Christine Gelowitz
BC’s forest sector is undergoing a momentous change, buffeted by a combination of policy reform, economic uncertainty, new models of shared governance, shifting markets, climate impacts, workforce demographics, and evolving public expectations. This moment feels different than previous market downturns and it’s increasingly obvious there will be no return to “business as usual.” Clearly, a transformation in forestry is underway, some of it overdue, some daunting, and some full of possibility. In moments like this, certainty is elusive. Information floods in while the signals that matter are often buried beneath speculation, opinion, and outright misinformation. It is easy to get stuck in the ‘muddiness’ of it all and hope someone else will bring clarity and provide a clear and obvious path forward.
The policy choices, management decisions, planning assumptions, and stewardship priorities made today will shape BC forests and forest sector for decades. Who will lead in making those decisions? How will we prevent the strong desire to place all the focus on urgent short-term fixes from overshadowing the important and the need for improving our long-term potential? This is a moment fit for forest professionals. [Extracted from the BC Forest Professionals Winter 2026 Magazine]
Since 2018, notes forestry watcher David Elstone, the British Columbia government has introduced more than 43 measures, policies, plans, systems, laws, reviews and reports about and affecting the BC forest sector. Meanwhile, there have been a series of closures and curtailments (permanent, temporary or indefinite) of sawmills and pulp mills, and thus workforce reductions. “And the fibre-supply crisis has continued to worsen, and . . . the industry is in far worse condition than ever before.” Elstone’s basic message: “Government has been busy designing change rather than figuring out solutions and moving forward. …Kim Haakstad, CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) echoes the analysis “There’s been a significant amount of change that hasn’t settled itself into the system, and there’s been no look at what regulatory efficiency can be achieved to make processes clearer, more transparent, and more accountable.”
The District of Vanderhoof, says it is now feeling the full financial impacts of Canfor’s 2024 Plateau sawmill closure and is facing a substantial loss of tax revenue for 2026. Canfor closed its sawmills in both Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., in December of 2024 citing “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.” Kevin Moutray is the mayor of The District of Vanderhoof, says the closure will create a loss of $580,000 in tax revenue equivalent to 11 per cent of its tax base. …Recent closures include the West Fraser’s sawmill in 100 Mile House and Domtar’s permanent closing of its plump mill in Crofton on Vancouver Island. “It’s difficult and sometimes action only happens in a crisis even though you sort of, can see some of it coming,” said Kurt Niquidet, B.C. Lumber Trade Council president and B.C. Council of Forest Industries chief economist.
The Municipality of North Cowichan said it is hoping to reopen the Bridging to Retirement Program and lower the eligible age to increase support for workers affected by the Crofton mill closure. Mayor Rob Douglas said he has asked the premier and the minister of forests to work with the federal government to reinstate the program, which was launched in 2021. He said the program is aimed at workers over 55 who do not “relish the idea” of retraining for new careers. “We recognize workers who are in their 50s and 60s are in a tough spot and are able to access pensions,” Douglas said. “For obvious reasons some aren’t too excited about going back and getting retrained to work in a whole different field.” …Douglas said the decision rests with the province and there is no definitive timeline for when workers or the municipality could see results.
SUNDRE, Alberta – The general manager of what will soon become the former West Fraser – Sundre Forest Products said there will be no impact on staff or operations amid a corporate reorganizing. According to a December letter to vendors, West Fraser is “undertaking an internal corporate reorganization, whereby Blue Ridge Lumber, Spray Lake Sawmills, Crowsnest Forest Products, Sundre Forest Products, and Manning Forest Products will be amalgamated into one company and renamed West Fraser Alberta Wood Products Ltd.” The new entity is to remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Fraser Mills Ltd., and the amalgamation and rebranding will be effective as of end of day on Dec. 31. “There’s zero impact to operations,” said Jason Foote. “This restructure is administrative”.
WASHINGTON — A mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade kicks into high gear this year as US President Trump continues his campaign to realign global trade and poach key industries from America’s closest neighbours. …Since the president’s return to the White House, however, confidence in CUSMA’s future has waned. Trade with Canada may not be front of mind for Trump, said Fen Osler Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa and co-chair of the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations. It’s more like the “proverbial iceberg,” he said. “It’s what you don’t see that matters. And that’s the kind of hidden economic wiring of a very deep and highly interdependent relationship.” …Trump has complained repeatedly about long-standing irritants in the United States’ trade relationship with Canada — the supply management system for dairy products, the alleged subsidization of the softwood lumber sector, other non-tariff barriers.
