Canada is home to approximately one quarter of the world’s wetlands. Nearly 90 per cent of wetlands in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have been lost to development.
Buttonbush Woods is a forested swamp ecosystem, and one of the few remaining wetlands in the GTA.
To the south and east of Buttonbush Woods is Oakville and the Greater Toronto Area. The largest town in Ontario, Oakville is growing at more than twice the average rate of municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.
Not far west of Buttonbush Woods is the Niagara Escarpment. Home to the oldest forest ecosystem and trees in Eastern North America, the Niagara Escarpment is hotspot for biodiversity and a United Nations World Biosphere Reserve.
As new neighbourhoods and development push outwards from Canada’s most populated urban area, Buttonbush Woods is where action is needed to restore ecosystems and grow more sustainable communities.
Buttonbush Woods gets its name from the buttonbush shrub (Cephalanthus occidentalis). This native shrub loves in wet and soggy conditions. The wetlands of Buttonbush Woods are periodically flooded and make for an ideal swamp ecosystem for this unique plant.
The swamp also provides good habitat for birds, deer, and insects. Hummingbirds like the nectar of the buttonbush flowers. Deer, including fawns, are frequently spotted in this area – they like to eat buttonbush leaves even though other animals find the foliage toxic. The shrub is also host to stunning species of sphinx and walnut moths.
The wetlands in Buttonbush Woods are part of the watershed for 16 Mile Creek. Much of the water in this wetland comes from headwaters in the Niagara Escarpment. The water that leaves this wetland runs through the heart of downtown Oakville.
During rainfall events, Buttonbush Woods serves the community by capturing and absorbing rain. The swamp also filters, cleans, and moderates water levels throughout the watershed. All that work is vital to the health of 16 Mile Creek and everything on its shores as it flows through dozens of new and old communities, past ten lanes of the 403 Highway, past the Oakville Go Train Station, the Community Centre, Curling Club, and Burloak Canoe Club, and ultimately into Lake Ontario.
Buttonbush Woods has a lot of work to do for Oakville.
That’s why Oakville is also doing work for Buttonbush Woods.
When the Town of Oakville assumed ownership of this land, it prioritized protecting and restoring this greenspace for the benefit of residents and biodiversity. Since 2022, the Town of Oakville has been working with the Oakvillegreen Conservation Association (Oakvillegreen) – a member of Green Communities Canada. Oakvillegreen has been coordinating community planting events to restore Buttonbush Woods, supporting Oakville’s ambitious Urban Forest Canopy goal of 40 per cent coverage by 2057.
The latest of these volunteer-fuelled events took place on National Tree Day, September 23, 2026. Staff from Green Communities Canada joined roughly three dozen volunteers from Definity Insurance. Together they planted 175 trees in Buttonbush Woods. Oakvillegreen organized and planned this event.
The planting at Buttonbush Woods is just one of many projects that address the dramatic loss of trees, greenspaces, and critical wildlife habitat in recent decades. Since 2017 the Town of Oakville has been actively restoring the Preserve Woods site just a few kilometres southwest of Buttonbush Woods.
Formerly farmland, Preserve Woods is 2.15 hectares in size. In 2025, Oakvillegreen received a Thriving Microgrant from GCC’s Living Cities Canada Fund. They completed one litter cleanup event, 5 mulching events, 4 tree planting events, and 4 invasive species removal events. Altogether in 2025, 321 volunteers removed 33 bags of litter and 5 truckloads of invasive plants from Preserve Woods, and planted 755 native trees and shrubs.
Planting projects like these at Buttonbush Woods and Preserve Woods can help new residents and newcomers to Canada connect with each other and with nature while also taking direct action to restore local habitats and enhance the many benefits urban forests deliver.
Resilient native greenspaces help reduce heat, regulate climate, mitigate stormwater runoff, and improve air quality. Greenspaces like Buttonbush Woods also make our cities more liveable and enjoyable, adding beauty and shade to our urban environments.
“This project in Buttonbush Woods shows that we can grow sustainable communities even in the most densely populated and quickly growing urban centres,” said Brianna Salmon, executive director of Green Communities Canada. “We’re thrilled to see our member organization, Oakvillegreen, leading this work with support from our Living Cities Canada Fund. Today was a beautiful day to be planting for the future with volunteers from our supportive partner, Definity Insurance.”
“Definity is pleased to join together with our broker partners along with Green Communities Canada and Oakvillegreen, to add 175 trees back to the local canopy. Together we are going to create climate resilience locally, we are going to connect back with our communities, and we’re going to leave a lasting positive impact on the local ecosystem.” – Kathy Curran, VP Broker Experience, Sales and Distribution, Definity.
