The seedling trade program provides Timber Sales offices (TSO's) with the opportunity to buy and sell seedlings to meet changing needs of their own programs.  The following transactions are typical:

• TSO to TSO
• Program to Program
• Licensee and TSO
• TSO and Field Services

Seedlings which are surplus to BCTS are available for purchase. A database of surplus seedlings is searchable on NSA, Nursery + Shipping Admin Program. For access to NSA, please fill out an NSA Access Request Form.

Detailed description and procedures for the seedling trade program are available at:

Trade Procedures

Seedling Sale and Purchase contracts are used to facilitate and keep track of seedling sales and purchases. These contracts are built in NSA after the surplus seedlings are sold or purchased on the database. Each contract has a unique control number for organizational purposes, easy searching and printing.

Each year, after seedling contracts have been tendered and awarded to commercial nurseries, the contract award prices are reviewed and used to calculate Seedling Commercial Equivalent Rates.  These rates are used to determine seedling purchase and sale prices in the seedling trade program

Current Seedling Commercial Equivalent Rates

The Commercial Equivalent Rates are developed for seedlings which meet Ministry of Forests specifications.

Seedling Stock Specifications

Seed prices for the seedling trade program are calculated using the most recent data available from Tree Improvement Branch:

Seed Prices

Transportation and Cold Storage costs are collected and calculated by the Coast and Interior Nursery Services offices:

Storage & Transportation Rates