Region Archives: Canada

Business & Politics

7 key takeaways from the Liberal government’s spring economic snapshot

By Darren Major
CBC News
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

François-Philippe Champagne

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne introduced their spring economic update on Tuesday. Here are some key highlights:

  • State of the federal books – a lower-than-forecasted deficit for the fiscal year that ended last month. November’s budget was projecting a deficit of $78.3 billion for the year, but Tuesday’s update says the deficit came in at $66.9 billion. The government saw a $60-billion uplift, in part due to revenue from surging oil prices. Tuesday’s outlook outlines $37.5 billion of spending on newly announced measures.
  • Emphasis on skilled trades recruitment – aiming to recruit 80,000-100,000 new skilled trade workers by the 2030-31 fiscal year. The government is pumping $6 billion over five years behind its promise to recruit, train and hire thousands of new workers. Included is an apprenticeship grant in the shape of a $400 per week income top-up to apprentices completing in-class training. There will also be a one-time bonus of $5,000 for apprentices who complete their Red Seal certification.

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Control the Controllable: Canada must focus on boosting competitiveness

Forest Products Association of Canada
April 29, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

The Canadian forest sector is weathering a perfect storm, facing three years of soft markets, protracted geopolitical conflicts and instability in global markets, and combined tariffs and duties averaging 45% on Canadian softwood lumber products entering the US.  “While we welcome the measures to improve the speed at which we can build homes, through code and regulatory improvements for modern methods of construction, we still need a clear signal that Canada intends to be a more competitive place for forest sector investment — more responsive regulation, improved transportation supply chain performance, and tax and investment tools that accelerate the use of Canadian wood products here at home while helping companies modernize facilities and keep people working,” said Derek Nighbor, FPAC President and CEO. “We look forward to Minister Hodgson’s release of the Forest Sector Transformation Task Force report, which should provide a much-needed blueprint for enhancing competitiveness and ensuring long-term growth and stability.”

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Bestar and South Shore closures: Unifor calls for emergency support for the furniture manufacturing sector

By Unifor
PR Newswire
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

LAC-MÉGANTIC, QC – The back-to-back closures of Bestar and Meubles South Shore within a 24-hour period send a clear message: Quebec’s furniture manufacturing sector is in jeopardy. A total of 120 Unifor members are losing their jobs after Bestar announced it would close its Lac-Mégantic plant. “Ottawa has the tools to act and has demonstrated its ability to respond quickly and effectively to sectoral crises affecting the country’s industrial economy. Minister Champagne’s announcement last week launching a safeguard investigation into low-cost imports in this sector is a step in the right direction. Now, that process must be accelerated and every effort made to protect good jobs in this country,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. On April 27, Meubles South Shore announced it would cease furniture production after 86 years of operation at its Sainte-Croix and Coaticook facilities, another major blow to Quebec’s furniture manufacturing sector.

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Canada won’t be ‘chasing a small deal’ to get U.S. tariff relief, Carney says

By Darren Major
CBC News
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Mark Carney

Prime Minister Carney says Canada and the US could resolve the ongoing tariff dispute within “days” if the US side had the “bandwidth and the inclination to go through with it.” The US has maintained hefty import levies on a number of Canadian goods including steel, aluminum, copper, some automotive parts, lumber and other wood products. Carney said that the Canadian side is ready to work on a deal that would see some of those tariffs lifted, but he’s not interested in quickly achieving a “small deal.” …Carney suggested countries that quickly worked out some form of tariff relief with the U.S. aren’t happy with the deals they got. A number of countries such as the UK, Japan and the EU block reached agreements with the US within the last year, but those deals kept some form of tariff on imports to the US.

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CUSMA talks approach with rising uncertainty for Canada

Bloomberg Market Outlook
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Wendy Wagner

Uncertainty is rising for Canadian companies as the CUSMA review approaches, with no formal negotiations underway and trade tensions continuing to escalate. A shifting U.S. stance on tariffs and trade policy is adding to concerns about how the agreement could evolve. BNN Bloomberg spoke with Wendy Wagner, head of international trade at Gowling, who says negotiations are unfolding in a more politicized environment, with sector-specific disputes and tariffs shaping the path forward. Key takeaways include:

