Comparison of Canadian urban forest perceptions indicates variations in beliefs and trust across geographic settings

Figures & data

Figure 1. Perceptions included in this study, derived from the Cognitive Model that differentiates perceptions based on level of abstraction, stability, and number (Stern et al. 1995; Schultz and Zelezny, 1999; Tung and Ritchie, 2011; Kendal et al. 2022).

Figure 2. Surveyed areas reflecting different municipal contexts (inner cores, middle, outer and regional cities) of the urban regions of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Table 1. Demographic and cultural profile of survey sample for Montreal (n = 1,703), Toronto (n = 2,015), and Vancouver (n = 1,737) regions and census data for the metropolitan areas.

Characteristics	Survey results						Census data^a
	Counts			% of total			% of total
	Montreal	Toronto	Vancouver	Montreal	Toronto	Vancouver	Montreal	Toronto	Vancouver	Canada
Female	743	999	772	43.6%	49.6%	44.4%	51.3%	52%	51.0%	50.4%
Age: 20–34 years	114	326	160	6.7%	16.2%	9.2%	20.0%	23.8%	21.5%	19.5%
35–49 years	435	685	538	25.5%	34.0%	31.0%	20.7%	20.9%	21.1%	19.6%
50–64 years	406	394	314	23.8%	19.6%	18.1%	20.5%	19.7%	21.2%	21.6%
65–79 years	693	545	654	40.7%	27.1%	37.7%	12.0%	11.0%	11.6%	12.5%
>80 years	30	27	44	1.8%	1.3%	2.5%	4.4%	4.6%	4.1%	4.3%
Education: high school	232	277	242	13.6%	13.8%	13.9%	18.3%	24.5%	24.4%	23.7%
trade/technical diploma	455	384	410	26.7%	19.1%	23.6%	15.7%	4.1%	6.7%	10.8%
undergraduate university degree	541	740	591	31.8%	36.7%	34.0%	19.8%	23.3%	24.6%	19.0%
Canadian born^b	1364	1305	1137	80.1%	64.8%	65.5%	74.4%	51.0%	55.3%	76.1%
Canadian parents	1073	748	748	63.0%	37.1%	43.1%	58.2%	21.3%	30.2%	58.7%
Owns a house	1175	1406	1202	69.0%	69.8%	69.2%	55.7%	52.8%	63.7%	67.8%
Dwelling type: house	934	1457	937	54.8%	72.4%	53.9%	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Ethnicity: White^b	1386	1133	1044	81.4%	56.3%	60.1%	42.9%	47.9%	49.3%	57.1%
East Asian^b	63	410	395	3.7%	20.4%	22.7%	5.1%	21.8%	31.3%	9.2%
South Asian^b	26	181	79	1.5%	8.9%	4.6%	2.3%	13.0%	11.9%	5.7%
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit	19	16	35	1.1%	0.8%	2.0%	2.9%	1.3%	3.1%	6.2%
French/English as second language (F/ESL)^c	950	688	559	55.8%	34.2%	32.2%	37.0%	49.1%	48.7%	44.0%

Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding or no responses (i.e. prefer not to respond selected).

Additional demographic profile details in Supplement.

a. Statistics Canada (2021b).

b. Statistics Canada (2021b) Only top three ethnicities in survey shown.

c. Represents French as a second language in Montreal and English as a second language in Toronto and Vancouver.

Table 2. Average responses for value, beliefs, trust, and satisfaction factors, measured from 1 (low importance/agreement/satisfaction) to 5 (high importance/agreement/satisfaction).

Perception	Factor	Average	Standard Deviation
Values	Cultural	3.61	0.94
	Social	4.39	0.64
	Identity	4.02	0.79
	Natural	4.27	0.81
Beliefs	Positive	3.87	0.60
	Negative	2.43	0.74
Trust in Municipal Government	Procedural fairness	2.82	0.96
	Competency	3.10	1.04
Satisfaction with Trees	Amenity	3.74	0.77
	Ecology	3.42	0.79
Satisfaction with Management	Appropriate	3.12	0.90
	Timely	3.15	0.92
	Sufficient	3.23	0.91

Figure 3. Violin plots showing survey respondents assignment of importance for statements loading on each of the urban forest values factors, aggregated by the four municipal contexts (inner, middle, outer, regional), in each of the three regions (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver). The average (circle), interquartile range (box), and overall data distribution are depicted (Montreal n = 1,703; Toronto n = 2,015; Vancouver n = 1,737).

