 2026City of La Tuque, and the RCM of Bonaventure and Charlevoix-Est

The page lists the detections behind those expansions, including the City of Saguenay on June 12, 2024, the RCM of Charlevoix on September 5, 2024 (flagged by an arborist), Charlevoix-Est on August 19, 2025, Bonaventure on November 3, 2025 and La Tuque on January 26, 2026. It says moving ash firewood out of a regulated area is prohibited for commercial or private purposes, and that non-ash firewood can leave a regulated area only through facilities registered under the Emerald Ash Borer Approved Facility Compliance Program. A detection leads to a prohibition of movement from a zone the CFIA sets around the affected location.

Brown spruce longhorn beetle in Beauce-Sartigan

The CFIA beetle page, modified February 21, 2025, says the presence of the beetle was confirmed in 2024 in the regional county municipality of Beauce-Sartigan in Quebec. It says Prohibition of Movement Notices were issued to landowners near the areas where the insect was captured, and that the CFIA was surveying the affected area. The page adds that movement of spruce logs and firewood out of the Nova Scotia regulated area is restricted.

Dutch elm disease

The CFIA directive D-97-07, effective June 16, 2026, lists Quebec among the generally infested provinces. For elm logs, lumber, firewood and other material with bark, it sets no federal requirement for movement between generally infested provinces and says provincial and municipal law may apply. It prohibits such material moving from an infested province into Alberta or Newfoundland and Labrador. It also says that in-transit movement through non-infested areas needs risk measures, such as an enclosed vehicle or travel only between November 1 and April 30.

Spongy moth

The CFIA spongy moth page, modified December 10, 2025, says the moth is found in Quebec and that the agency issues directives and regulated areas to restrict movement of potentially infested material to places where it is not established. The firewood page, for its part, says female moths lay egg masses on tree bark, branches and other places, like piles of firewood.

Not published

  • A Quebec provincial penalty for moving firewood: not published on the pages read.
  • The full movement certificate conditions for non-ash firewood: set by the CFIA under its compliance program.

For other states and provinces see the table on moving wood and firewood.

Sources