  • The upcoming CUSMA review is taking place without formal talks, increasing uncertainty for businesses
  • Sector-specific tariffs  remain a major source of tension and economic risk
  • Protectionism is changing the nature of negotiations away from traditional free trade principles
  • Long-standing and emerging trade irritants are expected to feature prominently in discussions.
  • A trilateral approach with Mexico is seen as strategically important to balance U.S. negotiating power

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Alberta targets students with new skilled trades initiative

By Rich Christianson
The Woodworking Network
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

CALGARY, Alberta — Alberta’s government is investing $6 million over three years to support the next generation of skilled trades workers with the launch of the Alberta Trades Discovery Centre. The industry-led initiative will offer junior high and high school students hands-on exposure to careers in the skilled trades before they graduate. Set to open this fall, the Alberta Trades Discovery Centre will provide a dedicated, professional space where students can explore construction trades, learn directly from experienced tradespeople and discover what they are good at and what they enjoy, helping them make informed choices about high school courses, post-secondary pathways and future careers.

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Upskilling training programs to address labour shortfalls in Western Canada

By Peter Caulfield
Journal of Commerce
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

A recent report by the Canada West Foundation (CWF) says construction workers need training in specialized (often technical) competencies, to enable them to move between sectors of the industry. According to the CWF report, residential and Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) projects have different labour requirements. …As the federal government’s Major Projects Office gets up to speed … CWF says it will not be a shortage of money or projects holding back activity, but a lack of workers with the right skills. …A number of institutions in Western Canada are already addressing the labour mobility challenge with micro-credential courses. For example, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) offers five micro-credentials through its Zero Energy and Emissions Building (ZEB) Learning Centre. …TradeUpBC, in partnership with 17 provincial post-secondary institutions, has developed a series of micro-credentials for the construction trades. …NAIT also offers micro-credentials in construction leadership. 

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Nanaimo residents split over rezoning of forest near Cedar for industry

By Hannah Link
The Times Colonist
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

A Nanaimo public hearing on a controversial rezoning application to allow for the industrial development of forested lands near Cedar is entering its third week. …The application was put forward last spring by Harmac Pacific, which operates the Nanaimo Forest Products site. The land is zoned as “rural resource,” meaning the property can’t be used for industry. The rezoning proposal includes a parkland designation for an 11.3-hectare section of “forested buffer” alongside the popular Cable Bay Trail. Paul Sadler, CEO of Harmac Pacific, said the company built the Cable Bay trail in 1990. “We’re interested in protecting it,” he said, adding that the buffer section would quadruple the size of the park area.Sadler said he feels that the public hearing process has been “hijacked” by those opposed to the rezoning… noting that any applications to use the site after it is rezoned would undergo environmental assessments and a government permit process.

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Lloyd’s alleges arson in $31M battle over gutted B.C. sawmill

By Stefan Labbé
The Times Colonist
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

San Group companies and federal bank launch multi-pronged legal attack after insurer denies claims over major 2024 fire in Delta. …At the heart of the dispute is Lloyd’s Underwriters and its move to deny a nearly $31-million insurance claim over claims the fire was not an accident, but a deliberate act of arson carried out by the owners. In a Dec. 30, 2025, letter Lloyd’s informed the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and San Group subsidiary Acorn Forest Products that it was voiding the company’s primary and excess insurance policies. According to court documents, Lloyd’s determined the fire was “caused by arson perpetrated by Acorn, alone or in collusion with others” and through the acts or under the guidance of the company’s “directing minds.” The San Group has strongly denied the allegations. Both Acorn and its parent company maintain that Lloyd’s has failed to provide proof of arson and is using the allegation to avoid a massive payout.

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Bad timing costs Chemainus mill workers extra federal support

By Andrew Duffy
Victoria Times Colonist
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

A group of Chemainus sawmill workers facing the prospect of being out of work for at least the rest of this year is calling on the federal government to make good on a promise to provide an extra 20 weeks of employment insurance support. About two dozen employees of the Western Forest Products mill, which the company has said will be shuttered until at least 2027, say they have been excluded by Service Canada from a promised 20 extra weeks of EI. “All I’m asking for is for these 20 to 24 people just to be paid the 20 weeks that was promised to them,” said Brian Bull, who has worked at the Chemainus mill for 34 years. The last day of work at the mill was technically July 15, but the majority of the mill was shut down June 18, putting 120 people out of work, he said.

