Vancouver — Forest Professionals British Columbia (FPBC) honoured seven individuals as part of its recognition program in Vancouver on February 5. Forest Professionals BC recognized three Distinguished Forest Professionals, one Forest Professional of the Year, one Jim Rodney Memorial Volunteer of the Year, and two authors for BC Forest Professional Magazine Best Article at the 78th Forest Professionals BC forestry conference recognition banquet. 
…Jeff Fisher (North Vancouver), BSF, RPF, Christopher Vukovic (Qualicum Beach), HBScF, RPF(Ret), and John Walker (Williams Lake), RPF, were honoured as Distinguished Forest Professionals for 2025. This category recognizes significant accomplishments over a career, for providing outstanding service to the profession of forestry and for furthering the principles of Forest Professionals BC. It is the profession’s highest honour for a registrant. 
Peter Flett, MSFM, RPF, of Penticton is the 2025 Forest Professional of the Year. Margaret Symon, RPF, PCP, of Duncan is the 2025 Jim Rodney Memorial Volunteer of the Year. Lastly, Vanessa Fetterly, BSc, RPBio, and Carl Pollard, BSc, RPF, collaborated on the 2025 BC Forest Professional Magazine Best Article.
Additional coverage:
- Castanet, by Chelsea Powrie: Osoyoos Indian Band forest services operator honoured for work in the industry
Some of Canada’s major labour organizations are urging Ottawa to put workers at the centre of any renegotiation of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement as preparations begin for the pact’s mandatory 2026 review. Leaders met with Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada–US trade, for what they described as a high-level roundtable on the future of CUSMA amid rising trade tensions and renewed threats of U.S. tariffs. Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske said unions delivered a “clear and urgent message” that Canada should not accept a revised trade deal that weakens domestic industry or costs Canadian jobs. …Bruske was joined by leaders from several large manufacturing and building trades unions representing sectors heavily exposed to trade policy decisions, including auto manufacturing, construction and resource-based industries. Bruske said the upcoming CUSMA review should strengthen Canadian industries and working-class communities, not “hollow them out” in the rush to renew the agreement.
The only thing more surprising than the collapse of the co-operation agreement between the BC Greens and NDP would have been if the two sides had agreed on a new deal. …The Co-Operation and Responsible Government Accord (CARGA)… didn’t seem to be meeting anyone’s needs. For the NDP, the deal was supposed to act as a safety net for a slim one-seat majority. …It worked for last year’s budget. But outside of that, the Greens refused to back the NDP on three other confidence matters. And for that, the government agreed to advance the Green causes… [including] an early review of CleanBC and another review of the forestry system. For the Greens …it was a mixed bag, at best. The NDP did launch reviews of CleanBC and forestry, but then didn’t accept the resulting recommendations. The documents seem destined for that dusty shelf in the legislature library where unwanted reports go to die.
Municipal leaders are on the front lines of BC’s economy, where the health of the forest sector directly impacts jobs, services, and long-term community stability. This timely panel brings together mayors from across the province for a practical, solutions-focused discussion on what a competitive and resilient forestry future means for families and local economies — and what’s needed to ensure forestry remains a cornerstone industry for generations to come. Featuring mayors Maria McFaddin (Castlegar), Brad West (Port Coquitlam), Leonard Krog (Nanaimo) and Gary Sulz (Revelstoke), the conversation will offer grounded municipal perspectives from communities both large and small. The session will be moderated by Karen Brandt, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Partnerships with Mosaic Forest Management. Expect candid insights, local realities, and a forward-looking discussion on strengthening forestry and the communities it supports.
