Canada's Forest Trust

What Canada's Forest Trust does

Canada's Forest Trust Corporation (CFTC) is an Ottawa-based nature-based solutions company founded in 2020 by Gary Zed, a former tax lawyer at EY and Deloitte. The company operates its proprietary Smart Forests™ platform, which executes long-term reforestation projects with verified carbon sequestration outcomes. CFTC reports cumulative operational metrics of 2.5 million+ trees planted, 600,000+ tonnes of carbon sequestered, and 2,000+ acres reforested since inception, with a stated projection to plant 30 million trees over the next five years. The platform combines a six-phase reforestation methodology, third-party verification via the Restor partnership, and a differentiated Indigenous Economic Collaboration Model that allocates 25% of profits to Indigenous communities.

CFTC serves 60+ organizations across Canada, spanning enterprise customers (Fairmont, General Dynamics, Joe Fresh) and SMBs across retail, education, government, automotive, healthcare, and nonprofit segments. Its go-to-market now spans two brands: the core CFTC institutional offering and the consumer-facing Cool Climate Club sub-brand targeting Gen Z and Millennial buyers, distributed through a Shopify point-of-sale application launched in September 2025. The business model appears to combine multi-year corporate reforestation contracts on custom enterprise pricing with transactional consumer contributions via the Cool Climate Club app.

Strategic partnerships anchor the platform: Forests Canada (250,000-tree commitment, February 2025), Scouts Canada (1 million trees/year by 2035), Restor (verification), DoorNumberOne, and an advisory relationship with Indigenous business leader JP Gladu/Mokwateh. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding to date.

Name

Canada's Forest Trust

Legal name

Canada's Forest Trust Corporation

Website

https://canadasforesttrust.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Canada's Forest Trust Corporation is an Ottawa-based nature-based solutions company operating the Smart Forests™ reforestation platform, serving 60+ Canadian organizations through institutional contracts and the consumer-facing Cool Climate Club sub-brand, with a 25% profit-sharing Indigenous Economic Collaboration Model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Carbon Offset & Reforestation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Support Activities for Forestry (115310)

SIC

Forestry (800), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbon Accounting, Verification & Registry Services (MRV, Audits, Certification) (IMAMAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory & Disclosure Strategy (CSRD/ESRS, ISSB/IFRS S2, SEC, TCFD) (EUABAKAH), Carbon Neutrality/Claims Strategy & Communications (claims substantiation, greenwashing risk) (EUABAKAK), Forest Certification, Compliance & Chain-of-Custody Support (AFAMAAAH)

Keywords

• Nature-based climate solutions
• Reforestation services
• Carbon sequestration
• ESG impact reporting
• Corporate sustainability programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Smart Forest™ Stewardship Programs: Custom climate action plans for businesses, municipalities, and organizations. CFTC builds custom solutions based on client size, goals, and sustainability strategy. The company does not focus on short-term offsets or carbon markets but prioritizes long-term forest health, carbon storage, biodiversity restoration, and community outcomes.
2. Cool Climate Club Retail Platform: Shopify app enabling retailers to engage customers at checkout or set percentage contributions with every sale. Provides turnkey marketing, branding and communications support for climate impact promotion.
3. Point-of-Sale Integrations: Technology solutions allowing retailers to integrate tree planting contributions at point of sale, creating customer engagement opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Canada's Forest Trust Corporation (CFTC) runs a nature-based climate solutions platform that enables businesses, municipalities, schools, and retailers in Canada to plant and steward forests through its Smart Forests™ program. The company combines a proprietary six-phase forestry methodology with digital tracking and reporting tools (powered by Restor) to deliver verified carbon sequestration, biodiversity gains, and ESG-ready impact data, and it monetizes this through custom-built, multi-year corporate stewardship subscriptions, its Cool Climate Club™ retail brand and Shopify point-of-sale app, and sector-specific programs such as Climate Protection+ for automotive dealers.

Product overview

Canada's Forest Trust Corporation operates as a nature-based solutions company offering a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on Smart Forests™. The core Smart Forests™ product delivers carbon sequestration, biodiversity gains, and transparent climate impact tracking through a six-phase planting and stewardship approach. The company operates two main brands: the flagship CFTC Smart Forests™ for enterprise and government clients, and Cool Climate Club™ (CCC), a retail-focused sub-brand targeting Gen Z consumers and retail brands. The Smart Forest™ Portal serves as the customer-facing digital hub, while the Cool Climate Club App extends Shopify integration for retail point-of-sale engagement. Additional offerings include Corporate Stewardship Programs, the Indigenous Economic Collaboration Model with profit-sharing structures, and Climate Protection+ for automotive sector clients. All offerings emphasize measurable, verified climate impact with transparent digital dashboards and reporting centers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cool Climate Club: A CFTC retail brand designed by and for Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Millennial consumers, with a goal of helping retailers expand forests in Canada. Offers turnkey digital platform, point-of-sale technology solutions, and co-branding opportunities.

