BC Wood is celebrating 22 years of hosting their popular Global Buyers Mission – and you’re invited. Join more than 700 delegates, September 5-7, 2025, in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. This international event continues to be a great success for buyers and suppliers alike, with estimates last year of over $37 million in new business developed.
Only a few booth spaces left: The GBM Trade Show brings together international pre-qualified buyers to meet with Canadian manufacturers of wood products including mass & heavy timber, engineered wood products; remanufactured items and components; prefabricated housing and structures; log/post & beam/timberframe homes and structures; millwork & finished building products; and specialty lumber including Western Red Cedar – all in a great networking environment.
Specifier Workshops at the GBM: We will also invite North American buyers & specifiers to participate in our new Specifier Workshops program, held in conjunction with the GBM.
Evening Receptions
Social and Networking Events: In addition to the several daytime events that happen at the GBM, the GBM also hosts two evening networking receptions which are included in your registration. The first evening reception kicks off at the Roundhouse Lodge on the top of Whistler Mountain.
BC’s forestry sector would have been brought to its knees Friday by new American duties on Canadian softwood lumber, if it wasn’t already flat on its back from being hammered by years of provincial government policies. …But even before the new duties, B.C.’s forestry sector was in a crisis. Annual harvest volumes are down by tens of millions of cubic metres, lumber production and exports have shrunk dramatically, export revenues have fallen, thousands of jobs have been lost, and dozens of mills have been curtailed or shuttered. The industry has blamed various BC NDP policies, including new old-growth logging deferrals… and extraordinarily long permitting delays. …If New Democrats are serious about saving the industry from ruin, now would seem to be the time to shelve the never-ending reviews and actually do something. The government could spin a pivot to pro-forestry policies not as a retreat, but as a made-in-BC response to American trade aggression.
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board has released its 2024-25 annual report, highlighting nearly three decades of independent oversight and a continued commitment to sound forest and range practices throughout British Columbia. This year’s report reflects a sector in transition with growing pressures from climate change, wildfires and the need to modernize land management — all requiring strong oversight and innovative responses. Highlights include:
B.C.’s forest industry has a lot at stake in trade talks between Canada and the U.S. as Prime Minister Mark Carney works toward the suggested Aug. 1 deadline for a deal, and a promise to make resolving the pre-existing dispute between the two countries on softwood lumber trade a priority. Mills in the province are already running at just 67 per cent capacity during the uncertainty surrounding tariffs… But Carney put a spotlight back on the issue last week with his commitment to make a resolution “a top priority” in trade talks sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump. The prospect of additional tariffs … adds to the urgency for reaching a deal. …B.C. sawmills that would have been reluctant to absorb the high cost of curtailing production have been quicker to suspend operations … owing to the uncertainty around tariffs, according to industry analyst Keta Kosman, publisher of the trade data firm Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
The Canadian Wood Council is hiring a new leader to guide its WoodWorks BC program. Based in Vancouver (hybrid), this is a senior role focused on driving market growth, building strategic partnerships, and advancing wood use in construction across British Columbia. The Executive Director will lead a high-impact team, contribute to national market development efforts, and work closely with government, industry, and design professionals to promote innovation and sustainability in the built environment. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for driving strategic growth, fostering stakeholder relationships, and championing the use of wood in construction. The Executive Director will serve as the principal representative of the program in BC and play a national role in mentoring and supporting Market development staff across Canada. WoodWorks is the market development program of the Canadian Wood Council that seeks to increase the use of wood in non-residential and multi-family building markets across Canada. 
A recent report out of British Columbia suggests using beneficial fires to build wildfire resilience. In the Yukon, that idea is not new — but finding a way to reap the benefits of fire while preventing devastation is a delicate balancing act. …the 
…The National Film Board–produced Incandescence is just one of several documentaries either released this year or currently in production that speak to the province’s new reality and the urgency of the climate crisis that’s fuelled it. This spring, B.C.’s Knowledge Network released a five-part docuseries called Wildfire, about BC Wildfire Service firefighters and the on-the-ground reality of their work. A third crowdfunded documentary, BC is Burning, recently finished production and had its first community screenings in the Okanagan in June. The appearance of these films feels especially timely, and speaks to deeper trends around documentary as a storytelling tool in times of social or ecological crisis. “Environmental documentaries have kind of come in waves that are often in response to policy,” says Chelsea Birks, the learning and outreach director at Vancouver’s The Cinematheque and a film studies lecturer at the University of British Columbia. She says climate change is not an easy subject to capture.
