Peter Lister
With climate change, wildfires are becoming more common and more severe. …While the number of hectares burned in 2026 is approaching the 10-year average, the fires have had an enormous effect on communities in BC’s Okanagan Valley. Residents in the immediately affected areas have had their lives disrupted through evacuations, lost homes, and lost income from closed businesses. To date, about 150 structures were destroyed in the Bald Range fires, about 40 in Summerland and the rest in outlying areas. Most of us can appreciate that losing your home has a huge emotional and financial impact, and many people will face years of work to negotiate insurance settlements and rebuild their lives. People without adequate insurance will likely never financially recover.
The provincial government has several programs to help mitigate wildfire risk. …While these programs are helpful and a good starting point, the amount of funding available is simply inadequate relative to the scale of the need across the province. …Clearly, a different approach that does not depend on government grants is required to quickly treat a much larger amount of land at a lower cost. Forestry contractors hold the key. Increasingly, mechanized approaches are being used to thin the forests and reduce fuel loads. Mechanized thinning can not only treat much larger areas than manual approaches, but by modifying the approach to include the removal of some larger stems, treatments can be done on a break-even basis by selling the harvested stems as pulp or sawlogs.
Communities will be better protected from wildfires in a timely manner, government does not need to find the funding to pay for the manual treatments, and forestry contractors are kept working, preserving jobs and businesses and maintaining harvesting capacity that will be necessary when the forest product markets finally recover and mills get back to work.
The 
Canada and the European Union are laying out concrete steps to strengthen ties around digital security, critical resources and a would-be fleet of Canadian water bombers, according to a draft joint statement ahead of a major summit at month’s end. The document states that Ottawa and Brussels aim to let Canadian companies bid on cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure contracts typically reserved for European companies in another push away from dependence on the United States. Dubbed an “alliance for the future,” the renewed partnership also launches plans for Canada to join in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system and wraps up a deal to facilitate European investment in Canadian critical minerals. It further announces the joint purchase of 50 Canadian-made De Havilland water bombers it claims will be ready for use in fighting wildfires in 2030. …The challenge lies in fending off backlash from the White House, said professor Patrick Leblond. 
WASHINGTON — The NAFTA Secretariat has published formal notice of an October 5, 2026, binational panel decision concerning countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber products. The panel affirmed the US Department of Commerce’s Second Redetermination on Remand in the matter of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination. The decision relates to a challenge filed under NAFTA’s Article 1904 dispute settlement mechanism, which provides for binational panel review of trade remedy determinations.
The United Steelworkers union (USW) welcomes the BC NDP’s commitments to support forestry workers and communities through new investments to keep mills operating, protect jobs and strengthen BC’s forestry sector. The union says the plan is a positive step toward addressing the challenges facing the industry. The BC NDP’s proposed $120-million Forestry Jobs Protection Fund, investments in mill modernization, improved access to fibre and efforts to expand international markets are welcome commitments for an industry hit hard by decades of unfair US tariffs, mill closures and job losses. …The USW is also calling on all candidates in the BC election to support a Working Forest strategy that balances conservation, reconciliation and good jobs. This includes securing a reliable timber supply for BC mills, directly tying logging rights to keeping mills operating and workers employed, and establishing a Forestry Jobs Protection Commissioner to help prevent further mill closures.
A new manufacturing operation coming to Chemainus is expected to create 30 jobs by early 2027, with plans to grow to 70 positions over the next three years. Japan-based Shinohara Nexus Group will open a production facility on a portion of the Chemainus sawmill site, leased from Western Forest Products. North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said he met with Shinohara Group’s senior management team, including the company’s president and CEO, to discuss the project. The investment was also discussed with North Cowichan council members by B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar during the Union of BC Municipalities convention. According to Douglas, the operation will be housed in two existing storage buildings at the site. Western Forest Products has told the United Steelworkers the new operation will not impact the Chemainus sawmill’s ability to restart. Shinohara has operated manufacturing facilities producing pre-cut lumber for approximately 4,000 residential, commercial and institutional buildings each year.
