OTTAWA, ON—Researchers at McGill University, in partnership with Canadian Forest Owners (CFO) and with support from MITACS Canada, are launching the first national survey of Canadian private forest owners in more than two decades. The survey aims to build a stronger evidence base to help governments better understand the role private forests play in Canada’s economy, environment and communities. The findings are expected to inform policy development and improve decision-making. CFO and McGill University researchers are working together to advance a national approach to private forest data. The project will gather information on forest area, condition and production potential, as well as insight into who owns and manages these lands, their objectives and their long-term stewardship plans. …Private forests are often managed over multiple generations, offering continuity of stewardship, patient capital and a long-term perspective. …The survey is intended to help close that information gap and improve understanding of Canada’s private forest sector.
A Toronto company is suing BC, saying it was stripped of its mining rights as part of a deal with the Gitxaała Nation. In a lawsuit filed in BC Supreme Court, MCC Canadian Gold Ventures says it was asked to rescue a small gold mine on Banks Island, south of Prince Rupert. But then the BC government stripped its mining rights to offset some of the impacts of another BC Supreme Court ruling involving the Gitxaała. The company says it invested millions in the property and now cannot move ahead on the project. …The province has not filed a response. …MCC said their case has “striking” parallels to a lawsuit launched by Carrier Lumber in the 1990s. In 2002, the province paid a large settlement to Carrier Lumber over a lawsuit it won over government decisions the company said made it impossible to harvest timber in the BC Interior.
Canadian officials will meet their Mexican and American counterparts on July 1 for the first tri-lateral meeting to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement, a spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed. …LeBlanc’s office tells CTV News the meeting is scheduled to be virtual for now, but that things could evolve. Minister LeBlanc and Chief Trade Negotiator Janice Charette met with the United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France last week. …July 1 is the deadline for all three parties involved in the trade pact to decide whether to renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from the agreement altogether, or start an annual rolling review process that could last years.
A volatile trade picture in B.C. continued into April as goods exports fell four per cent month-to-month (unadjusted for seasonality) to $4.5 billion, while imports fell by a more rapid clip of 14 per cent to $6.2 billion. That said, exports were still up significantly year-over-year by 6.7 per cent, while imports rose a more modest 2.1 per cent. …Current year-over-year growth has been driven primarily by energy products, which rose 9.7 per cent (+$128 million), along with metal ores and non-metallic minerals… In contrast, the beleaguered forestry sector declined nine per cent (-$81 million) to $823 million, although April marked the highest monthly export value for the sector in nine months. Forestry continues to face headwinds from elevated U.S. softwood lumber duties, broader trade measures (including Section 232 tariffs), timber supply constraints and softer demand conditions. Year-to-date … forestry exports fell 24.8 per cent (-$1 billion)… In B.C., building permit activity receded sharply in April…
As part of ongoing work to diversify trade, Premier David Eby is leading a trade mission to China to strengthen commercial ties with the province’s second-largest trading partner and explore new opportunities to support good-paying jobs for people in British Columbia’s forestry, energy, tourism and agriculture sectors. … “China is the world’s second-largest economy and is our second-largest export market for B.C. goods and services. Encouraging tourism while selling more B.C. wood, agricultural products and energy will mean more money for families and more money to pay for the services British Columbians deserve,” said Premier Eby. …British Columbia and China share a longstanding partnership with collaboration across a range of areas from sustainable forest management to wood construction innovation and clean energy.
CN Rail has been fined $435,000, having been found responsible for causing a wildfire near Spences Bridge a year after the nearby town of Lytton was devastated by a catastrophic wildfire. According to a June 17 BC Forest Appeals Commission decision, CN Rail was found to have caused a wildfire that burned outside of Spencers Bridge in September 2022. Last year, the BC government issued a $435,371 fine to the company. Broken down, the fine covered $60,000 for damaged or destroyed mature Crown timber, $27,000 for damaging or destroying forest and grassland resources, and a further $348,000 to cover the cost of controlling wildfire K72249. “During their investigations, Natural Resource Officer Service staff collected field information and photographs and obtained recorded statements from several eyewitnesses. As a result of their investigation, the Natural Resource Officer Service alleged that CN Rail had contravened… BC Wildfire Regulation(s),” the decision reads.
Forestry Innovation Investment’s 2025/26 Year in Review is now available. It is a compilation of market development activities completed by FII and our many industry, association, government, academic and research partners over the past year. We are committed to a collaborative delivery approach, building on the strengths and shared resources that other organizations bring to this important work. The forest sector continues to face challenging market conditions and ongoing trade uncertainty. As we adapt to these pressures, diversification remains central to strengthening the sector. By expanding markets and making the most of B.C.’s forest resources, FII and its partners are supporting long-term resilience. This includes advancing wood use in B.C., supporting growth in mass timber and prefabricated construction, and pursuing opportunities across international markets. The report includes the range of work underway, and the milestones achieved over the past year. 
OTTAWA — Canada’s annual inflation rate in May accelerated more than expected to 3.2%, a 29-month high, data showed on Monday, as the impact of higher crude oil prices due to the Iran conflict continued to filter through gasoline costs. Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated the annual inflation rate to touch 3% in May, up from 2.8% in April. The prices, however, are already showing a major reversal in June after an interim peace deal was signed between the United States and Iran last week, which, analysts have said, could help ease the headline number in June. Statistics Canada said excluding the impact of gasoline prices, the consumer price index still posted a higher increase of 2.2% in May from 2% in April. The monthly inflation rate rose to 1% in May, exceeding expectations of 0.8% rise. This is the highest monthly rise in 15 months.