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A Decade After the Fort McMurray Wildfire: Where Do We Stand on Wildfire Risk and Preparedness?

By Insurance Bureau of Canada
PR Newswire
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

EDMONTON, AB – As Canada marks the 10th anniversary of the Fort McMurray wildfire – the country’s most devastating and costliest natural disaster – Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is raising awareness about ongoing wildfire risk across the country and renewing its call for solutions to help prevent disasters of this scale in the future. “Fort McMurray was a turning point in Canadian history and was a devastating example of the extreme wildfire risk facing many communities,” said Aaron Sutherland, Vice-President, Pacific and Western, IBC. “Since that time, we’ve seen communities in every region of the country impacted by wildfire and, led by Fort McMurray’s example, Canadians have endured and rebuilt. But the growing risk is undeniable and without action, more families and more communities will be impacted by wildfire in the years ahead.” …In 2025 BC released a three‑point resilience plan for governments to better protect communities from wildfires, floods, and other climate disasters. 

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Building skills for sawmill success: BCIT Industrial Wood Processing program

By Linh Tran
BCIT School of Construction and the Environment
April 22, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Since its launch in 2018, the Associate Certificate in Industrial Wood Processing (IWP) has grown into a leading workforce development program in the forestry sector. Developed by the School of Construction and the Environment (SoCE) at BCIT in partnership with four leading North American lumber companies, the program was designed to meet a clear industry need: practical, flexible technical training that fits the realities of mill operations. Designed for employees working directly in wood products manufacturing, IWP focuses on the fundamentals that matter on the mill floor: helping new hires, experienced operators, and emerging supervisors build a strong understanding of how sawmills operate and how production decisions impact quality, efficiency, and safety. The IWP Program was shaped by industry input. Program development was led by Canfor, Tolko, West Fraser and Interfor, and has since grown to have over 34 companies sponsor employees, using it as part of onboarding, upskilling, and succession planning.

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The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities Voices Concern Over Nairn Centre Mill Curtailment – Wawa-news.com

Wawa News
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is expressing concern following the announcement that Interfor will indefinitely curtail operations at its mill in Nairn Centre. …The Nairn Centre mill has long been a cornerstone employer, supporting generations of families and contributing to the region’s economic stability. FONOM acknowledges the leadership shown by the Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Town of Espanola in their quick, collaborative response to support those affected. Their commitment to working with partners and supporting impacted residents reflects the strength and resilience of Northern communities. FONOM notes that this curtailment is not an isolated event, but part of a broader trend impacting the forestry sector across Northern Ontario. Ongoing softwood lumber tariffs, combined with market pressures and rising costs, continue to strain mills and the communities that depend on them.

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Northern Pulp continues work on closure plan for Pictou County site

By Michael Gorman
CBC News
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

Northern Pulp’s closure plan for its mill site in Abercrombie Point, N.S., is still not complete, but a B.C. court heard Tuesday that the plan could soon begin coming into focus as the company’s creditor protection process continues to play out. …Because the plan is not final, the monitor notes in its report that it’s subject to change. The report says the company will explore options for the mill site and remaining property, which could include trying to market it to sell. Failing that, however, demolition is expected to begin in November. The court also heard Tuesday that the sale of the company’s timberlands to a company owned by billionaire blueberry mogul John Bragg is expected to be complete in the coming days. That sale, worth $235 million, will generate money for the closure plan, the mill’s creditors and to wind up the company pension.

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Quebec’s South Shore Furniture closing as sales dwindle amid Trump tariffs

By Alessia Simona Maratta
Global News
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Quebec’s South Shore Furniture said it will end all operations after a 77% drop in sales between 2022 and 2025. The family-owned company says its facilities in Sainte-Croix and Coaticook will gradually cease operations in the coming weeks. Its 126 employees were informed of the decision Monday. …Charles Laflamme said the company made every effort to maintain operations and jobs but could no longer continue in a market “where the rules of the World Trade Organization are not respected.” The company points to years of heavy dumping of furniture from China and Vietnam into Canadian and US markets, which it says drove down prices. He added that recent US tariffs on certain Asian countries redirected more of those products into Canada, while tariffs affecting Canada slowed exports south of the border, effectively erasing demand on both sides. …The company was one of the last major Canadian furniture manufacturers assembling products domestically.