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber and the Lake Babine Nation Forestry Limited Partnership (LBN Forestry) welcomed the 
A report from the Nelson-based organization Save What’s Left calls on the provincial government to revamp BC Timber Sales and give it an environmental stewardship mandate. The 50-page report titled Public Forest, Public Trust alleges that BCTS logs old growth forests, disturbs watersheds and interferes with wildlife corridors. BCTS is an independent organization within the Ministry of Forests that develops Crown timber for auction. BCTS plans and designs logging operations and builds logging roads, then sells the timber to the highest bidder. The document lays out 24 such allegations, stating they are based on field verification by Save What’s Left, on satellite time-lapse imagery, and on conversations with forest professionals and forest workers. “This paper both outlines the myriad of problems with how BC Timber Sales operates and presents a new path forward,” writes prominent environmentalist David Suzuki in his introduction to the report. “What we need now is courage by leaders to walk that path.”
A contractor’s appeal of a B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) order to pay more than $1.8 million in compensation and penalties will be heard after a May 22 decision by the Forest Appeals Commission. Panel chair Ian Miller found “special circumstances” led to last summer’s two-day delay in filing a notice to appeal and granted the extension to Jaikle Contracting. “The delay was brief, the explanations and reasons are reasonable and credible, and there would be substantial prejudice to the appellant if the right to appeal is denied,” said Miller’s ruling. On July 12, 2024, designated decision maker Laurence Bowdige of BCWS issued a contravention order against Jaikle, under the Wildfire Regulation, for harvesting timber near Mackenzie in August 2021. “Specifically, that the appellant did not keep an adequate fire suppression system at the activity site while carrying out a high-risk activity within 300 metres of forest land,” said the Miller ruling.
Vancouver park board commissioners voted Monday to keep the same contractor on the job for the continued work required to remove dead and declining trees in Stanley Park that have been damaged by a hemlock looper moth infestation. The board now has to finalize a contract with B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. for the final phase of mitigation and restoration work in the park. The contract will be worth more than $3 million and fall within a previously approved overall budget of $17.9 million for the project. Although 23 suppliers registered an interest to complete the work, only Blackwell chose to submit a proposal, which was reviewed by the board’s evaluation team comprised of staff from urban forestry and supply chain management. …As for why Blackwell was the only bidder, Joe McLeod, the board’s associate director of urban forestry said, “There are very few forestry professional consulting firms that have the set of unique skill set.”
Kamloops, B.C.– The Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) recently approved up to $1.7 million to the Woodlot Product Development Council (Woodlots BC) to carry out wildfire risk reduction treatments over a 2-year fiscal period. Treatments will be conducted on woodlots throughout British Columbia, each located within a Wildland Urban Interface, endorsed by the local Forestry District and following BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) wildfire risk reduction standards. Through this work, Woodlots BC looks forward to building capacity across the forest sector and helping promote innovative ways to complete treatment of wildfire risk reduction projects to reduce combustible forest fuel loading, thereby better protecting communities. “Woodlots are vital to B.C.’s forestry sector as they support local jobs, keep our forests healthy, and help reduce wildfire risk where it matters most: right where people live,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. 
…The Tyee looked at three critical and vastly different means to store carbon in the West, examining how these ecosystems capture carbon, the restoration work they require and why Canada should take them seriously as solutions. …Peatlands are a type of wetland found all over Canada. In the West, they are found in northern B.C. and Alberta. …However, they come with a catch; as much as they absorb carbon, they also emit methane. …Kelp is one of the newest potentials for natural climate solutions and carbon sequestration in Canada. …It is hard for researchers to fully evaluate how much kelp carbon is sequestered in the deep oceans in the long term. …Trees are one of the world’s largest carbon sinks. Like peat, trees sequester carbon through photosynthesis. As trees grow, they take in carbon from the air around them and store it in their wood, soil and plant matter
WorkSafeBC is holding a virtual public hearing on proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The virtual public hearing will be streamed live on September 24, 2025, in two sessions. The first will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the second from 3 to 5 p.m. Further information on how to view or participate in the virtual public hearing will be provided closer to the hearing date. These details will be posted on 
