Region Archives: Canada East

Business & Politics

Quebec’s Beaucerons ain’t afraid of no trade war

By Martin Patriquin
The Logic
April 24, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada East

SAINT-GEORGES, Quebec — “Good year, bad year, Americans will always buy our stuff,” Vincent Boutin says. He’s one of a legion of maple syrup farmers in Quebec who export more than 100 million pounds of the stuff to the US each year—and the tariffs don’t bother him one bit. …His confidence stems in part from the caramel-coloured liquid gushing from his wood-fired boiler. It’s hot and sweet, with all the complexities of a good sherry, and you can hardly get it anywhere other than Quebec, home to 66% of the world’s maple syrup production in 2024. …Still, La Beauce’s close relationship with the US has made its economy uniquely vulnerable to the whims of the Trump administration. More than 65% of La Beauce’s businesses export directly to the US, chief among them softwood lumber, construction materials, machinery, steel and finished metal products. 

Read More

N.B. Power being forced to offer larger rate discounts to forestry mills

By Robert Jones
CBC News
April 23, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEW BRUNSWICK — A New Brunswick government regulation, written to protect pulp and paper mills from high electricity prices, is forcing N.B. Power to increase the rate subsidies it offers mills this year by 35%, despite a deterioration in the utility’s own financial condition. The mill subsidies, which have been mandated by the New Brunswick government every year since 2012, have been set by the Department of Energy for the current fiscal year at $28.04 per megawatt hour, an increase of $7.29 over last year. The utility had not originally budgeted to finance a subsidy that large and said it has revised the expected cost of the program for this year to $16.6 million — up by $2.9 million. …Pulp and paper companies have defended the program in the past as critical to their long-term viability. But since the program began, N.B. Power’s own financial viability has become an issue.

Read More

BMI Group wants to put ‘wood back to work’ with Espanola bio-hub mill concept

By Ian Ross
Northern Ontario Business
April 11, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Paul Veldman said his BMI Group wants the highest and best use for the idled pulp and paper plant in Espanola. The CEO of the southwestern Ontario brownfield redevelopment outfit is targeting late May to finalize a deal with Domtar to acquire the mill, a 16-megawatt hydroelectric asset, plus hundreds of acres of brownfield land and woodlands. The mill closed in 2023, taking away 450 jobs. Neither BMI or Domtar are disclosing the purchase price. Veldman said BMI had been spying Espanola as an acquisition target for a year, with discussions with Domtar heating up over the last couple of months when other suitors started coming forward. It culminated in the signing of an asset purchase agreement this week. …Veldman said BMI has latched onto the global phenomenon of alternative fuels and emerging technologies that create those products from wood fibre. …For Espanola Mayor Doug Gervais, there’s a palpable sense of relief in the community…

Read More

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Save the Date: Wood Solutions Conference Halifax | Nov 19–20, 2025

Canadian Wood Council
April 24, 2025
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 Halifax this fall — and we want you there. Join us November 19–20, 2025, at the Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites for Atlantic Canada’s premier event dedicated to wood design and construction. This two-day conference and trade show will feature expert-led seminars, cutting-edge innovations, and valuable networking opportunities for professionals in architecture, engineering, and construction. Full conference details and registration info coming soon. Whether you’re focused on sustainability, looking to expand your toolkit, or just want to see what’s possible with wood, this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Read More

Factory-built housing is an important solution for Canada’s housing crisis

Northern Ontario Business
April 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

To reach Ontario’s bold goal of 1.5 million homes by 2031… we have a proven solution — and much of what we need, from innovative building techniques to mass timber and Canadian steel, is right here in Ontario’s backyard. …The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) released a new policy report, titled Building More, Building Faster, outlining the importance of embracing factory-built homes as a key part of the solution to address Ontario’s ongoing housing supply and affordability crisis. …Factory-built, or prefabricated housing, is a fast-growing area of homebuilding where homes are constructed in a factory — often using prefabricated 3D components — and assembled at their final address. …OREA’s new report highlights five policy recommendations that would cut red tape and create favourable conditions for investment to significantly boost factory-built housing construction with “Made-in-Ontario” solutions that can eventually scale nationally.

