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.
BURNABY, B.C. – The United Steelworkers union (USW) District 3 and the USW Wood Council are calling on the federal government to take urgent action in response to the latest escalation in the softwood lumber trade dispute. Following the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to increase anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports to 20.56%, the USW is demanding immediate support for forestry workers and communities across the country. …“Our prime minister says softwood lumber is a priority in trade talks, but what forest workers need now is action,” said Scott Lunny, USW Western Canada Director. …In addition the USW is calling for a comprehensive support package for forest workers, including wage subsidies, loan guarantees for affected businesses and other targeted resources to support provinces, regional and local communities to sustain critical infrastructure and services through this unprecedented uncertainty.
In British Columbia’s forestry sector, logging and trucking businesses are beginning to take a closer look at how they manage and report fuel use. While the Motor Fuel tax rules themselves haven’t changed, recent enforcement has prompted many operators to reassess long-standing practices — particularly when it comes to using coloured fuel in mixed on- and off-highway operations. For businesses that rely on marked fuel in remote areas or cross between forest roads and public highways, assessments are surfacing more frequently and creating uncertainty around compliance. If you’ve received a notice — or aren’t sure whether your operations could be affected — there are steps you can take to reduce the impact and protect your business. …Increased enforcement of the B.C. Motor Fuel Tax rules has created a layer of complexity that many forestry businesses weren’t prepared for. …the consequences of misunderstanding the rules, especially around fuel eligibility, have become more serious.
Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl sent an open letter to Premier David Eby, calling for immediate action to address issues within B.C.’s coastal forestry sector. Dahl warns continued inaction could result in further mill closures, job losses and the collapse of the coastal forestry industry. According to Dahl, coastal harvest volumes have dropped by over 40 per cent since 2019, with more than 5,400 direct forestry jobs lost since 2022. The 2025–26 budget projects a harvest of 32 million cubic metres … an estimated $275 million in lost revenue. The mayor says Premier Eby pledged to “protect jobs and the economy” when reshuffling his cabinet and says “those words ring hollow for thousands of coastal forestry workers watching their industry collapse—… from policy paralysis and regulatory misfires.” Dahl argues the crisis is not caused by … internal delay. “When harvest approvals that once took six months now take two years or more, that’s not a tariff issue—it’s a made-in-B.C. problem,” Dahl says.
VICTORIA — The Council of Forest Industries wrote a letter to the New Democrats earlier this month, outlining more than a dozen proposals to rescue a struggling industry. “B.C.’s forest industry is in crisis,” wrote COFI President Kim Haakstad in the July 14 letter to Forests Minister Ravi Parmar. “Fibre availability is at historic lows, permitting systems are gridlocked, and investment is retreating in the face of prolonged uncertainty. The risk is not gradual decline — but accelerated facility closures, job losses, and the permanent erosion of forest industry capacity.” Haakstad was responding to Premier David Eby’s announcement of a “major project” to restore the industry in a speech to this year’s COFI’s convention. …I asked the government last week for a response to the proposals set out in the COFI letter. I got back a general statement from Parmar, which pretty much brushed aside the notion of a crisis in the industry.
A new report warns the impacts on B.C. 
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. 
B.C.’s employers in forestry-related businesses, sawmilling, stone cutting and oil and gas field servicing could be seen as the biggest beneficiaries of WorkSafeBC’s $2 billion surplus as the corporation proposes cuts to their service premiums approaching 40 per cent or more. WorkSafeBC’s policy is to maintain enough of a surplus “to avoid rate volatility” during economically difficult times. The corporation’s 2024 surplus, however, is equivalent to 141 per cent of liabilities, far more than its 130 per cent target. The corporation says its strong financial position has been helped along by “higher than-required investment returns,” according to WorkSafe’s statement, which is similar to workers-compensation agencies across the country. Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has used its 2024 surplus to issue $4 billion in rebates, over two rounds, to employers and in May, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Manitoba did likewise with $122 million in rebates, which is something the Canadian Federation of Business would like to see.
