Serving southern Ontario for over 20 years, UFORA staff will ensure our clients receive the best service in certified tree care, landscape design, and project installation & management.
Our core management staff
Stephen Smith
Stephen has supervised hundreds of forestry projects throughout Ontario since 1982, and founded UFORA in 1993. He is a Consulting Forester, an approved Butternut Health Assessor and an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Risk Assessor. He is qualified in Ecological Land Classification in Ontario and is a Certified Seed Collector.
Stephen is a director of the Forest Gene Conservation Association of Ontario and the Society for Ecological Restoration (Ontario Chapter), and a member of the Ontario Urban Forest Council and the Ontario Invasive Plant Council. He has been a volunteer on the Habitat Restoration Committee of the City of Toronto Task Force to Bring Back the Don since 1991. He is currently working on a committee with the City of Toronto Planning Department to create a guide to the trees and shrubs of Toronto and is updating the Invasive Plant List for Ontario for the Invasive Species Centre.
Beyond his extensive work with UFORA, he has been an expert witness at Niagara Escarpment Commission hearings and the Ontario Municpal Board. He has worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as well as many contractors across Ontario in a variety of forestry and arboriculture positions. He has worked with most of the larger organizations across Ontario that plant trees or promote plantings and ecological restoration work, and founded the non-profit tree planting groups T.R.E.E.S. and Root Action with others in 1991-95. He is a member of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Niagara College Ecosystem Restoration Course. Stephen is a frequent guest lecturer at schools, workshops and conferences throughout southern Ontario.
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Jon Woodside
Jon is an ecological rehabilitation planner. He completed a Master’s of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph, where he researched naturalized landscapes and ecosystem services in urban settings.
Jon is a LEED accredited professional and an ISA Certified Arborist currently studying to become a fully qualified Landscape Architect. With UFORA, Jon prepares arborist reports, tree permit applications, stewardship and landscape plans. He has worked for a variety of private clients and government agencies, and has developed many residential garden designs.
Beyond UFORA, Jon has created designs for Evergreen and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. He has co-led public consultation meetings and youth art classes for public space in Scarborough Village. Jon also played a lead role in the design of native gardens at the headquarters of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and consulted on an award-winning garden rehabilitation at Toronto’s Jackman Public School.