Report a tree pest or disease in Canada: who the agency names
Who the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says takes a report of a suspected tree pest or disease, the phone line and online form it publishes, what it asks a reporter to include, and the pests its pages name.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 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 sets out how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, called CFIA, describes reporting a suspected tree pest or disease, with the date each CFIA page shows. For the wider country-by-country picture see tree pests and diseases.
Who takes the report
CFIA is the federal agency for plant health. Its pest pages each carry a report link that opens the same online contact form. That form is on the Contact CFIA online page, which says it is for reporting a food, plant or animal concern or asking for information. The page also gives a telephone route for anyone who prefers not to use the form: 1-800-442-2342 or 1-613-773-2342, and a teletypewriter line at 1-800-465-7735. It shows a modified date of November 14, 2022.
What the agency asks the reporter to include
The contact page asks people to pick the best option from its drop-down menus, to be as detailed as possible, to avoid acronyms, and to say where the issue is when reporting a plant pest. The form asks whether the person writes as a member of the general public or as industry, and it has a forest pests choice under its plant business sectors. The form also asks for a name, an email address and, for industry senders, a business name. No pest page read for this page lists photographs or a specimen as a requirement.
What each CFIA pest page says about reporting
| Pest | What the page says about reporting | Date on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Emerald ash borer | Report any detection outside the regulated areas immediately, through the online sighting form. | July 27, 2026 |
| Asian longhorned beetle | Report the beetle or signs of infestation on trees to CFIA immediately. The page says the beetle was declared eradicated in Mississauga and Toronto in 2020. | September 4, 2025 |
| Spongy moth | Found in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The page asks for reports of finds in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador. | December 10, 2025 |
| Oak wilt | Report suspected signs to CFIA. The page lists detections in the City of Niagara Falls, the Township of Springwater and the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, all in Ontario. | January 11, 2024 |
Provinces
The CFIA pages read for this page route every report to the federal form. The spongy moth page links to the British Columbia Ministry of Forests page for that province's own work, but it gives no provincial reporting line. This page therefore lists no provincial route.
Pests the agency names
On the CFIA firewood page, dated September 22, 2026, the agency names four pests to watch for: emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, brown spruce longhorn beetle and spongy moth. It says the brown spruce longhorn beetle has been found in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The firewood page also says that moving firewood from places where regulated pests have been found can break the Plant Protection Act. For emerald ash borer, the CFIA pest page lists the regulated areas in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
How the pest pages treat tools, vehicles and wood is laid out side by side in the biosecurity table by pest. The guides on emerald ash borer and spongy moth give the regulated areas in detail.
Sources
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, contact CFIA online, read October 8, 2026
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, emerald ash borer page, read October 8, 2026
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Asian longhorned beetle page, read October 8, 2026
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, spongy moth page, read October 8, 2026
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, oak wilt page, read October 8, 2026
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, hazards of moving firewood, read October 8, 2026