MACKENZIE COUNTY, Alberta — An agreement with Calgary-based PowerWood Canada Corp. will bring two new wood pellet manufacturing facilities to the Mackenzie County region in Northern Alberta, Canada. Josh Knelsen, Mackenzie County Reeve, announced Dec. 23 the agreement. “This is a leading-edge, first-of-its-kind project in Canada that turns wildfire-damaged wood into clean energy and helps reduce reliance on coal,” said Knelsen. The two facilities represent the potential for up to 300 direct jobs,” with many more across forestry, construction, transportation, and local businesses. …Construction on two sites is expected to begin by mid-2026. …The facilities will also see the introduction of Canada’s first steam explosion pellet production process – developed by leading industrial systems engineers Valmet and capable of producing black wood biofuel pellets with 94% less carbon release than coal. …PowerWood Canada plans to open a second Alberta plant and has developed expansion plans for further plants in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Manitobans should expect higher cabin and home insurance premiums in 2026, one expert says, after a 2025 fire season that destroyed at least 130 properties in the province and forced more than 32,000 people to leave their communities. Owners may also encounter new caps on payouts or exclusions in their policies that won’t cover certain hazards or parts of a property, or may find insurers will not provide coverage at all, said Jason Thistlethwaite, an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo’s school of environment, enterprise and development. “Insurance is a business, and they’re going to be looking to recoup those losses,” said Thistlethwaite, who studies the economic impacts of climate risk and natural disasters.
Nine more forestry companies are being supported to modernize, innovate and diversify their product lines and fibre sources to make more high-value, made-in-BC products, and help protect and create jobs. “It’s no secret our forestry sector is facing many challenges, making these investments timely,” said Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar. …Through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, the Province is contributing $2.5 million to plan or complete capital projects. For example, Canadian Bavarian Millwork and Lumber in Chemainus will receive as much as $1.4 million to help build its new facility. …Additional investments include:
CHEMAINUS, BC — Western Forest Products’ value-added division in Chemainus is receiving up to $7.5 million from the province to add two new continuous dry kilns to its manufacturing operations. The investment, from the province’s BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, will allow WFP’s facility on River Road to expand the production of high-value products and create new opportunities for second-growth hemlock to produce higher-value products, as well as increasing the stability of the forest company’s operations on Vancouver Island. Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth Ravi Kahlon and Forest Minister Ravi Parmar joined Steven Hofer, CEO of WFP, to make the funding announcement, which is expected to strengthen Vancouver Island’s manufacturing sector. In addition, the ministers announced that 
For Crofton mill workers it was like getting a lump of coal in their stockings. Last week owners of the Domtar pulp mill announced they were shuttering the operation …Who and what is to blame is a complicated tangle, encompassing questions about the future of the forest industry in this province. …While we must confront these questions, the closure also highlights the dangers of community dependence on a particular operation, or even industry. While the workers will, of course, be the most affected, North Cowichan residents will also feel the pain from the mill closure, as it is the municipality’s single biggest taxpayer. ….We can all hope that there will still be a future for the Crofton mill site… but that’s in no way a given. The municipality will be facing some very difficult decisions about services and what it can afford. The larger community will also feel the loss of all of those well paying jobs.
NANAIMO — Exploratory discussions around potentially restricting industrial business activities in Nanaimo irked representatives of Nanaimo Forest Products (NFP), which operates Duke Point’s Harmac Pacific pulp mill. The narrowly approved Nov. 17 notice of motion from Nanaimo city councillor Paul Manly. …Harmac Pacific is actively attempting to rezone a pair of adjacent Phoenix Way lots involving a combined 244 acres bordering Cedar’s Cable Bay Trail. “If this bylaw were to become a reality, it would threaten the ability of our business to continue. …Mayor Leonard Krog is heavily opposed to the motion. “This motion basically says to anyone who wants to invest in this community ‘Don’t bother going to Nanaimo, don’t bother worrying about whether the land is zoned for heavy industry because Nanaimo wants to limit everything that might actually create some real jobs…’” …Harmac Pacific employs roughly 340 employees at its specialty pulp operation, which features a unique employee-owned ownership model.
Many laid-off workers at Western Forest Products’ Chemainus sawmill are increasingly frustrated with the company for the delays in the reopening of the mill, and with the state of the coastal forest industry overall. Brian Bull, Randy Robertson and Robert Joyce, who collectively have 95 years working in the forest industry, have been laid off since WFP temporarily curtailed operations at the mill on June 18. WFP recently announced that the shutdown at the mill, which employees approximately 150 workers, would extend into 2026 due to poor market conditions, high American lumber tariffs, and log-supply issues. Robertson said the company has not given the workers any indication of when the mill will reopen. …Bull said the mill’s workers’… employment insurance benefits are running out and they’re only making about half of the money they make at the mill even with the EI benefits. 
