The State of the Forest Economy panel opened Day 2 of the 2026 COFI Convention with a data-driven examination of trade diversification, housing demand, investment attractiveness, and BC’s declining competitive position relative to other Canadian and North American jurisdictions. The session was moderated by Kurt Niquidet, COFI’s Vice President and Chief Economist, who noted that COFI’s latest economic impact study — released earlier in the week and available at cofi.org — underscores that even during a period of contraction, forestry remains an indispensable pillar of the BC economy. Panelists were Hamir Patel, Executive Director and Paper & Forest Products Analyst at CIBC; Claire Huxtable, Senior Analyst at ERA Forest Products Research; and Jason Krips, President and CEO of the Alberta Forest Products Association.
Four of BC’s leading forest sector CEOs delivered a frank and at times sobering assessment of the industry’s current state at the 2026 COFI Convention, telling delegates that conditions are among the most difficult any of them have encountered in careers spanning more than three decades. The session, moderated by Bridgitte Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, brought together Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of Canfor; Sean McLaren, President and CEO of West Fraser; John Mohammed, President and Owner of A&A Trading Ltd.; and Steven Hofer, President and CEO of Western Forest Products. The panel was structured around questions, with the CEOs offering distinct perspectives shaped by their different roles across the sector’s value chain. …On current operating conditions, the panelists were unified in their assessment. Hofer said this is the most challenging business environment for a BC forest products company he has encountered in 33 years. …Yurkovich said BC used to be the last company standing in a downturn — with well-placed fibre, excellent sawmills, and skilled workers. That has changed. BC is now the first down.
VANCOUVER — Ottawa must make a case of “mutual benefit” with the United States as it advocates for Canada’s softwood lumber industry during trade negotiations, BC Premier David Eby said Friday… “the US cannot produce enough wood to meet its domestic demand.” …The premier’s remarks came after the U.S. Department of Commerce posted its preliminary tariff determination for the sector, with total duties estimated at just short of 25%, lower than the current rate of more than 35%. …COFI’s Kim Haakstad, agreed with the premier, saying it’s important for B.C. to ensure softwood lumber doesn’t “get lost” among other industries based in Eastern Canada. …The Independent Wood Processors Association said the US ruling was “further evidence” the softwood lumber dispute mechanism has become a “broken process”. The BC Lumber Trade Council said Canadian lumber producers continue to face “unjustified and punitive trade measures.” BC Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said the province was disappointed.
Abbotsford, BC — Mirax Group, a privately held, family-owned British Columbia company with deep roots in forestry, lumber manufacturing, value-added wood products, and diversified industrial operations, has acquired the former Errington Cedar Sawmill in Errington, BC. This strategic acquisition reinforces Mirax Group’s commitment to investing in the sustainable growth of British Columbia’s forestry sector, preserving local jobs, and enhancing supply chain resilience for cedar and softwood products destined for global markets. The Errington Cedar Sawmill, long recognized for its legacy in processing premium cedar products for domestic and international customers — faced closure in recent years following industry challenges. With the transaction now complete, Mirax Group will operate the facility as the Vancoast Sawmill division, and position the site as a cornerstone in its expanding coastal operations. …The company also plans to evaluate investments in modernized milling technology and value-added processing to enhance product diversity and competitiveness.
The Canadian District Supervisor position is a unique and highly sought after opportunity for those intimately involved in the quality control of lumber or manufactured wood products. PLIB’s District Supervisors are responsible for evaluating the quality of lumber, glulam, and wood packaging products. Our inspectors influence a wide range of important issues that impact the wood products industry through participation in the development of quality standards and educating mill personnel. PLIB’s Canadian Division serves a variety of producers across Western Canada. This position requires fully reimbursed travel. Interested candidates that meet the qualification criteria are encouraged to visit the PLIB website for a complete job description and application process.