Canada’s first commercial carbon capture cement facility is now under construction in Mississauga Ont., backed by $10 million in federal funding. The project is part of the country’s effort to reduce industrial emissions. The project, led by Calgary-based startup Carbon Upcycling in partnership with Ash Grove Cement, aims to capture carbon dioxide from cement production and turn it into a low-carbon material that can replace part of traditional cement. Minister Evan Solomon, … said “These collaborative projects supporting our climate goals and enhancing our global competitiveness”. The facility will use Carbon Upcycling’s technology to mix captured CO2 with steel byproducts like slag to create a powder similar to cement used in construction. Carbon Upcycling CEO Apoorv Sinha said the system could reduce emissions from cement by up to 40%. …Sinha said the new facility will store up to 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide in every tonne of low-carbon cement it produces.
British Columbia remains at the forefront of mass timber design and implementation globally. The province has the highest number of mass timber buildings per capita of any other place in North America, and leads the country with more than 285 mass timber buildings. B.C.’s Mass Timber Action Plan has driven the expansion of mass timber construction, manufacturing, and workforce development across the province. This has increased the number of mass timber buildings and positioned B.C. as a critical exporter of knowledge and products to international markets. Metrics such as overall building count, advancements in carbon reduction, and the adoption of encapsulated mass timber construction (EMTC) standards in other regions all reflect our sustained leadership. Eric Andreasen, the vice-president of marketing and sales at Adera Development, spoke to Tanya Martins of Construction Canada and shed light on how B.C. is on its way to becoming the leader in mass timber development globally.
Years of drought combined with persistent wildfire, some of it burning underground over winter, are causing forests in B.C.’s north east to fall down. Having had the roots and organic soils that had held them up burned away these often green trees now form a dense ground fuel load for future fires. The fallen trees also form a jack-straw of branches and boles that will act as an abatis in the face of fire crews. This has fire specialists and ecologists in the Fort Nelson Fire Zone worried. “With this fuel type, another concern is the multi-year impacts of having this much fuel on the ground,” says Eric Kopetski BCWS Fire Behaviour Analyst. The Fort Nelson Fire Zone has been dealing with drought and fire for years with the Fort Nelson Complex now covering 4 million hectares including 25 fires and 350,000 hectares burned this year. Distance, terrain and fire tenacity already pose challenges to fire crews. 
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. 
Vancouver Park Board staff are seeking commissioners’ approval to proceed with the next phase of a tree removal project in Stanley Park due to an extensive looper moth infestation. Work has been underway to cut down thousands of trees in Vancouver’s biggest park since the summer of 2023, due to fire and public safety risks posed by dead and dying trees. …While the tree removal plan has faced sharp criticism staff say they have a plan that will see the least number of trees removed. “This aims to balance key public safety risks resulting from the hemlock looper outbreak while leaving a moderate extent of internal forest areas to undergo natural forest stand regeneration,” the staff motion says of its preferred approach. If commissioners approve of the staff plan, planning for tree removal and mitigation work would begin later this year and conclude in the first quarter of 2027.
Clear-cutting can make catastrophic floods 18 times more frequent with effects lasting more than 40 years, according to a new UBC study. In one watershed, these extreme floods also became more than twice as large, turning a once-in-70-years event into something that now happens every nine. “This research challenges conventional thinking about forest management’s impact on flooding,” said senior author Dr. Younes Alila, a hydrologist in the UBC faculty of forestry. “We hope the industry and policymakers will take note of the findings, which show that it matters not only how much forest you remove but also where, how and under what conditions.” The UBC-led study draws on one of the world’s longest-running forest experiments at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina and is published in the 
…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
As the B.C. Day long weekend approaches, people are encouraged to stay informed about wildfire conditions, be prepared and plan travel. Warming summer temperatures and ongoing drought mean much of British Columbia is at heightened risk of wildfire, even after recent cooler temperatures and rain. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has forecast hot temperatures this week in B.C., with heat warnings currently in place for parts of the province. People are encouraged to prepare for hot summer weather. To access the Province’s PreparedBC extreme-heat preparedness guide, 
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 