David Eby initially framed this election as being about who’s the best choice to fight the threat posed by Donald Trump. …Pshaw, Eby’s critics say. …Whether Eby is using Trump as a strawman, and whether the New Democrats are the ones to counter the president and his tariffs, is up for debate. What’s not in dispute, though, is those tariffs hit the forest sector hard. In the outer reaches of ridings like North Island and Mid Island-Pacific Rim — places more wild and rugged than tamed, uncalloused Victoria — they’ll tell you the tariffs are just one more challenge to an already struggling industry. People in forestry also fret about access to fibre, the depletion of valuable Douglas fir, wildfires, regulatory burden, transportation costs and, yes, cross-border wrangling. …Eby said B.C. would fight tariffs by adding $90 million to existing government programs to attract investment and jobs to rural areas.
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to hear an appeal involving CN Rail and Alberta Pacific Forest Industries that could clarify the courts’ authority to review decisions of the Canadian Transportation Agency. The case centres on whether factual findings by the agency can be challenged through judicial review, despite statutory limits on appeals.
CLINTON, Ontario
Tariffs and the trade war with Canada are hurting United States businesses, according to the latest U.S. Federal Reserve‘s Beige Book released. “Most of the trade tensions are mentioned in terms of the negative effect on manufacturing,” Robert Embree said of the U.S. economic survey. “We see that in New York. We see that in Boston. We see that in Minneapolis. They’re all reporting adverse effects from tariffs or trade conflicts with Canada.” Issues arising from damaged cross-border trade with Canada came up in reports from several Fed banks, including those in New York, Minneapolis, Boston and San Francisco. For example, “a number of manufacturing contacts reported that tariffs were raising input costs, disrupting supply chains and damaging cross-border trade, particularly with Canada,” the Federal Reserve of New York’s portion of the report said. As a result, businesses said they were delaying capital spending and their planning had become more complex.
U.S. tariffs could leave more Canadian lumber available for domestic construction, potentially supporting nearly 4,000 additional homes a year and lowering building costs, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC 
Lumber futures rose to $540 per thousand board feet, their highest level in nearly a month, as Hurricane Isaias threatened supplies across key producing regions. The storm swept through the US Gulf Coast, causing major power outages in Alabama and Mississippi, both significant lumber-producing states, raising concerns over supply disruptions and pressuring prices. Lumber supplies were already constrained by escalating trade tensions between the US and Canada. …However, gains remain tempered by weakness in the US housing market. Mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, their highest in nearly three years, raising borrowing costs for homebuyers and weighing on housing demand.
The Canadian economy proved more resilient than feared earlier this year. Now, while many hope domestic infrastructure and investment projects will help the economy grow and boost its export diversification, the country is likely facing a period of slower growth in the short term. That’s why Deloitte Canada recently raised its forecast for this year but cut next year’s growth forecast from 2 to 1.6 per cent, a figure that accounts for Canada’s retaliatory tariffs but not the Sept. 15 expansion or the Sept. 29 import bans. To better understand where the economy has proven most resilient, and where future challenges lie, National Post reached out to Deloitte Canada’s Chief Economist Dawn Desjardins for some insights. ….What has kept Canada’s economy afloat so far, and why do you expect that resilience to weaken? …Dawn Desjardins: But for 2027, all the events of recent weeks and months certainly suggest that it’s having an impact on Canadian business confidence, Canadian consumer confidence. [A National Post subscription may be required for full access to this story]
Canada lost 68,000 jobs in September, according to Statistics Canada, marking a second straight month of losses. The unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1 percentage points to 6.5 per cent, which is where it stood at the start of 2026. Economists polled ahead of the release had predicted employers added 9,200 positions in September. The decline follows 42,000 job losses in August, which came as a surprise to economists and snapped a hot streak for the labour market. …Statistics Canada says job losses were split between full- and part-time work and were concentrated in the public sector. The decline was concentrated in youth aged 15 to 24, who accounted for 48,000 job losses, according to the data agency. But the pool of young workers also shrank in September, leaving the unemployment rate for that group relatively unchanged at 13 per cent.