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Quebec premier meets U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington D.C.

By Patrice Bergeron
The Canadian Press in Global News
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Christine Fréchette

Quebec’s premier met on Monday in Washington D.C. with Jamieson Greer, the top trade negotiator for President Donald Trump, as the U.S. becomes more aggressive in its demands toward Canada ahead of negotiations on the continental free-trade deal. Greer has promised to pursue the president’s hardline trade policies. Premier Christine Fréchette’s said their discussions were cordial but did not lead to any major breakthroughs. Fréchette travelled to Washington for her first official foreign trip since she was sworn in as premier earlier this month. She held a roundtable discussion Monday morning with representatives of business associations including the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and General Motors. And she was also scheduled to meet with congressional representatives. The United States is Quebec’s main trading partner, but since March 2025 U.S. tariffs have hit several of the province’s industrial sectors hard.

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Toilet paper isn’t going digital: Thunder Bay pulp mill CEO ‘very optimistic’

By Matt Prokopchuk
Timmins Today
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The head of Thunder Bay’s pulp mill says he feels the local operation is well-positioned, given current market demands. Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper now only produces softwood kraft pulp on a single line at its Neebing Avenue facility and generates renewable energy for sale to the Ontario power grid after axing its newsprint division earlier this year. Despite that, CEO Norm Bush said there’s a significant demand for what they’re still producing. “Fortunately, the pulp sector that we are participating in now, and particularly the grades that we’re supporting, is actually growing,” he said at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference on the future of the region’s forestry sector. …“We’re not subject to electronic substitution in toilet paper and paper towel, so that market is pretty protected and, because of our proximity to those markets, it’s a barrier for other pulp producers to come and make a profit in our market segment.”

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Ontario Launches Roadmap to Protect Forest Sector Workers and Businesses

By Natural Resources
The Government of Ontario
April 28, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

TORONTO— The Ontario government has launched the Roadmap to Protecting Ontario’s Forest Sector, a 10-year path to protect the workers, businesses, families and communities of the province’s forestry sector. Building on the government’s strategic investments and actions to-date through Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy, the roadmap responds to new unprecedented trade pressures facing the sector today by increasing the forest industry’s competitive advantage and unlocking new markets to maintain Ontario’s position as a G7 leader in making and selling wood products. “Our roadmap will connect Ontario’s strong forest product supply chains to new sectors here at home and emerging markets around the world,” said Kevin Holland, Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. …The government will take steps under the three pillars: Defend workers, communities and businesses…; Adapt the forest sector to be more competitive…; and Grow long-term demand for Ontario’s forestry products… The Roadmap includes the release of the Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan

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Unifor calls on governments to act after Interfor announces wind down of Nairn Centre sawmill

Unifor Canada
April 27, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

NAIRN CENTRE, Ontario —Unifor is calling for urgent, coordinated action from all levels of government following Interfor’s announcement that it is indefinitely curtailing operations at its Nairn Centre sawmill. “Every week brings another closure, another community in crisis,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Workers in Nairn Centre are paying the price for a trade war they didn’t start. Canada needs a real industrial strategy for forestry before we lose any more jobs.” Interfor also announced it will idle its Gogama sawmill. The two new closures follow the shut down of Interfor’s Ear Falls sawmill in October, affecting 160 Unifor members. Unfair U.S. tariffs are believed to be the primary driver of the closures. Payne currently sits on the federal government’s Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force, which is mandated to chart a path to restructure and modernize Canada’s forest sector. 

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Sawmill closures leaves northern Ontario community bracing for job losses

By Faith Greco
CBC News
April 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

The Township of Nairn and Hyman is preparing for significant economic fallout after Interfor announced it would indefinitely curtail operations at its sawmills in Nairn Centre and Gogama. …The township … expects layoffs could begin as early as mid-June, with the mill continuing operations until the end of the month before shutting down indefinitely, Mayor Amy Mazey said. “It’s indefinite due to tariffs and other issues, and there are no plans at this point to restart it. But everyone’s hope is — that this is just a temporary solution,” Mazey said. …The township has already started coordinating its response, including reaching out to leaders in the nearby town of Espanola, which saw the closure of the Domtar pulp and paper mill in 2023. …Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt MP Jim Bélanger also called on the federal government to step in warning the closure could put more than 200 forestry jobs at risk.