Lumber climbed past $630 per thousand board feet, the highest level since October, amid higher effective US import costs on Canadian softwood and tighter expected supply. Prices rose despite a small reduction in preliminary antidumping and countervailing duties, because the combined tariff burden remains high at about 35.9% including the existing Section 232 levy, set to take effect in August. The market is also being driven by uncertainty ahead of final duty decisions, prompting buyers to accelerate purchases and lift near-term demand. At the same time, US domestic production is still constrained, while housing-related consumption remains structurally large, with softwood lumber and engineered wood products heavily used in new construction. Each new home requires roughly 15,000 board feet of lumber plus extensive engineered wood products, keeping baseline consumption elevated even in a softer housing cycle. [END]
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The Syilx Okanagan Nation is petitioning the federal government to act swiftly to protect a prized and threatened caribou species that continues to fall off the map near Revelstoke and Nakusp. On May 28, the Nation announced it had filed for an emergency order under Section 80 of Canada’s Species at Risk Act to press Environment and Climate Change Canada to conserve federally threatened southern mountain caribou. The Nation says continued logging of critical old-growth habitat falls out of line with its forestry principles and standards, and jeopardizes the future of the three caribou herds that remain on Syilx territory. The Frisby-Boulder herd west of Revelstoke is already functionally extinct with just eight caribou, while the Central Selkirk herd … sits at around 27 caribou. The Columbia North herd, roughly 185 caribou strong in the Monashee Mountains north of Revelstoke, has the greatest likelihood of survival, though the Nation says long-term forest habitat recovery remains a challenge.
Local forest advocates gathered in Nelson on Monday to call on Premier David Eby’s government to increase protections for old-growth forests. Eby was in the region this week, visiting and touring local facilities. More than 140 people attended a demonstration outside Kootenay Central MLA Brittny Anderson’s office… Organizer Rita Corcoran said protesters relocated to Taghum Hall after learning Eby was expected to attend an event there. …“We were hoping to talk to him directly and give him that same message directly in person about what we want and that we feel disappointed in the leadership,” said Corcoran. “But he didn’t arrive.” …“I’ve seen the premier meet with protesters across the province, and I know he would have been happy to meet with them here in Nelson as well,” Anderson said. “The RCMP made a security assessment, and we have to respect the decision that they made.”
In his 2025 book, The Genius Bat, Yossi Yovel, an Israeli ecologist, describes experiments he conducted with six Egyptian fruit bats, including an exercise in which he trained them to land on a target and wait for him to approach with a reward — a slice of banana. …Many readers will find the image of bats as trainable, friendly and possessing intelligence, distinct personalities and perhaps even a sense of humour to be quite jarring. But this effect is exactly what Yovel is striving to achieve. His goal with the book is to dispel the many myths surrounding bats and to convey what remarkable and endlessly fascinating creatures they actually are. …Due to misinformation many people are unaware of the benefits bats provide by eating massive amounts of harmful insects, producing guano, which is an important natural fertilizer, and pollinating plants and spreading seeds. Without bats, humans would be in deep trouble.
British Columbians are subsidizing the province’s forest companies to the tune of tens of millions of dollars each year under a government program that defrays the cost of shipping logs from remote forests to distant mills. In 2023, logging companies received nearly $33 million in public funds to underwrite the costs of hauling “low-value” logs to wood pulp and pellet mills. …The subsidies are posted online by the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, or FESBC, an organization created and funded by the provincial government and that reports to Forests Minister Ravi Parmar. The society’s mandate includes “preventing and mitigating the impact of wildfires” and “improving habitat for wildlife.” But many FESBC funds simply underwrite the increasing costs of hauling logs. Those expenses have been marching upward as logging activities push farther into the hinterland. That has some questioning whether the funding is accelerating the logging of forests, rather than enhancing them.
Did you know that BC has nearly 600 native bee species? This is among the highest diversity in Canada. The Southern Interior alone has around 400 species. The forest provides both forage opportunities and nesting habitat for bees. Many bee species live in trees, specifically cracks, bark sloughs and small crevices. So snags! We knew they were good for something. Over the decomposition of a standing tree it provides different types of standing habitat. As the tree rots, the bark begins to slough. Sloughing Bark on a snag is an important old forest attribute. While we can’t maintain everything in a block, keeping snags provides habitat for a variety of bees and other insects.
As summer temperatures rise across British Columbia, WorkSafeBC is urging employers to take proactive steps to protect workers from heat stress. Simple measures such as providing shade, cool-down areas, drinking water, and adjusting work schedules can significantly reduce the risk of heat-related illness. WorkSafeBC has also updated its Preventing Heat Stress at Work guide and released a new incident investigation video examining an explosion caused by a key fob left in a service vehicle. WorkSafeBC is drawing attention to another serious hazard: contact with power lines. New data shows that 74% of power-line-related injuries involve non-electrical workers, particularly those in construction, painting, and heavy equipment operations. Additional updates include consultations on proposed safety rule changes for shotcrete work, upcoming 2027 assessment rate information sessions, and a free June 24 webinar on road safety for small businesses. New incident investigation report summaries are available to help employers and workers understand the factors that contribute to workplace incidents so similar incidents can be prevented from happening in the future. 