Read More

Montreal Wood Convention sets new attendance record

By Guillaume Roy
Canadian Forest Industries
April 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada East

Sven Gustavsson, director of the Montreal Wood Convention (MWC) was delighted to see that the MWC once again set a new attendance record, with 1,200 participants and 114 exhibitors. The economic conferences were particularly popular at a time of tariff warfare imposed by the US. “Tariffs are inflationary, period,” says Benjamin Tal, at CIBC World Markets. He believes there will be a significant rise in US inflation if the tariffs are maintained. …“I don’t think tariffs or duties are a good thing for the industry or for consumers,” mentions Kyle Little, CEO of Sherwood Lumber, in New York State. The U.S. consumes 50 billion board feet of lumber a year, while we produce only 36 billion,” he notes. Canada supplies 1 billion board feet a month, which we need. …Kyle Little believes that President Trump is using lumber as “emotional bait” to invite Canadians to sign a new trade deal.

Read More

Forestry

Environment groups raise alarm about Ontario bill that would weaken species protection

By Muriel Draaisma
CBC News
April 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — Environmental groups are raising concerns about newly tabled Ontario legislation that they say will be “catastrophic” for wildlife and weaken government protections for “species that are the rarest” in the province. Ecojustice Canada said Bill 5…  would repeal Ontario’s existing Endangered Species Act passed in 2007, and replace it with a significantly watered down version of the original act called the Species Conservation Act. The legislation has passed first reading. …Ecojustice Canada said the legislation would gut environmental assessment processes, speed mining and infrastructure development and take a “register-first, ask-questions-later” approach that would allow developers to begin projects before their environmental implications are fully known. …Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks denied that the bill would weaken species protection. …”These changes will be supported by an enhanced Species Conservation Program, which will see funding more than quadrupled to $20 million each year,” Catherwood continued.

Read More

City ready to give away 1,200 free trees

Guelph Today
April 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

With an eye on growing Guelph’s tree canopy, next month city officials are set to give away 1,200 free native trees. Registration for the annual Community Tree Giveaway runs through May 6 or when stock runs out. Residents can claim up to two trees each. “Trees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to Guelph residents,” states a post on the city’s website. “If you claim a free tree, you’re responsible for planting and caring for the tree, including getting utility clearance before digging.” When registering, people will have an opportunity to select the type of native tree or trees they’d like through the add-on options. There are a wide variety of trees available.

Read More

Manitoba will expropriate Lemay Forest to turn into provincial park, premier says

By Cameron MacLean and Ilrick Duhamel
CBC News
April 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Manitoba government says it plans to expropriate a privately-owned parcel of land in south Winnipeg at risk of being deforested by a developer, and turn it into a provincial park. Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement about the Lemay Forest at an unrelated news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Monday… John Wintrup, a planner working with the developer, said he was shocked and disappointed to hear Kinew’s announcement. “Nobody from any government official has ever reached out to us on that. We reached out to them multiple times,” Wintrup said in an interview, adding he thinks the expropriation process will be “costly, lengthy,” and “punishing” for the taxpayers of Manitoba. “And I don’t believe the land owner is just simply going to roll over and give his land up.”

Read More

Health & Safety

Crews respond to leaking rail car at Saint John railway yard

By Andrew Bates
The Telegraph-Journal in Yahoo! News
April 23, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Saint John Fire Department’s hazardous materials team responded Wednesday to a “slow leak” of sulfuric acid from a rail car at a west-side Saint John rail yard. …The rail yard is owned by N.B. Southern Railway, a J.D. Irving company. Arrand said the hazmat team was called and firefighters established a 150-foot perimeter around the rail car while they waited for removal specialists from the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre and RST Transport to arrive. JDI VP of communications Anne McInerney said “All emergency procedures were followed,” and while it’s not confirmed how much acid leaked, the release occurred in a “very small area” and could not have been more than five litres. Arrand said that sulfuric acid presents an inhalation hazard, which was the reason for the perimeter.

Read More