A piece of Tolko’s former mill site in Kelowna’s North End has been expropriated by FortisBC, and Tolko is unhappy with the compensation they received. Tolko Industries filed a notice of civil claim against FortisBC, alleging the $7.41 million the utility handed over for a two-acre parcel of land wasn’t enough. Fortis plans to construct a new electrical substation at the site. The long-running Tolko mill shut down in early 2020, and the 40-acre site has sat empty since then. Tolko Industries sister company Holar Developments is managing the development of the property, with plans to turn it into a mixed-use residential community. …Before expropriating a piece of the former Tolko mill site for a new substation, FortisBC said they tried negotiating with Tolko. Fortis was “not able to reach an agreement that reflected fair value for our customers.”
The federal budget handed down on Thursday includes funding pledges that are expected to benefit British Columbia. Here’s a look at some of them. The budget is proposing $6.5 billion in funding to support the forestry sector nationally over six years. It doesn’t provide a province-by-province breakdown, although it points out that B.C. accounts for 29% of the national forest sector’s GDP, representing the biggest share in Canada. There’s $4 billion for a new “forestry sector accelerator” to make investments in large facilities and major transformations of existing facilities, “including biorefineries, biofuel facilities, and other facilities producing higher-value and innovative forest products.” A further $2 billion is to help businesses in the forest sector modernize and expand, while $500 million goes towards strengthening fibre supply chains and supporting forest management. …The budget announces a $64-million loan guarantee to support the Tla’amin Nation acquiring 100% ownership of Western Forest Products’ Stillwater Forest Operation.
We’ve had final investment decisions on LNG Canada Phase 2, the Pacific Link pipeline formally designated a project of national interest, and a snap provincial election. These big announcements have overshadowed some smaller good news stories over the past few weeks. …Domtar, it appears, has managed to secure some kind of fibre supply with the provincial government. Details are sketchy, however, because neither Domtar nor the Ministry of Forests bothered to put out press releases on the development. …Another bit of good news in forestry is that Gillfor Manufacturing, a B.C. wood products manufacturing and distribution company, will salvage what is left of Teal Jones, which includes three mills in Surrey and Tree Farm License 46. “The plan is to restart that shake and shingle mill eventually. The other two sawmills will continue to be operated on a two-shift basis, provided there is ample log supply. 
A provincial election in the heart of Canada’s lumber country is exposing the limits of using US President Donald Trump as a political foil, even in one of the places hardest hit by his tariffs. On Sep. 22, British Columbia Premier David Eby called an election two years early, after the collapse of US-Canada trade talks, seeking to win a stronger mandate by tapping into the defiant Canadian patriotism that’s erupted in the face of Trump’s threats. Eby’s speech that day invoked Trump’s name more than 20 times, hammering on his threat to the lumber industry, while not naming any rival Canadian politicians. [to access the full story a Bloomberg Politics subscription is required]
VANCOUVER, BC – Western Forest Products announced it third quarter 2026 results. Revenue for the period was $237 million compared to revenue in Q3, 2025 of $233 million, and Q2, 2026 of $240 million. The company reported Adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, as compared to negative $66 minion in the same period last year. …Net loss was $5.2 million in the third quarter of 2026, as compared to a net loss of $61.3 million for the same period last year. Results in the third quarter of 2026 benefitted from higher realized lumber prices, higher log shipments and the gain on the sale of our CVD sawmill site, partially offset by lower lumber shipments compared to the same period last year. Results in the third quarter of 2025 were negatively impacted by the finalization of the sixth AR.
For more than six weeks now, an Alberta group has been protesting the planned harvesting by a forestry company in the Crowsnest Pass. Defenders of the Eastern Slopes members are against the accelerated harvesting by West Fraser of about 460 hectares of forest in the Allison Creek area, in southwest Alberta. While the group says Crowsnest Pass residents deserve meaningful protection from wildfire, members question whether the proposed harvest is the right treatment, in the right place and at the right scale. …West Fraser got a temporary injunction, and, with a police presence, moved the bridge, which the company is placing across Allison Creek to access a logging area. The court injunction allows West Fraser to do its work, and Smith says the group has no intention of impeding the company. …West Fraser said its planned harvesting follows the direction of the Alberta government’s Hazardous Fuels Reduction program.
Almost half of the Parks Canada employees trying to help Jasper, Alberta, recover from a devastating 2024 wildfire could be among about 500 full-time staff facing job cuts nationwide. This news comes after nearly 3,000 Parks Canada staff around the country were sent letters notifying them of the upcoming cuts, and giving them the chance to voluntarily retire ahead of job losses. Of the roughly 3,000 letters sent by Parks Canada, 208 went to members of the 422-person Jasper Field Unit. Nearly two years after wildfire tore through Jasper, forcing the evacuation of the town and nearby Jasper National Park, Parks Canada crews are still busy cleaning up according to the federal government’s recovery plan. …Deep cuts to Parks Canada staffing, says Chris Rider, national director of conservation with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, reflect the federal government’s treatment of nature as a whole.
Surfers are worried about an… application by the Pacheedaht Anderson Timber Holdings partnership for a Crown lease to build a breakwater and log-dumping area in a bay just east of the Jordan River campground. …The primary worry for surfers is how the breakwater could change the patterns of sedimentation that shape all of the surfable waves in the area. …Angus Hope, for Pacheedaht Andersen Holdings, said the proposal is in its very early stages. Any construction, pending approvals, could be “three to five years” away, he said in an interview. While the coastline near Jordan River is now dotted with oceanside cottages and provincial parks, it was once the heart of a booming logging industry that employed thousands. …Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings — a 50-50 partnership between Pacheedaht First Nation and Andersen Timber — formed in 2010 when it purchased the Jordan River Timber Tree Farm Licence (TFL61) from Western Forest Products.
In the last five years, B.C. has experienced multiple wildfire seasons that displaced thousands, a heat dome that killed more than 600 people and flooding and landslides that closed major highways for days and damaged thousands of homes. It would be hard to tell based on the election promises of B.C.’s political parties. The NDP and the Conservatives have made few campaign commitments relating to B.C.’s increasingly common natural disasters. Promises regarding the climate change that’s linked to many disasters have also been scarce. In last week’s 
