PRT Growing Services

PRT produces forest seedlings — predominantly conifer species — for industrial timber companies, government reforestation agencies, and conservation organizations. It is not a landowner or a lumber mill; it sells growing services and seedling supply under contract, supported by 28 nurseries and seed orchards across Canada and the US.

The firm states it grows half a billion seedlings annually and has planted over 6 billion since 1971. With 28 nursery sites spanning boreal, coastal, southern, and interior growing zones, PRT claims the largest dedicated forest nursery network on the continent.

In 2024, PRT became the exclusive seedling provider for Funga, a company deploying mycorrhizae and fungal inoculants to boost loblolly pine growth and soil carbon capture. The deal bakes climate-adaptation technology directly into a supply contract, potentially raising switching costs for landowners whose timber stands are demonstrably healthier with inoculated PRT stock.

International Forest Company (IFCO) was founded in 1971 as a seed-processing business and later became a leader in southern pine genetics and nursery operations. PRT was founded in British Columbia in 1988. The two entities joined together under the PRT brand in 2023, consolidating Canadian and US nursery networks into a single operating company.

PRT runs sites in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This coverage across multiple hardiness zones and timber regions provides climatic diversification that a single-region nursery operation cannot match, insulating production from weather-driven local crop failures.