The Bank of Canada’s latest survey of financial-market participants pointed to a modestly brighter growth outlook than the central bank’s own projections, even as trade tensions with the US remain the dominant threat hanging over Canada’s economy and housing market. In the fourth‑quarter Market Participants Survey, 93% of respondents cited an “increase in trade tensions” as the top downside risk to Canadian growth, well ahead of tighter global financial conditions and weaker consumer spending. Participants still assign a 20% probability to a recession over the next six months, but their median forecast calls for real GDP growth of 1.6% by the end of 2026 and 1.9% by late 2027, slightly stronger than the Bank’s own projections of 1.1% and 1.5%. While the survey suggests some stabilization in expectations, it underscores that tariff policy remains the key macroeconomic swing factor. …PwC Canada’s latest survey among 133 CEOs showed that only 27% expect the domestic economy to improve over the next 12 months.
VANCOUVER – Western Forest Products reported adjusted EBITDA of negative $6.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. In comparison, the Company reported Adjusted EBITDA of $14.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 and Adjusted EBITDA of negative $65.9 million in the third quarter of 2025, which included a non-cash export tax expense of $59.5 million related to the determination of final duty rates from the sixth Administrative Review. Net loss was $17.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, as compared to a net loss of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, and net loss of $61.3 million in the third quarter of 2025. …For the full year 2025, the net loss was $82.4 million compared to to a net loss of $34.5 million in 2024. …“Despite more challenging markets and higher softwood lumber duties and tariffs in 2025, we enter 2026 with a significantly improved balance sheet to navigate the expected near-term market uncertainty,” said Steven Hofer, President and CEO of Western Forest Products.
Canada Wood’s January market news highlights the continued expansion of Canadian wood products into key international markets, with a strong focus on mass timber, technical innovation, and long-term partnerships. Articles explore new opportunities for Canadian species in China’s growing glulam sector, including efforts to diversify beyond Douglas fir into Hem-Fir, SPF, and yellow cedar. Other features examine rising interest in mass timber construction in South Korea, driven by carbon-reduction goals and modern architectural demand. The January updates also showcase how long-standing Canadian demonstration projects in southern China are building confidence in wood’s durability in challenging climates, helping pave the way for larger, more complex structures. Rounding out the month is news of renewed Canada–China cooperation on wood construction, reinforcing shared commitments to low-carbon building and sustainable urban development. Together, these stories offer a timely snapshot of how Canadian wood expertise is shaping construction practices abroad.
A national horticultural association is sounding the alarm after new data shows a “staggering gap” in Canada’s post-wildfire forest restoration efforts. The Canadian Tree Nursery Association (CTNA) says current programs are restoring only a small fraction of forests lost to recent wildfires and is calling for “immediate and substantive action” from provincial and federal governments to dramatically increase commitments to restoring wildfire-impacted forests. Speaking at the Western Forest Contractors Association Annual General Meeting and Conference in Victoria from Jan. 28-30, Rob Keen, RPF, Executive Director of the CTNA warned that more than 7.3 billion seedlings are required to restore just 15 per cent of the forests destroyed by wildfires between 2023 and 2025 – more than 10 times Canada’s current annual seedling production capacity. “The crisis is compounded by a troubling biological trend – the declining ability of forests to regenerate naturally after more frequent and higher-intensity wildfires,” said Keen.
The Forest History Association of British Columbia is pleased to launch its 2026 Speaker Series with Jennifer Houghton, Campaign Director for the New Forest Act project with the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society, on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 via Zoom. Jennifer’s talk, “Same System, Same Results: A Century of BC Forestry Without Structural Change,” takes a long-view look at the history of forest management in British Columbia. Over decades of reviews and tweaks to policy, tenure, and allowable cut levels, outcomes on the ground have remained largely unchanged. Jennifer will explore how volume-driven, tenure-based systems became entrenched and why those repeated cycles of reform have fallen short. Drawing on her work co-authoring the legislative framework for the New Forest Act, she will also introduce this grassroots proposal as a way to rethink and strengthen forestry law so that it serves both ecosystems and communities more effectively. All are welcome to register for the free Zoom event.