In August, the U.S. trade deficit hit a seasonally adjusted $106 billion, the highest total since President Trump announced his sweeping tariff regime. Since those tariffs, the trade deficit has stayed around normal levels. …President Trump imposed the tariffs, in his own words, to close a trade deficit which he deemed a “national emergency.” …All of this was complete nonsense. …First, the nation does not lose money when it imports more goods and services than it exports. …Second, the nation isn’t even sending more dollars abroad than it receives when you zoom out beyond mere imports and exports. Foreigners typically want to do something more with the dollars they get. So virtually every dollar sent abroad returns to America in one form or another. Through our trade deficit, we receive many more tangible goods of value than we have to give up in return because the U.S. economy is exceptionally attractive.
The Carney government says it wants housing starts in Canada to double to 500,000 per year within the next several years. …At first glance, it’s an odd goal for the government to embrace. More than four-fifths of the existing residential housing stock in Canada consists of “market housing” — units constructed by developers and homebuilders guided by market-based signals. These signals include housing demand and business objectives such as making a profit, keeping the firm’s workers employed, etc. Ottawa’s direct role in building the country’s housing stock has been minor. …If markets operate well, the supply of housing will adjust in the face of trends in demand. Unfortunately, the homebuilding industry is subject to a heavy dose of regulation — mainly by municipalities and the provinces — and must grapple with a plethora of taxes and fees that drive up construction costs. 
Time after time, week after week, there is yet another story lamenting Canada’s continued reliance on its resource economy. Wood, minerals, oil, gas and more are written or spoken of as antiquated, crumbling foundations of an economy that must supposedly grow up and embrace the world of tech and renewable energy. In June 2026, Canadian merchandise exports reached a record $78 billion, while imports totalled $73.8 billion, producing a $4.2-billion trade surplus. Why? Because Canada’s natural resource economy has proven once again that it can generate enough export earnings to offset deficits elsewhere in merchandise trade, supporting national income and domestic production. According to Statistics Canada’s merchandise data, five resource and resource-based product categories stand out. …Combined, they accounted for $46.2 billion in exports, while accounting for just $18.9 billion in imports, for a surplus of around $27.4 billion. Compare that with every other merchandise category in Canada, which ran a combined deficit of roughly $23.2 billion.
The first article in this series explored the acoustical challenges associated with mass timber construction as building codes continue to enable more ambitious timber buildings across Canada. This article builds on that, discussing the construction details and processes that can determine whether a mass timber building meets its sound isolation targets, and why each one has an outsized effect on building performance and the user experience. The question facing project teams is no longer whether mass timber buildings can achieve good acoustic performance. Several projects across North America have demonstrated this. But that success is not universal. The next challenge is understanding how that success is achieved and replicating the process across all projects. …Mass timber may have roughly one-quarter of the mass of a comparable concrete assembly. The lower mass of the material reduces resistance to sound transmission compared to a concrete structure. Controlling flanking transmission also becomes correspondingly important. 
Northwestern Ontario has an abundance of hardwood. That’s what the hosts of an inbound Scandinavian trade mission are promoting in Thunder Bay this week in an attempt to attract offshore investment and new manufacturing to the region’s forest sector. The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre will be the venue for the trade mission, Oct. 5-7, that is drawing select companies from Canada and the Nordic countries. The innovation centre, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission and the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) are funding and orchestrating this gathering, which will feature a predominant Swedish contingent from as many as seven companies. …CRIBE CEO Scott Jackson said they won’t be shy about drawing attention to underutilized poplar and white birch in the northwest. CRIBE laid out the opportunity and value proposition 
The community of Smithers has been relatively untouched by wildfires… However, drought has significantly impacted the area and the threat of wildfire has become ever present… Our local community wildfire suppression group, the Woodmere Emergency Services Society … visited a recent BC Timber Sales block that was harvested and sold to Hampton Lumber in Burns Lake. …In the spring of 2026 we had a field visit with Hampton to look at the slash/fuel left behind on this block. While Hampton had no legal obligation to do any further clean up, we were impressed that the company recognized the issue and agreed to clean up the block. …at the end of September 2026, we saw that Hampton has gone above and beyond our expectations and has done an exceptional job at their own expense. …Companies like Hampton are what give forestry a good name in British Columbia.