North Vancouver – The Independent Wood Processors Association (IWPA) says today’s preliminary U.S. softwood lumber duty ruling under Administrative Review 7 (AR7) is further evidence that the softwood lumber dispute has become a broken process that continues to punish businesses and consumers on both sides of the border without bringing either side closer to resolution. The U.S. Department of Commerce has posted a preliminary tariff determination expected to be finalized in August. The preliminary combined duty rate includes a countervailing duty (CVD) of 14.17 per cent and an anti-dumping duty (AD) of 10.66 per cent, for a total combined rate of 24.83 per cent. The current duty rate of 35.16 per cent will remain in effect until a final determination is issued. …The Independent Wood Processors Association says the ongoing dispute continues to unfairly harm companies that should never have been included in the first place. … “This ongoing cycle is creating uncertainty for businesses, workers, and consumers across North America and highlights the urgent need for a negotiated solution,” said Andy Rielly, Chair of the IWPA.
Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, issued the following statement in response to the US Department of Commerce’s release of preliminary results of the seventh administrative review of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on Canadian softwood lumber: “BC stands with all those across Canada in our disappointment that the US has signalled that it will continue to impose unwarranted and unfair duties on Canadian softwood lumber products. “These duties serve only to damage both of our economies by harming BC and Canadian communities, and increasing the cost of housing and renovations for American families. “Duties on Canadian softwood lumber needlessly favour offshore imports that endanger North American jobs across the supply chain. Workers in BC, in Canada and in the US are worse off from duties on softwood lumber.
PRINCE GEORGE – “Every day I get a phone call from an employer, and the first thing that comes to my mind is, ‘Oh, we’re going to lose another operation.’ And right now we’re probably down to about half the membership we were, a number of years ago.” That’s the sentiment of the president of the United Steelworkers – the union representing forestry workers in northern and central B.C, Brian O’Rourke. And the numbers are startling. Comparing data compiled from 2024 to 2026, the amount of money invested in forestry in British Columbia dropped from $15.8 billion to $14.4 billion, while the number of people employed in the sector dropped by 5,000. First Nations are acutely impacted, with 4,800 directly employed in forestry leading up to 2024. That dropped to 2,600. Meanwhile, the amount of money the industry generates for the provincial coffers dropped dramatically from $17.4 billion to just $12.8 billion. …But the Council of Forest Industries is infinitely optimistic because – in the words of Kim Haakstad – everyone uses forestry is some fashion.
An employee at a national non-profit is accused of fraud involving more than $6 million in public funds earmarked for Indigenous Guardians programming. The First Nations National Guardians Network, or NGN, provides funding, networking, training and education opportunities that support First Nations-led stewardship and sovereignty. In an email, the non-profit – which administers funds from the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change – told operators of Guardians programs it had found “evidence of a sustained pattern of unauthorized financial transactions that appear to have been made by a member of staff.” An investigation identified suspicious transactions over a period of months… 90 Indigenous Guardians projects were funded through NGN in the 2023-24 fiscal year. In the North Island, they include Campbell River-based Homalco First Nation, which received $100,000, and Nanwakolas Council Society, an alliance headquartered in Campbell River that represents First Nations on the South Central Coast and northern Vancouver Island, which received $150,000.
B.C. saw a significant increase in energy and mineral exports in February compared with a year earlier, while wood exports continued to decline. The province exported more than $4.8 billion worth of products in February, a 16.3 per cent monthly increase and a 2.8 per cent year-to-date increase compared with the same period last year. …However, exports in the wood sector continued to decline. About $479 million worth of products were exported in February, an 18.1 per cent decline from January. Lumber saw the sharpest drop, down 27.7 per cent, followed by other panel products (-23.4 per cent) and plywood and veneer (-19.1 per cent). As a result, year-to-date wood exports fell by more than 30 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. Machinery and equipment exports also declined, down 17.9 per cent month-over-month and 27.6 per cent year-to-date.