Additional coverage: Statement from the Township of Nairn and Hyman Re: Closure of the Interfor Nairn Centre Mill

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Finance & Economics

Lumber Futures Hit 7-week Low

Trading Economics
April 28, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber futures fell to $566 per thousand board feet, the lowest in seven weeks, as broader uncertainty and ongoing trade tensions weigh on sentiment. The US has recently outlined preliminary antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber, with the antidumping rate reduced from 20.6% to 10.7% and the countervailing duty trimmed from 14.6% to 14.2%, lowering the combined rate to about 25.9%. Including an existing 10% Section 232 tariff, total effective duties on Canadian imports are expected to remain near 35.9% once they take effect in August. Despite these measures aimed at supporting domestic producers, US sawmill utilization remains relatively weak at around 64%, with capacity use trending lower since 2017, pointing to limited supply response. At the same time, elevated construction costs and high interest rates are continuing to pressure housing activity, with US builder confidence slipping to its lowest level since September 2025. [END]

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Global Consulting Alliance: Forest Sector Outlook Report Q1, 2026

Russ Taylor Global
April 27, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

RUSS TAYLOR provided the latest quarterly report from the Global Consulting Alliance featuring commentary from six independent consulting companies that focus on the international forestry and wood products sectors. Highlights include:

  • The global forestry sector in Q1 2026 showed early signs of stabilization, although overall activity remained subdued due to weak construction demand in key markets such as the US and the Eurozone.
  • Timber markets remained soft, with only partial price recovery. Export conditions were mixed, reflecting fluctuating demand from China and a gradual shift in trade flows toward alternative markets.
  • The pulp segment showed improvement, supported by stronger packaging demand and supply-side adjustments. In contrast, paper markets, particularly graphic grades, continued to face structural decline.
  • Rising energy and input costs, combined with ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, placed pressure on margins and contributed to a cautious sector outlook.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Save the Date: Wood Solutions Conference Moncton | Nov 17–18, 2026

Canadian Wood Council
April 28, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada East

Mark your calendars! WoodWorks Atlantic and the Canadian Wood Council are pleased to present the Wood Solutions Conference in Moncton this fall — and we want you there. Join us November 17–18, 2026, at the Delta Hotels Beausejour for Atlantic Canada’s premier event dedicated to wood design and construction. This two-day conference and trade show will feature expert-led seminars, the latest innovations, and valuable networking opportunities for professionals in architecture, engineering, and construction. Full conference details and registration information coming soon. Whether you’re focused on sustainability, looking to expand your toolkit, or exploring what’s possible with wood, this is an event you won’t want to miss. Stay tuned for Early Bird registration details.

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Forestry

Canada’s biggest sustainable forest label has a clear-cutting problem

By Leah Borts-Kuperman
Corporate Knights
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

For Torrance Coste, the associate director of the Wilderness Committee British Columbia. … has seen the scars of clear-cutting firsthand, in a territory that carries the stamp of approval of Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, a widely used forestry certification. Coste’s organization forms part of a complaint filed before the Competition Bureau of Canada challenging the integrity of SFI, a system created by the pulp and paper industry in 1994… …The complaint, led by Ecojustice on behalf of the Wilderness Committee, Greenpeace Canada and [others] wants SFI to stop calling their certification “sustainable,” to issue public correction of their claims and to pay a $10-million fine. …Another signatory to the complaint, Peter Wood, is a professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia. …SFI responded, arguing that the organization is governed by an 18-member board divided equally among industry, conservation, and Indigenous and social sectors.

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Thousands apply to become B.C. wildfire fighters — but only a few will make the cut

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
April 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Thousands of people from across the province applied to become wildfire fighters this season — but the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) says only about 200 made the cut for boot camp last week and even fewer will ultimately land a position. A BCWS official says in his 20-year-long career, this year features the largest-ever group of people applying to be a wildfire fighter. …Chandler Bachtold, an instructor at the boot camp with five years of experience, said that teamwork was a critical aspect of the job — as firefighters build fire lines with tools, lay hose along the forest floor and extinguish hotspots. …BCWS firefighters can spend 14 days out in the field before they get a break, so Bachtold says good physical and mental health is critical — along with the ability to be a team player.

