Tree Canada and CN invite Canadian communities to apply for $25,000 greening grants

OTTAWA, March 23, 2018 /CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) and Tree Canada are pleased to announce today the launch of CN EcoConnexions From the Ground Up, an annual initiative that provides more than a half million dollars in funding for community greening projects across Canada.

This year, 25 communities will be awarded greening grants of up to $25,000. Canadian communities of all types and sizes, from large urban centres to small towns to indigenous communities, are encouraged to submit their proposed greening projects for consideration before April 18, 2018.

Thanks to CN's environmental leadership, this year's CN EcoConnexions initiative will help improve communities along CN corridors with sustainable, environmentally responsible greening projects. Through its various tree planting programs, including From the Ground Up, CN has planted more than 1.8 million trees since 2012.

Tree Canada experts will be working closely with communities to assist with logistics, species selection and to help make each planting project into an opportunity for community members to come together and celebrate the benefits that trees provide our communities.

Interested groups can learn more about the application process for the CN EcoConnexions From the Ground Up program here.

"CN remains committed to making a positive impact on the communities along our network, and are proud to be part of a program that helps to make these communities better places to live, work and play. We're not only helping beautify these communities, we're positively contributing to a sustainable future one community at a time, as planting trees improves air quality and offsets carbon emissions."

– Sean Finn, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer for CN

 "Tree Canada, Canada's leading national tree-planting charity, is excited to continue our partnership with CN to bring CN EcoConnexions From the Ground Up to 25 deserving communities across Canada. With this program, CN is creating a lasting legacy of sustainability for present and future generations, providing funding and much-needed awareness to the value of trees and green spaces to our health and wellbeing as well as the environment."

– Michael Rosen, President of Tree Canada

About Tree Canada:
Tree Canada is a non-profit charity dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by planting and nurturing trees. Since 1992, we've planted more than 80 million trees, greened more than 600 schoolyards, helped restore places hit by natural disasters and brought together urban forestry experts greening cities all across Canada. Get involved or learn more about us at treecanada.ca.

About CN:
CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team of approximately 24,000 railroaders transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company's website at www.cn.ca.

SOURCE Tree Canada

For Tree Canada: Paul Jorgenson, Manager of Communications and Marketing, Tree Canada, [email protected], 819-208-8230 (cellular); For CN: Patrick Waldron, Senior Manager, Media Relations, CN, [email protected], 514-399-8803