7 facts and figures about Christmas trees in Canada

Awhite Christmas might be a slim possibility for much of the countrythis year, but at least one other ho-ho-holiday tradition is sure to be widespread.

Christmas trees are everywhere during the holiday season, as the nordic tradition has taken root and spread across all parts of the globe. But Canada's winter makes the country a natural home for the seasonal favourite, whether it's real or artificial, .

The number crunchers at Statistics Canada have come up with some funfacts about one of Canada's favourite holiday traditions.

• 1,738,212 Total number of fresh-cut Christmas trees that Canada exported last year. Almost half ofthose came from Quebec. By way of contrast, Saskatchewan, Alberta andNewfoundland and Labrador did not export a single Christmas tree.

• $51.3 million The total value of all fresh-cut Christmas trees sold in Canada last year. Sales were down in every province except British Columbia. Sales were down nine per cent last year and have declined by 22 per cent since 2006.

• $47 million Value of artificial Christmas trees imported into Canada. More than $46 million of that came from China, with the rest coming from Thailand, the United States, Mexico or Vietnam.

• $28.2 million Value of all the real Christmas trees that Canada exported last year. Within that, $25.8 million worth, or nearly 1.6 million out of a total of 1.7 million trees, went to the U.S. last year. But Canada also sold fresh-cut trees to people in Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, France, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

• $5 million Value of fresh cut Christmas trees that the U.S.sent north of the border into Canada last year.

• 2,381 The number of Christmas tree farms left in Canada. The province with the largest number of Christmas tree farms is Ontario, with 647. Both the number and size of Canadian tree farms have been declining steadily since 2006.

• 28,315 hectares The total size of all farms devoted to raising Christmas trees in Canada. At22 hectares on average,Quebecs Christmas tree farms are the largest in Canada.