Forest soils store an estimated 40% of the world’s terrestrial carbon, but estimates suggest that around 15–30% of that soil carbon is lost when a forest is harvested. Tracking such losses can be tricky: wildfires, insects, disease and past forest management can all affect forest soil carbon stores, and tree type, climate and harvesting method can all affect how much carbon is lost. The BC Long-Term Soil Productivity (BC-LTSP) study is a long-term forest experiment that researchers used to examine how organic matter removal and soil compaction have affected soil carbon over the past 20 years, how soil carbon and the forest floor recover after heavy harvesting, and how latitude and climate affect soil carbon. The research is published in the 
The Lac Simon Anishnabe Nation has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing its failure to protect the caribou from the impacts of mining and forestry threatens their members’ constitutional rights. Since 2020, the last seven caribou of the Val-d’Or herd have lived in a 14-hectare forested enclosure in northwest Quebec. …The Val-d’Or caribou herd faces imminent extinction in Quebec as its habitat is fragmented by industry, with only one-third of its habitat intact. Though the caribou are listed under the federal Species At Risk Act, the nation says the government has focused on consultation rather than action, leaving the caribou vulnerable to the threat of ongoing environmental degradation. The Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon argues its constitutional right to hunt relies on the continued existence of the caribou herd. If successful, the case could set a precedent at a crucial time when endangered species face escalating risks from major projects across Canada.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has acquired 814 square kilometres of boreal forest and peatlands south of Kapuskasing, previously owned by a company selling carbon offset credits. The non-profit says where the landscape is healthy and free of vulnerable species, some day-use recreational activities such as hiking and paddling may continue, in line with provincial laws. The federal government says it’s contributing $13 million to the project as part of a total $64-million investment from both public and private donors. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s annual United Nations biodiversity summit, where the talks are expected to focus on global progress toward conservation goals. Ottawa unveiled a new $3.8-billion nature protection strategy earlier this year intended to put Canada’s goals within reach, months after the federal environmental watchdog found it to be more than one-million square kilometres short of its 2025 goal to protect 25 per cent of its lands and inland water.
FREDERICTON, NB — …The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of up to $50 million for the establishment of the New Brunswick Strategic Innovation Centre in Digital Forestry, an initiative led by the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute in collaboration with ResearchNB. …The new Centre will establish a pilot for digitalizing the forest sector, helping the industry and its stakeholders better identify, track and use fibre resources across the supply chain. By increasing certainty of fibre supply and matching that fibre supply to facilities’ specific manufacturing requirements, the initiative would modernize the forest products sector in New Brunswick and create a model for other regions — attracting investment, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency for businesses. The digital infrastructure will place New Brunswick at the forefront of innovation and support the long-term resilience of Canada’s forest industry. Minister Hodgson confirmed that Budget 2026 will contain further details related to the federal forest sector strategy. 
ARC Bio has successfully demonstrated a pathway to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Canadian forest residues through refinery co-processing. The project connects Canada’s forest sector with existing refining infrastructure, demonstrating how residual woody biomass can be converted into a refinery-ready biocrude and processed alongside conventional feedstocks to produce transportation fuels, including SAF. “Canada has the biomass feedstock, forest sector expertise, industrial capability and refining infrastructure to build an important new clean fuel value chain,” said Serge Mercier, President of Bioénergie AECN. “This work creates a direct connection between Canada’s forest economy and the growing need for low-carbon fuels in aviation and marine transportation markets.” The demonstration began with fast pyrolysis oil produced from Canadian forest residues by Bioénergie AECN in Port-Cartier, Quebec. The bio-oil was upgraded into barrel-scale quantities of Alder Renewable Crude (ARC), a transportable biocrude designed for integration with existing refinery infrastructure.
It’s a big win for Yukon’s wildland firefighters. The Yukon government tabled a bill on Tuesday that would amend the territory’s Workers’ Safety and Compensation Act to include wildland firefighters under presumptive cancer coverage. Currently, only full-time and part-time structural firefighters are covered under the act for 19 types of cancer. Wildland firefighters are not included. Laura Lang, Yukon’s minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board, said wildland firefighters are there to support and protect communities in times of need, so it’s time to reciprocate that support. “Under the proposed change, when a wildland forest fighter is diagnosed with a listed cancer and meets the legislated eligibility requirements, their cancer would be presumed to be work-related,” she said. “For those who qualify, that means less red tape and a lot more straightforward, predictable claims processes.”