NORTH COWICHAN, BC — A representative for mill workers in North Cowichan addressed council to oppose the idea of a special task force to identify why mills are closing in the region. Adrian Soldera, president of Public and Private Workers of Canada Local 8… said everyone already knows why the mills are closing and that a new task force would be a waste of time. …He said the Crofton mill is ending several jobs at its plant and that the Chemainus sawmill now faces extended curtailment efforts due to a fibre crisis. Soldera added that putting another group together to investigate why the mills are closing would be redundant. …“its like asking for a committee to study why a house is on fire while the roof is already collapsing,” Soldera said. “Every day this task force spends sitting in a boardroom another family in a mill town wonders if they can pay their mortgage.”
Surprised and devastated. That was West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund’s initial reaction to hearing about changes to the FireSmart program due to a lack of funding. The FireSmart Community Funding and Supports (FCFS) program closed its intake application on Jan. 30, according to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM). “To hear that the funding is abruptly not being replenished is really concerning for us,” said Brolund. “We know our community is no stranger to wildfire. We know the devastating effects that it can have.” The FireSmart Program is a provincially-funded initiative to increase the awareness of community-based planning and acitivies to reduce the risk of wildfire. …In lieu of this, UBCM president Cori Ramsey is asking for B.C. Premier David Eby to make renewing the FireSmart funding a priority while encouraging local governments and First Nations to write about the benefits they’ve gained from the program.
BC NDP Forests Minister Ravi Parmar avoided the usual political pledges to accept recommendations from the latest in-depth analysis of the province’s troubled forest industry. The NDP government’s appointed experts, the Provincial Forest Advisory Committee, tabled their findings on February 2 after a six-month review of an industry that is moving from decline to collapse. …Parmar took the NDP’s familiar path, rather than address the sweeping recommendations to restructure the entire forest land base… he said the mill closures that are devastating communities across the province are mostly Donald Trump’s fault. …The 
Forest harvesting events will be analyzed at an upcoming event at Maple Ridge’s UBC Research Forest. The event titled “Not-So-Clear-Cut: Rethinking How We Harvest Forests” is coming up on Feb. 21, in two sessions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest. Participants are invited to join Dr. Suzanne Simard, a professor and the author of Finding the Mother Tree, and Hélène Marcoux, director and forester at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, for a two-hour guided walk along hiking trails through the forest. As part of ongoing research exploring alternatives to clear-cuts, attendees can discover how tree retention forestry supports soil carbon and ecosystem resilience – all while exploring the challenges and trade-offs of logging in a living ecosystem.
The Provincial Forest Advisory Committee’s (PFAC) 
With global temperature rising and extreme weather becoming the new normal, ballooning insurance premiums and shrinking coverage are hitting Canadians hard. Basement floods and severe winter storms have brought the financial fallout of climate change home—it is no longer a hypothetical. …“The fact that every insurance company has climate scientists on staff and insurance companies are all pricing in climate risk; there is no financial incentive for them to do that if it wasn’t real,” said Dr. Kate Marvel, a NASA climate scientist. If climate change were a hoax, insurers would simply undercut one another, offering cheaper coverage and dismissing long-term risk, Marvel explained. Instead, they are doing the opposite; quietly rewriting the rules of risk as extreme weather becomes more frequent, more destructive and more expensive. …The question is whether governments will act quickly enough to adapt to a warming climate and confront who pays for the damage when they don’t.
The 2026 Arctic Bioenergy Summit and Tour brought together over 125 northern energy leaders, policymakers, and bioenergy experts in Yellowknife from January 26–28 to explore sustainable heating solutions for remote and Arctic communities. The event, hosted by the Arctic Energy Alliance and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, showcased the theme Sustainable Bioenergy for Northern Communities: Reliable. Affordable. Local. Sessions emphasized that bioenergy continues to offer meaningful economic, environmental, and energy‑security benefits for northern and remote communities—especially when paired with strong local leadership and practical, scalable project design. The event also provided valuable networking opportunities, connecting community representatives, government officials, and industry innovators.