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Industry partners boost University of Alberta forestry programs through new $6.5M research chair

By Bev Betkowski
University of Alberta News
April 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Forestry programs at the University of Alberta will be strengthened through the integration of Indigenous perspectives with the establishment of a new $6.5-million research chair. The Endowed Chair in Indigenous Forestry in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences will support experiential learning, Indigenous-led courses and collaborations with communities, academics and industry. $526,065 will be used to establish an accelerator fund through which a community engagement and research co-ordinator will be hired to support the chair’s community and student engagement activities. The endowment supporting the chair is funded through the Forest Resource Improvement Program with sponsorship from Canfor, West Fraser and Weyerhaeuser. …The chair will lead a research program exploring relationships between Indigenous knowledge systems and western forestry practices, and will serve as a mentor to the next generation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous foresters.

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The importance of tree planting as wildfire seasons increase in severity

By Eddie Huband
City News Everywhere Winnipeg
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Randall Van Wagner

Wildfire season is upon us, and Manitobans are hoping for a reprieve from 2025, which was deemed the one most devastating in the province’s history. As the severity of wildfires increases, so too does the importance of reforestation and tree planting. “Wildfires are more prevalent, and they’re more powerful, and part of the reason is the buildup of fuel. Diseases, shorter and milder winters, less snowpack and less moisture in the spring, are contributing factors making for a difficult situation,” said Randall Van Wagner, the head of national greening program, Tree Canada. Van Wagner says while many areas regenerate on their own, more intense fires like what we saw last year cause more depth of burn in the soil, making it difficult for trees to regenerate. The organization estimates they’ve planted between 500,000 and one million trees in the past five years in Manitoba.

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Alberni Valley students, Scouts help replant Mount Underwood forest burned in 2025 wildfire

The Alberni Valley News
April 29, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

On a flat stretch of burned ground southwest of Port Alberni … close to 100 volunteers help to re-establish a thriving forest. Nearly 3,600 hectares burned during an aggressive wildfire that started on Aug. 11, 2025 and reached within nine kilometres of city limits. A community planting event held on April 16 brought together Mosaic Forest Management staff volunteers, students from the Alberni Valley Land Based Learning class, members of the Port Alberni Scouts, and their teachers, leaders and caregivers to plant seedlings in the footprint of the 2025 Mount Underwood wildfire — a human-caused fire that burned second growth and old growth forests within an area nearly nine times the size of Stanley Park. The seeds for the seedlings were sourced from Mosaic’s Mount Newton seed orchard in Saanich, a Mosaic spokesperson said, and selected for their climate resilience and ability to thrive in the sun-exposed conditions left behind by the fire.

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North Cowichan Council votes against motion urging province to strengthen forest policies

By Robert Barron
The Ladysmith – Chemainus Chronicle
April 29, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

A motion to contact the province and urge it to review and strengthen its forestry policies, including those governing raw-log exports, failed in a 4-3 vote at North Cowichan’s council meeting on April 15. The motion by Coun. Christopher Justice, if it passed, was intended to help improve fibre availability for domestic processing, support value-added wood manufacturing, and sustain forestry employment on Vancouver Island. A number of delegations spoke to council on the issue at the meeting. Arnold Bercov, a former president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, spoke in favour of council supporting Justice’s motion. …Brian Bull, a long-time worker at the WFP’s curtailed Chemainus sawmill, said if the motion passes, it would create a conversation about the issue at a time when many forest companies and the province don’t want to have that conversation. …Mosaic Forest Management’s Karen Brandt and Nick Broekhuizen also spoke on the issue.

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The B.C. Forest Industry Looks to Speak With a United Voice

By Jim Stirling
Forestnet
April 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

In this second in a series of stories, Jim Stirling looks at the issues that have brought the B.C. forest industry to a crisis point, where many community-supporting sawmills have been forced to shut down, and thousands of well-paying jobs in towns and cities across B.C. have vanished. Jim looks at how the province’s associations have recently banded together, to better communicate with a seemingly deaf-to-the-forest industry NDP government. …Today, forestry associations [are] speaking out as one. And when that happens, it sounds a different set of political alarm bells for elected representatives. They start paying attention. … The timing is right for the launch of “Forestry is a Solution”. …The initiative provides an opportunity for members of the public to voice their opinion on the forest industry’s contributions to B.C. and the economy. …The campaign encourages the public to show their support for the forest sector by signing a petition to be forwarded to provincial decision makers.

