Wood Burning in Canada: A Statistical Overview

The source of the statistics presented here is a mail-out, self-administered householder survey conducted by TNS Canadian Facts for Environment Canada on residential wood combustion (RWC) in March 2006. Comparative data for 1997 was taken from a previous survey by Canadian Facts for Environment Canada.

In this report:
Urban = > 10,000 population = 8.76 million households or 71% of total
Rural = < 10,000 population = 3.55 million households or 29% of total
Total number of households: 12.3 million

As of March 2006:

Number of households reporting the burning of wood at home or cottage: 3,176,000

Percentage of total households reporting the burning of wood: 26

Percentage of urban households that burn wood: 19

Percentage of rural households that burn wood: 43

Number of decorative fireplaces in use: 1,350,000, 

Percentage of decorative fireplaces in urban areas: 82

Number of wood heating appliances (heating fireplaces, stoves, inserts, furnaces): 2,890,000 

Percentage of wood heating appliances in rural areas: 54

Average number of full cords (4x4x8') of wood burned per household: 3

Percentage of households burning one full cord or less: 43

Average number of full cords (4x4x8') of wood burned in urban households: 1.7

Average number of full cords (4x4x8') of wood burned in rural households: 4.3

The regional popularity of wood burning in Canada

• About 30 percent of households report burning wood in either their main residence or vacation home. 

• Wood burning is most popular in Atlantic Canada, with 57 percent of rural households and 31 percent of urban households burning wood.

• Wood burning is least popular in the Prairie Provinces at 26 and 24 percent respectively.

• Quebec and British Columbia have similar patterns of rural and urban wood burning frequency.

• Overall, 44 percent of rural households and 24 percent of urban households burn wood.

See Table 1.

Table 1   Percent of households that have any wood burning equipment in main residence and vacation home, by region

Noteworthy change since 1997

See Table 2.

The use of decorative fireplaces, which has been most prevalent in urban areas, is in rapid decline:

Percentage change in use of decorative fireplaces in urban and rural areas: u -36  r -53

The use of advanced technology fireplaces is increasing dramatically:

Percentage change in use of EPA certified fireplaces in urban and rural areas: u +482   r +200

Canadians are convinced that advanced technology inserts and stoves are worth the extra cost:

Percentage change in use of EPA certified inserts in urban and rural areas: u +237  r +250

Number of conventional wood stoves removed from service: 614,000

Percentage change in use of EPA certified stoves in urban and rural areas: u +245  r +235

Percentage of wood stoves in use that are EPA certified in 1997 vs 2006: 10.8 vs 39.9

Table 2. Change between 1997 and 2006 in the number and percentage of wood burning appliances reported, by urban (>10,000 population centres) and rural (<10,000 population) categories