New life is sprouting in Rose Valley Regional Park, where crews and volunteers have begun restoring areas damaged by the devastating McDougall Creek wildfire back in 2023. At a community tree planting event held Saturday, hundreds of new trees were planted to help the park recover. The effort is part of a larger plan led by the Regional District of Central Okanagan to bring the forest back to life. Wayne Darlington, RDCO’s manager of parks capital planning, said the work marks an important turning point. “After 2023 McDougall Creek wildfires, we’re now at a point now where we’re actually putting some more trees back and plants back in the ground,” Darlington said. Volunteers spent the day planting hundreds of trees in some of the hardest-hit areas.
A B.C. logging company has sued the owners of a major oil pipeline for allegedly destroying a key access road and stranding $4 million worth of timber near the Coquihalla Highway. The dispute dates back to 2022, when Western Canadian Timber Products Ltd. and Trans Mountain Pipeline Limited Partnership entered into an agreement around a patch of forest northeast of Hope, B.C. A lawsuit, filed April 2 in B.C. Supreme Court, claims the agreement granted Trans Mountain access to a proposed cutblock in the Portia and Boston Bar Creek area so it could complete construction of a second oil pipeline from Edmonton, Alta., to B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Originally built to transport crude and refined oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast, the Trans Mountain pipeline was recently expanded through a massive “twinning” project that nearly tripled its capacity.
If reviews could save old growth, British Columbia would have the healthiest forests on Earth. Instead, the province has produced a stack of reports as tall as an ancient Douglas fir. Their wording may differ, but their conclusion does not: BC’s forestry system is broken. Fixing it will not be easy or quick, but instead of acting, the government continues to produce new reports to delay tough decisions — especially when those decisions mean standing up to large logging companies that profit most from the status quo. Rather than using the reports to inspire action, the BC government is hiding behind them. …Nearly six years into BC’s OGSR commitment, we now have a sixth report by the Provincial Forest Advisory Council called From Conflict to Care. It again concluded that systemic reform is needed in the province’s forestry regime. Each report acknowledges the same truth: what we’re doing isn’t working.
A non-replaceable forest licence has been awarded to Box Lake Lumber Products, enhancing its operations and the sustainable use of local timber. The opportunity is targeted to boost B.C.’s value‑added wood sector, putting to work unlogged timber. “A stable supply of wood to small-town forestry companies is a win for everyone in the community,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “This means more wood … for manufacturing companies, logging contracts for haulers and another boost to our value-added wood manufacturing sector. Our independent wood manufacturers put B.C. on the map as the global leader in high-quality wood products, and this licence is one more way to support that work.” A competitive opportunity provided specifically to value-added wood manufacturing companies, the non-replaceable forest licence will provide a consistent and stable supply of wood to Box Lake Lumber Products in the Kootenays.
Sarah Wayne Callies, from AMC’s The Walking Dead, has urged her fans to oppose a Nanaimo zoning change west of Cable Bay trail. On April 16, a hearing will be held in Nanaimo, for the possible rezoning of 74.71 hectares of the total 86-hectare property at from rural resource to industrial, with site-specific provisions over its use, allowed density and lot coverage. Included in the application for rezoning is a provision of an average 100-metre buffer zone around Cable Bay trail, about 13 per cent of the property. The zoning application was submitted by Harmac Pacific. During an information session in 2024, the company shared it would like to turn the land into a private industrial park. At the time, a representative with Harmac told the News Bulletin that the process to lease out the land would be phased over many years, and it would be marketed to businesses that “might have synergies” with Harmac’s existing business. 
A company building two of Canada’s largest wood pellet mills says it will rely on a steady diet of trees logged in forests recently burned by wildfires. Roughly five million trees will have to come down each year to feed the two northern Alberta mills, which Powerwood Canada Corp. plans to build near the communities of La Crête and High Level. The company claims that wildfires create nightmarish landscapes and that logging such forests as fast as possible is key to restoring their health. But scientists counter that burned forests are important for biodiversity and that aggressively logging them spells disaster for plants and animals that rely on burned landscapes to flourish. Powerwood CEO David Peters said that in addition to northern Alberta the company is eyeing other “brownfield” logging opportunities in British Columbia and in Eastern Canada due to the significant number of wildfires in recent years.