On August 5, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $1.25 billion aid package to support the softwood lumber sector as it faces increasingly challenging operational constraints. This package is also intended to retool and pivot to new markets. It includes:

• $700 million in loan guarantees to help companies confront immediate pressures facing the softwood lumber sector, which will give the sector needed liquidity to maintain and restructure, if necessary, their operations. This will be delivered through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
• $500 million to supercharge product and market diversification and make the industry more competitive globally, delivered through Natural Resources Canada’s suite of forest industry transformation programs starting in the 2026–2027 fiscal year. These programs include the Forest Innovation Program, Investments in Forest Industry Transformation, Green Construction Through Wood, the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, the Global Forest Leadership Program and its precursor Expanding Market Opportunities program, and the Forest Systems Information and Technology Enhancement program.
• $50 million over three years, led by Employment and Social Development Canada, to help reskill and support more than 6,000 affected forest workers through Labour Market Development Agreements.