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First Nation sues B.C for approving logging on land slated for conservation

By Stefan Labbé
Business in Vancouver
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A BC First Nation has mounted a legal challenge against the Ministry of Forests after one of its officials approved a timber-cutting permit in forests that overlap with a proposed Indigenous conservation area. In an April 21 application, the Kanaka Bar Indian Band claims a district manager approved cutting permits for Interwest Timber to harvest roughly 35 hectares across four cut blocks. …One of 15 communities of the Nlaka’pamux Nation, most of the Kanaka Bar people live in several reserves south of Lytton, BC. Their traditional territory spans 32,000 hectares of rugged terrain in the Fraser River Canyon. While Interwest has held a forest licence in the area since 1998, the band has intentionally limited industrial activity. In 2021, leadership declined a logging company’s request for access, choosing instead to pursue an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area… with the goal of turning the entire forested area into a conservation area similar to the neighbouring Stein Valley.

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Under the radar: B.C.’s karst protection guidelines desperately need a rewrite, researcher says

By Hope Lompe
National Observer in Victoria Times Colonist
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Island has some of B.C.’s most well-known karst features — such as caves, sinkholes and underground rivers — but they’re threatened by logging. Around five years ago, Mark Worthing — heard a company was planning to log a huge drainage of ­old-growth forest and watershed 350 kilometres north of Victoria, with the only access point being a single road believed to have a karst cave underneath. Worthing, an old-growth forest campaigner [intended to] prove the cave stretched beneath the road, the destructive heavy logging machinery would not be allowed to pass through, and the old growth and watershed would be saved. …While researcher Jenica Ng-Cornish says B.C. has a comprehensively better karst plan than other jurisdictions, it falls short when put into practice. The forestry guidelines are based on aging documents: the 2002 Forest and Range Practices Act and 2003 Karst Management Handbook. There are also six Government Actions Regulation orders on karst protections.

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A Decade of Impact: Investing in Forest Resiliency Efforts to Mitigate Climate Change in Haida Gwaii

Forest Enhancement Society of BC
April 28, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Haida Gwaii, BC As the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) marks its 10th anniversary, the Society is reflecting on the investments it has made to support climate change mitigation across the province. Notably, with support from FESBC, communities like Haida Gwaii continue to enhance the resilience of their forests in the face of a changing climate. This work often includes supporting transportation costs so that uneconomic, low-value fibre is transported to local secondary manufacturing facilities rather than burned on site in slash piles following harvesting operations or post-wildfire salvage. …“As we mark ten years of FESBC, what stands out the most is the tangible impact these projects are having on the ground, the people behind the work, and the role they play in addressing climate change,” said Jason Fisher, RPF, Executive Director, FESBC.

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Logging protest in Nelway area ends in arrests

My Nelson Now
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Two men were arrested Friday after a protest blocked access to a Forest Service road near Nelway, preventing a contractor from reaching a worksite. Salmo RCMP responded on April 24 to a demonstration where a small group of people had obstructed the road in opposition to logging activity in the area. The protest is connected to ongoing efforts by the Rosebud Community Watershed Protection Group, which has been advocating for stronger protections in the Rosebud and Lomond Creek watersheds. …Police said officers attempted to negotiate with the group, but the demonstrators refused to leave. Two men were arrested as a result. During the arrest, an officer was allegedly struck in the face by one of the men. A 75-year-old Nelway man was subsequently arrested for assaulting a police officer with a weapon and obstruction, while a 37-year-old man, also from Nelway, was arrested for mischief and obstruction.

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Sustainable forestry would support industry, jobs and ecosystems

Mary P Brooke
Island Social Trends
April 26, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

VICTORIA, BC –A panel called The Future of Forestry on Vancouver Island and Coastal BC at the annual convention of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) , was chaired by North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas… with an audience of about 60 municipal leaders …A panel of forestry sector representatives tackled what is likely only the surface of a multi-faceted problem. They looked at how to protect forests for all the right ecological reasons while still maintaining or even strengthening the wood-production sector for the benefit of jobs and the economy. …The four panelists were Klay Tindall, general manager, Lilwat Forestry Ventures, Geoff Dawe, former president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, Chris McGourlick, manager with the FESBC and Younes Alila, Professor of Forest Hydrology at UBC Forestry. The panel did not have a representative of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) or any provincial government forestry representatives.