Join industry, government, First Nations, and community leaders at the 2026 COFI Convention as we focus on rebuilding competitiveness and shaping a more resilient future for BC’s forest sector. British Columbia’s forest sector is at a crossroads — facing tough challenges, but also leading the way in solutions that matter most to our province: housing, wildfire resilience, reconciliation, and building a resilient provincial economy. At the 2026 COFI Convention, themed Forestry is a Solution, leaders from industry, government, First Nations, local government will come together to advance competitiveness and chart a strong, sustainable future for BC’s forest sector. Discounted hotel rates are nearly sold out, book now to secure conference pricing and guarantee your stay. April 8 – 10, 2026 | JW Marriott Parq in Vancouver
Forest Minister Ravi Parmar says proposed new zoning regulations in Nanaimo for heavy industries could have “extreme” consequences for a local pulp and power producer. …A motion by Nanaimo Coun. Paul Manly at a Nov. 17 meeting targets emission-intensive industries such as garbage and waste incineration facilities and chemical, petroleum and LNG plants. …“This is not anti-Harmac,” Manly said in an interview on Friday. …In a letter to Nanaimo’s mayor and council this week, Parmar said the motion sends the wrong signal at a time when the B.C. forest manufacturing industry is in a downward spiral. “This move could result in lost investment, confidence and assuredness in the local forest sector,” said Parmar, noting Harmac Pacific is a key driver of the local forest sector and a major employer in Nanaimo’s economy. “We need to be supporting our forestry operators, not punishing them. This motion is closer to the latter.”
Domtar officials are reassuring their Port Alberni workers that the closure of the company’s Crofton Mill will have minimal impact here. Chris Stoicheff – Senior Director of Public Affairs at Domtar – says the company and entire industry needs provincial forestry rules to change to ensure fibre supply to BC mills. “We’re going to continue to operate that mill for the foreseeable future, but I think we’re also quite direct about the challenges that the industry is facing in BC and what we’ve been quite clear that those are policy driven constraints.” he said. Stoicheff says while most of Port Alberni’s pulp came from Crofton, that supply will now come from their Howe Sound mill. He said local MP Gord Johns work to secure a biomass tax credit is an example of the government support the forest industry needs.
Mark Bryson received a call early on Friday morning stating that a massive equipment fire was burning along the Caycuse Main logging road, approximately an hour and 15 minutes outside of Lake Cowichan. Three machines were destroyed, with Bryson saying that there are millions of dollars in damages. …Lake Cowichan RCMP and the Lake Cowichan Fire Department were called to the scene and RCMP confirmed they are investigating the incident. However, Bryson said he doesn’t think investigators have to look too far. He said the logging equipment was stationed 30 minutes down the road from where heavy protests are taking place at Tree Farm License 44, where Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership (C̕awak ʔqin Forestry) operates a timberlands business. …Global News went to the protester camp, but no one there was authorized to comment on the matter and we did not receive a response to email requests.
In 2025, the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) worked tirelessly with people and communities to fight wildfires and build community resilience throughout the province. “We’re coming off our second-worst wildfire season in Canadian history,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “From technology to equipment and training, all to protect people and communities, the BC Wildfire Service has shown us that they are a global leader in wildfire work. Thanks to the dedicated members working tirelessly to fight the threat of wildfire. In 2026, we will raise the bar even higher. …Since April 1, 2025, more than 1,350 wildfires burned an estimated 886,360 hectares of land in B.C. The 2025 season compared to the past five years:
VICTORIA — The BC government says cutting red tape has allowed provincial pulp mills to more than double their use of timber salvaged from forest fires. The Ministry of Forests says in a statement that mills processed more than one million cubic metres of wildfire chips in 2024-25, up from 500,000 cubic metres in 2023, and representing about seven per cent of all processed wood. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says that BC can’t let anything go to waste, including logs that have been burned in wildfires.” The statement says pulp mills rarely accepted burned timber before 2022, but both government and industry recognized the opportunity of turning wildfire-affected fibre into wood chips. It says that faster permitting and stronger partnerships between government and industry made it even easier to use that type of timber and the work will continue in 2026.
