The Western Red Cedar tree (Thuja plicata) became the official tree of British Columbia on February 18, 1988, and one was planted on the west side of the front lawn of the Parliament Buildings that same year.

The Western Red Cedar can grow up to 60 metres (197 feet) and flourishes throughout B.C.'s coastal rainforests and in damp parts of the interior. A commercially valuable species, all parts of the Western Red Cedar have been used as raw materials for canoes, clothing, housing, and innumerable other essential objects by many coastal and interior Indigenous peoples.