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Lanark County Community Forest passes audit, posts another year of steady growth

Lanark Leeds Today
April 27, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

©Lanark County FB

Lanark County’s Community Forest continued to show strong environmental stewardship and financial stability in 2025, according to its latest State of the Forest report. The report outlines a year marked by successful timber operations, ongoing invasive species management, and another clean bill of health from independent auditors reviewing forest practices. The Lanark County Community Forest remains certified under both the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards through the Eastern Ontario Model Forest. …The forest is managed through a partnership with the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority and Upper Canada Forestry Service. Together, they also provide training, public outreach, and technical oversight. …Over the longer term, the report notes the forest has consistently generated net positive revenue for Lanark County since the partnership began in 2006.

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Ontario Investing $15 Million to Protect and Support Northern Communities

By Northern Economic Development and Growth
Government of Ontario
April 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

THUNDER BAY — The Ontario government is investing $15 million in ongoing annual funding through the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support (NORDS) Fund to help northern municipalities continue to improve local infrastructure and support responsible economic growth in the North. …Resource development operations, such as mining, forestry and agriculture, are an important part of the provincial economy, yet they can also disproportionately impact northern municipal infrastructure. … In 2025-26, 144 municipalities received NORDS funding, including:

  • The City of Timmins, which received $400,000 to reconstruct a 16-kilometre section of Highway 101 to mitigate the impacts caused by the transportation of resources extracted by nearby forestry and mining operations.
  • The Municipality of Shuniah, which received $129,994 to rehabilitate Lakeshore Drive, a vital roadway used by mining and forestry industries in the region.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Wekweètì hopes forest thinning can fuel community heating project too

By Liny Lamberink
CBC News
April 28, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

Wekweètì’s senior administrative officer is hoping to get a few million dollars from both the territorial and federal governments to support a biomass district heating project in the community. Fred Behrens said he recently found opportunities to apply for money from the territorial government’s GHG Grant Program and the federal government’s Build Communities Strong Fund for the project.  It involves setting up a heat plant across from the community government office in Wekweètì, which is 200 kilometres north of Yellowknife and home to about 100 people. The space will store wood chips and contain three 300-kilowatt biomass boilers that’ll pump heat to 44 homes and 11 institutional buildings through a network of underground pipes. Behrens said the system would be fueled using material gathered from forest thinning and wildfire prevention work around the community. The boilers would also be connected to the community’s diesel generators, using their exhaust as a source of heat too. 

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Health & Safety

Day of Mourning 2026 – April 28th

BC Forest Safety Council
April 28, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada

The “Day of Mourning” is a day dedicated to honour those who lost their lives as a result of a work-related incident or occupational diseases. Day of Mourning ceremonies have been held across the country ever since the Canadian Labour Congress initiated a national Day of Mourning ceremony on April 28, 1984 and is now recognized annually around the world in more than 100 countries. April 28th was chosen because it was on this date in 1914 that the first Workers’ Compensation Act was brought into effect in Canada.

  • Deaths from workplace injury average nearly a thousand per year in Canada.
  • There are approximately one million workplace injuries a year in Canada
  • A compensable injury occurs every seven seconds of each working day.

Additional coverage:

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Canada Truck Operators Association Convenes to Advance Safety, Compliance, and Supply Chain Resilience

Canada Truck Operators Association
April 28, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

MONTREAL, Quebec — The Canada Truck Operators Association (CTOA) brought together more than 600 transportation and logistics professionals, policymakers, and industry leaders at a sold-out National Industry Appreciation & Information Session, marking one of the largest recent gatherings of Canada’s trucking sector. The event convened stakeholders from Québec and Ontario for focused discussions on supply chain resilience, operational realities, safety, and the evolving needs of Canada’s transportation industry. Keynote speaker Frank Baylis, former Member of Parliament, emphasized the foundational role of trucking in the national economy. …Federal and provincial leaders underscored the importance of collaboration between government and industry stakeholders. The symposium featured two solution-focused panels addressing: Managing Risk, Costs & Growth in Trucking: Insurance, Financing, AI & data-driven insights; and Building a Safer Trucking Industry – Maintenance, Responsibility & Practical Solutions.

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