Table 3. 2-way ANOVA results for the geographic variables and perception measures.

Perception measure	Geographic variables	Sum of squares	df	Mean square	F	p
Cultural Values	Region	10	2	5.17	5.82	0.003**
	Municipal context	2	3	0.56	0.62	0.601*
	Region * Municipal context	6	6	1.01	1.13	0.339
Social values	Region	0.0	2	0.01	0.03	0.98
	Municipal context	0.5	3	0.18	0.43	0.73
	Region * Municipal context	5.3	6	0.88	2.14	0.046*
Identity Values	Region	0	2	0.04	0.07	0.93
	Municipal context	5	3	1.55	2.49	0.06
	Region * Municipal context	7	6	1.17	1.89	0.08
Natural values	Region	2	2	0.89	1.38	0.25
	Municipal context	15	3	5.08	7.79	<.001***
	Region * Municipal context	15	6	2.52	3.86	<.001***
Negative Beliefs	Region	28.6	2	14.3	26.48	<.001***
	Municipal context	26.9	3	8.97	16.61	<.001***
	Region * Municipal context	11.2	6	1.86	3.44	0.002**
Positive Beliefs	Region	7.0	2	3.51	9.88	<.001***
	Municipal context	4.5	3	1.49	4.22	0.005**
	Region * Municipal context	6.4	6	1.07	3.01	0.006**
Trust in Procedural Fairness	Region	0	2	0.11	0.12	0.88
	Municipal context	7	3	2.48	2.69	0.04*
	Region * Municipal context	8	6	1.37	1.49	0.17
Trust in Competency	Region	220	2	110.13	107.04	<.001***
	Municipal context	10	3	3.39	3.29	0.019*
	Region * Municipal context	13	6	2.12	2.07	0.05*
Tree Satisfaction: amenity	Region	2	2	1.04	1.77	0.17
	Municipal context	5	3	1.74	2.95	0.03*
	Region * Municipal context	7	6	1.14	1.93	0.07
Tree Satisfaction: ecology	Region	25	2	12.67	20.38	<.001***
	Municipal context	0	3	0.11	0.18	0.91
	Region * Municipal context	3	6	0.57	0.91	0.49
Management Satisfaction: appropriate	Region	3	2	1.74	2.15	0.12
	Municipal context	2	3	0.66	0.82	0.48
	Region * Municipal context	12	6	1.94	2.39	0.03*
Management Satisfaction: timely	Region	13	2	6.58	7.83	<.001***
	Municipal context	1	3	0.47	0.55	0.65
	Region * Municipal context	8	6	1.34	1.59	0.14
Management Satisfaction: sufficient	Region	15	2	7.24	9.06	<.001***
	Municipal context	7	3	2.43	2.96	0.03*
	Region * Municipal context	10	6	1.59	1.94	0.07

Significance levels: * p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Figure 4. Violin plots showing survey respondents level of agreement for statements loading on each of the urban forest beliefs and trust in municipality factors, aggregated by the four municipal contexts (inner, middle, outer, regional), in each of the three regions (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver). The average (circle), median (line), interquartile range (box), and overall data distribution are depicted (Montreal n = 1,703; Toronto n = 2,015; Vancouver n = 1,737).

Figure 5. Violin plots showing survey respondents level of satisfaction for statements loading on each of the urban forest satisfaction factors, aggregated by the four municipal contexts (inner, middle, outer, regional), in each of the three regions (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver). The average (circle), median (line), interquartile range (box), and overall data distribution are depicted (Montreal n = 1,703; Toronto n = 2,015; Vancouver n = 1,737).

Figure 6. Violin plots for survey responses to statements loading on each of the urban forest values, beliefs, trust and satisfaction measures, separated by English and French speakers. The average (circle), median (line), interquartile range (box), and overall data distribution are depicted (n = 5,455).

Figure 7. Violin plots for survey responses to statements loading on each of the urban forest values, beliefs, trust and satisfaction measures, separated by French or English as a second language (F/ESL) and non-F/ESL speakers. The average (circle), median (line), interquartile range (box), and overall data distribution are depicted (n = 5,455).

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