Products and services

• Smart Forests™ A nature-based climate solution using a six-phase approach combined with proprietary technology. Delivers long-term carbon sequestration, verified biodiversity gains, transparent digital dashboards and reporting, and economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. Sold to businesses, municipalities, schools, and organizations across Canada.
• Cool Climate Club™ A retail brand designed for Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Millennial consumers that allows retailers to advance sustainability by planting trees and stewarding forests in Canada, with a digital dashboard that tracks seedlings planted, forest locations, and native tree species.
• Cool Climate Club App A Shopify-integrated application enabling merchants to invite customers to contribute to transparent, measurable climate action in Canada. Offers customer engagement at checkout, percentage contribution options per sale, and personalized Smart Forest hubs for monitoring impact.
• Climate Protection+ A climate action program for automotive dealers and the auto industry that enables them to build Smart Forests as part of their sustainability strategies.
• Indigenous Economic Collaboration Model A partnership model that fosters collaborations with Indigenous communities where profits and forest-management work are shared. Includes 25% net income sharing, first right of refusal for forest management work, job creation, and recurring revenue streams for at least 15 years.
• Corporate Stewardship Programs Turnkey climate solutions connecting businesses with verified reforestation projects in Canada. Includes corporate stewardship, customer and employee engagement, seasonal campaigns, and custom marketing and branding support for sustainability reporting.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.5M+ trees planted since 2020
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Forests CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 February 2025National partnership to plant 250,000 trees from coast to coast in 2025, creating up to 125 hectares of new forest. Forests Canada contributes longstanding expertise in forest restoration programs focused on improving forest health and landscape connectivity. CFTC provides technology for monitoring forest health, biodiversity benefits, and climate impacts.
• Scouts CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational sponsor and planting partner supporting Scouts Canada's goal of planting and protecting up to 1 million trees per year by 2035. Partnership transforms youth eco-anxiety into actionable climate projects.
• RestorcoreTechnology or IntegrationData partner enabling mapping of nature sites to showcase reforestation progress, simplify nature data, and help partners share their impact story with verified location and carbon sequestration data.
• DoorNumberOnecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with climate education organization to implement whole-school climate action plans. DoorNumberOne works with over 25 schools across 5 Canadian provinces through the Climate Action Accelerator Program, engaging students, faculty, and families in forest planting and nature restoration.
• Canadian Nurses AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for CNA Conference supporting nature and reforestation efforts to restore landscapes that sustain health.
• TPH (The Printing House)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to grow Canada's green economy through forest planting initiatives, starting with New Brunswick plantings.
• JP Gladu / MokwatehcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongtime advisor JP Gladu (Principal of Mokwateh, former President/CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business) helped create the Indigenous Economic Collaboration Model. JP serves as Chair of CFTC's National Advisory Board.
• Cool Climate Club Advisory BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll-star advisory board for Cool Climate Club retail brand representing expertise in retail, youth activism, consumer goods, and finance. Youth advisors include Aishwarya Puttur (CBC Youth Columnist and climate justice activist) and Jaden Braves (CEO of Young Politicians of Canada).

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sylvera: Carbon credit rating and verification platform using satellite data and ML to assess nature-based projects. Comparable role as a trust/verification layer in corporate carbon purchasing decisions.
• tentree: Canadian apparel and lifestyle brand that plants trees per product sold. Closely comparable business model combining consumer brand with reforestation in North America, similar GTM to Cool Climate Club.
• veritree: Vancouver-based restoration platform providing verified, blockchain-backed reforestation data to enterprises. Direct competitor to CFTC's Smart Forests™ Restor-powered verified-planting offering.
• Pachama: AI- and satellite-based carbon credit marketplace connecting corporations to forest conservation projects. Comparable nature-based carbon solution with MRV technology serving corporate buyers.
• Wren: Subscription service allowing individuals to fund verified carbon offsetting projects including reforestation. Comparable subscription-based climate action model targeting retail/consumer end users.
• Treedom: Italy-founded global platform enabling individuals and companies to fund and remotely monitor tree-planting projects. Comparable subscription-based tree-planting model with a digital monitoring portal.

Regional players

• Tree Canada: Canadian non-profit dedicated to planting and nurturing trees across Canada. Direct regional comparable on the planting/stewardship side of CFTC's operations, though not a technology platform.

Broad incumbents

• South Pole Group: Large, established climate solutions provider developing and selling carbon offset projects globally. Broader incumbent competing for corporate nature-based solution contracts.

Emerging players

• Cloverly: Climate action API enabling businesses to integrate carbon offsets and sustainability features into checkout flows. Comparable technology-led retail/enterprise carbon integration play.

Others

• Restor: Nature restoration data network and CFTC's data partner powering the Smart Forest Portal. Ecosystem enabler rather than direct competitor, but increasingly launching its own corporate offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/canadasforesttrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/canadas-forest-trust-corporation
• Instagraminstagram.com/canadasforest
• Xx.com/CanadasForest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Canada's Forest Trust