The BC Conservative leader fostered fear and falsehoods in his 
My grandfather, Gordon Gibson Jr., taught me to speak up when I see injustice in the world, and I am seeing it now. I am absolutely furious regarding Premier Eby’s plans to destroy old-growth and primary forests. They are the lungs of our atmosphere, and cutting them down is not only an attack on our future, it’s anti-Canadian. The only possible benefit to the logging would be to make a few people richer, most of whom are not Canadian, and those people do not care about the longevity of our species. We are facing a major extinction event, at the end of which the planet will not be able to support human life. I ask the province to listen to the science, and to care about the people who you are tasked with caring for. Care about our futures, and our dreams. …Stop the deforestation of old growth, and save the lungs of our planet.
Over an hour of discussion followed BC Timber Sales’ (BCTS) presentation at the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) Dec. 11 committee of the whole meeting. …BCTS representatives, a delegation at the committee meeting, faced a direct ask from Gibsons area alternate director Annemarie De Andrade to pause harvesting activities on TA0519, in the Gibsons aquifer recharge area pending further study of the impacts of such logging. “We can continue to listen and continue with a light footprint, but we cannot pause,” was the response from BCTS’s Chinook Business Area timber sales manager Stacey Gould. She explained BCTS has a role as a revenue generator for the province. …That “lighter” BCTS footprint… is havesting about half of the volume it is permitted to on the lower Sunshine Coast. To make up for that, higher levels of harvesting need to be undertaking in other locations.
A B.C. court has issued a rebuke to the City of Vancouver, declaring it overstepped its authority when it authorized the cutting down of thousands of trees in Stanley Park without approval from the park board. Handed down Dec. 17, the decision from B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jasvinder Basran analyzed a multi-stage approval to cut down thousands of trees in Vancouver’s largest park. In 2023, the city entered into an $1.9-million supply agreement with B.A. Blackwell and Associates to remove an initial 7,000 trees over six months [due to] a hemlock looper moth infestation… According to Basran’s judicial review, the initial decision to cut down trees in Stanley Park … was made without the proper authority. …The judge found the city circumvented the park board’s authority in the first phase of the tree removal, but that it went through the proper channels to approve the second and third stages of the work.
The Alberta government isn’t ruling out lifting a near 20-year ban on hunting grizzly bears, a divisive issue between conservationists, politicians, and hunters. Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen says all options are on the table following several recent bear attacks and close encounters in the province. Grizzlies are being spotted in parts of the province they haven’t inhabited in more than a century. “There’s no plans at this time yet. We don’t want to take anything off the table. I think it would be irresponsible not to have all options on the table so we’re looking at everything,” Loewen said. There has been a ban on hunting grizzly bears in Alberta since 2006. …Loewen says there are several factors that would have to be considered …including the number of bears in the province and recent grizzly-human interactions, and their expansion into the foothills.
The RCMP made more arrests over the weekend for allegedly breaching the court-ordered injunction at a blockade near a forestry operation in the Carmanah Valley, near Lake Cowichan. A police statement said that on the evening of Dec. 12, while patrolling the injunction area around the Walbran Forest Service Road, police located a cantilever structure across a bridge and a tripod structure in the middle of the roadway a short distance away. The two structures blocked both directions in and out of the cut block where the Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership and Tsawak-qin Forestry Inc. forest companies were conducting work.
A First Nation is suing the B.C. government alleging it advanced a secret land claim policy to give away rights to its traditional territory, surrender control over lucrative carbon credits, and prevent it from safeguarding threatened caribou. The allegations, made in a Dec. 12 lawsuit filed by Chief Johnny Pierre on behalf of the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation, target the B.C. government’s handling of overlapping land claims—specifically, a policy that allows First Nations to switch between multiple identities to give them the best chance of claiming traditional territory. Tsay Keh Dene says it learned of the alleged government policy in October 2025 after the province confirmed the nation would see a sharp drop in the amount of money it received from a previously negotiated agreement to share revenue from forestry activities. In 2023, the province had quietly started negotiating with the neighbouring Kwadacha Nation to develop a similar agreement, the lawsuit claims.
Gold River, BC — This has not been a good year for forestry as the industry continues to feel the pain from escalating tariffs, mill closures and job losses. But in Nootka Sound a First Nation is looking to a future where trees have a higher value staying in the ground. …the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation is looking at an entirely different economic approach to managing its territorial forests and waters in Nootka Sound. The First Nation’s Salmon Parks project aims to have 66,595 hectares, comprising approximately 20 per cent of its land territory, under a protected designation by 2030. The initiative strictly limits industrial activity within the Salmon Parks – particularly old growth logging – with hopes of eventually allowing nature to heal itself to the point that salmon runs rebound from the headwaters to the ocean. …As the project seeks an economic future, the Salmon Parks initiative is looking at the economic value of keeping trees standing by selling carbon credits. 
Band-aid solutions are not going to fix the flooding problems in the Chemainus River watershed, Chief James Thomas from the Halalt First Nation told North Cowichan’s council on Nov. 19. He said the watershed and its salmon are in jeopardy mainly due to logging practices that were conducted upstream in the watershed over the past 50 years. Thomas said the Halalt and its partners, who are working on finding solutions to the watershed’s issues, didn’t create the problem, they inherited it. There is general community consensus that gravel and sediment accumulation, scoured banks, and increased debris, largely from logging operations upstream, have increased in recent years causing extreme flooding downstream, including on Halalt reserve lands. …Thomas and Cheri Ayers from Waters Edge Biological Consultants made a presentation to council on the Chemainus Watershed Initiative. The initiative began following two flooding events in 2020 and 2021.
The University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship will host an online Professional Master’s Panel Discussion and Information Session on January 15, 2026 (10:00–11:00 am PST) via Zoom. The session is designed for prospective graduate students and professionals seeking to deepen technical expertise, strengthen leadership capabilities, and expand industry networks within forestry and environmental management fields. Representatives from four accelerated professional master’s programs will present and answer questions: the Master of Geomatics for Environmental Management, emphasizing geospatial technologies for natural resource planning; the Master of International Forestry, combining experiential learning with applied coursework; the Master of Sustainable Forest Management, focusing on professional land management; and the Master of Urban Forestry Leadership, an interdisciplinary program targeting urban forestry strategy and climate adaptation. Participants will engage directly with program directors, coordinators, and advising staff to assess fit and clarify admissions, curriculum, and career outcomes.
Mosaic Forest Management is moving forward with plans to modernize its access program, following a survey earlier this year. In May, 7,600 respondents “clearly indicated Islanders want well-managed public recreation access,” Mosaic said. To that end, Mosaic hired RC Strategies and Legacy Tourism Group. The two firms will build a stronger system for managing recreation on Mosaic lands, balancing public access with environmental protection, safety, and operational needs. Pilot initiatives are expected to be implemented in 2026. …The upcoming engagement process will include First Nations, users, and community members, [as well as] local and provincial governments to address challenges that private forest landowners cannot resolve independently. …“Mosaic is taking a progressive step that very few private landowners have undertaken at this scale,” said Justin Ellis, Partner at RC Strategies. “We’re excited to help develop a recreation access program that balances great outdoor experiences with the operational and environmental realities of a privately owned working forest.”
Further testing has confirmed that a sample submitted from a male white-tailed deer harvested east of Enderby is negative for chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is an infectious and fatal disease affecting cervids, including deer, elk, moose and caribou. The initial screening test by the B.C. Animal Health Centre showed a “non-negative” finding for the sample, meaning the disease could not be definitively ruled out and required more testing. Following standard protocol, the sample was sent to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reference laboratory for confirmatory testing. The laboratory conducted confirmatory testing using three different methods. All results were negative for CWD.
I have great sympathy for mill workers in Crofton and Chemainus and the other 43 mills in towns throughout B.C. that have closed because there is “insufficient viable fibre supply.” This statement is smoke to hide the fact that the companies, with the complicity of the province, have over-harvested the forest since at least the 1970s. Second-growth trees are not as voluminous as virgin timber. Second-growth is harvested in a last gasp to get as much profit from the woods before shuttering mills due to “insufficient viable fibre supply”. The forest sector has made high profits and paid tariffs and softwood lumber duties since the 1980s, and now that the merchantable timber is gone, the blame is being transferred. …This situation even has a name — “The Fall Down Effect” — and has been predicted since the 1970s. …Timber processing will have to adapt to less volume and evolve toward greater value added.
Pulp and paper mills sit at the intersection of several decarbonization pressures. …This makes them tempting targets for hydrogen developers who are trying to find new markets… In Prince George the firm Teralta attempted what was possibly the only hydrogen-for-energy scheme in British Columbia with a chance of working. Their idea was to capture hydrogen produced as a by-product by the nearby chemical plant Chemtrade (from its sodium-chlorate process), purify and pipe it about 500 metres to a nearby pulp mill owned by Canfor. …The 
The Cache
At its November 2025 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the Prevention Manual. The amendments relate to