CASTLEGAR, BC — The Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada announced an investment of more than $13 million for ten Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) projects across BC’s Southern Interior. As part of the RTRI, these investments are in sectors that have been particularly affected by global trade disruptions – such as forestry, equipment manufacturing and value‑added wood manufacturing. The investments support individual companies as well as sector‑wide efforts to improve transportation reliability, supply‑chain visibility, and access to domestic and global markets. More details about all the investments announced today can be found in the backgrounder. …Chris Kalesnikoff, President and CEO, Kalesnikoff said “Today’s funding announcement will allow us to further expand our existing unique capacity to build and deliver modular timber housing, classrooms, commercial spaces and other buildings precisely, affordably and efficiently.”
On Dec. 2, 2025, Domtar announced it would permanently close Crofton’s nearly 70-year-old mill citing a lack of affordable fibre in BC and rising cost of materials. In response, the Municipality of North Cowichan created a Community Transition Table to coordinate union leadership, worker support and discussions on the future of the mill site. …The Discourse has compiled a timeline of major events at the Crofton mill to help understand the historical context of the latest mill closure. …1957: The mill opens and BC Forest Products (BCFP) told the citizens of Crofton it would employ 300 people and have an annual payroll of $1.5 million. Crofton was chosen as the location for the mill after an “extensive” three year survey by BCFP found the Cowichan River had adequate water supply for the mill. 1963: BCFP announced an $18.5 million expansion of the Crofton mill to expand the capacity to produce paper for its second newsprint machine.
The mayors of Squamish and 100 Mile House, B.C., want to see the railway linking their two communities preserved. CN Rail is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a portion of B.C.’s rail network between Squamish and Exeter, just northwest of 100 Mile House. In July 2025, the national rail operator said it provided notice of its intent to discontinue those operations. 100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney says her town is working with several other municipalities to make a business case for the railway, and have hired a consultant to research the details. The rail line goes through an industrial park in 100 Mile House, explained Pinkney, connecting industries like forestry. The town’s oriented strand board plant shut down in 2019 and West Fraser closed its lumber mill at the end of last year, but Pinkney said there’s still fibre that can be utilized for other wood products.
HOUSTON, BC –Houston area First Nations were in talks to buy Canfor’s now-closed Houston sawmill and timber tenure throughout last fall, only to have an offer rejected in December, says the chief councillor from the Lake Babine Nation. “Canfor shut down all talks at once,” said Wilf Adam last week. “They did not like the price. That was it.” The company has been trying to sell its Houston and area holdings after years of rolling openings and closures in response to overall market pressure and high operations costs at the mill. …There was hope in the spring of 2023 when… but that hope was quashed in the spring of 2024 when the company announced it was shelving the prospect of a new mill. It then began looking for a buyer for the mill and tenure.
Join Bryan Yu, Chief Economist at Central 1 Credit Union, for a clear-eyed keynote on the economic forces shaping the year ahead. In his presentation, 2026 Macroeconomic Outlook he will examine trade uncertainty, global competition, and pressure at home. What’s ahead for BC and Canada’s economy? Hear what the outlook means for BC’s forest sector and the strategic decisions leaders will face in a rapidly changing economy. Mark your calendar for April 8 – 10, and register before March 6 to take advantage of Early Bird discounts.
Raw logs were being loaded for export at the shuttered Crofton pulp mill – just weeks after hundreds of local workers were laid off over a lack of wood fibre, and as about 120 sidelined Chemainus sawmill employees brace for their EI benefits to run dry. “I don’t want a handout, I want a job,” said Brian Bull, who was laid off from Western Forest Products’ Chemainus sawmill. …North Cowichan’s mayor says repeated appeals to federal officials to grant workers the additional 20 weeks of EI benefits promised by the Prime Minister in the summer of 2025 have gone unanswered. “There’s about 120 workers impacted at the Chemainus sawmill. The majority are set to lose their EI benefits next month. …So laid-off Chemainus sawmill workers are urging the provincial government to stop raw log exports. Elzinga said he fears their the Chemainus sawmill may never re-open, due a lack of fibre supply.
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) staff have returned to B.C. after supporting Forest Fire Management Victoria in Australia for the past month with wildfire-fighting efforts. “Our world-class BC Wildfire Service has once again stepped up on the global stage,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “As we prepare for the 2026 wildfire season, our BCWS crews consistently demonstrate exceptional skills, courage and professionalism wherever they’re called to serve.” On Jan. 25, 2026, BCWS deployed 37 people to the state of Victoria to help respond to the Walwa River Road fire and provide support in the Tallangatta Incident Control Centre. The team consisted of a 15-person incident management team, a 20-person fire crew and two agency representatives. …Ahead of this year’s wildfire season, B.C. continues work to keep people and communities safe by focusing on all four pillars of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
The February 2026 FGC eNewsletter highlights several key developments in forest genetics across British Columbia and beyond. It introduces Dan Nadir, RPF, as the new Executive Secretariat for FGC, succeeding Brian Barber, and outlines his forestry background and experience. The newsletter promotes an upcoming BC Seed Orchard Association webinar on March 12, featuring presentations on seed extraction and orchard management from Quebec and New Brunswick. Recent events where forest genetics featured prominently are covered, including presentations on seed planning in a changing climate at the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association conference and FGC’s participation at the Forest Professionals BC conference. The update also highlights a new national report identifying challenges and solutions for improving Canada’s tree seed supply chain. Finally, it lists upcoming meetings and conferences in 2026, such as tree improvement workshops and international seed orchard conferences, encouraging engagement and continued professional development.
In this newsletter you will find:
How the hell did we end up in this situation? It’s a question that everyone involved in BC’s wood products business has asked themselves during the last few years. The question doesn’t have a simple answer. Instead, there are several contributing factors that have steered the forest industry into its current mess. But two problems are of critical importance now: securing reliable fibre access and dealing calmly with the international uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s lust for world trade dominance and military supremacy. But the BC forest industry has deep roots and some of the issues which began long ago have now come home to roost. All at the same time. They’ve created a confluence of concerns. That’s evident in the silent sawmills, the scattering of a skilled workforce—and communities in crisis throughout the BC interior.
MISSION — Hundreds of Mission residents are hoping to stop a logging project at its root before the first branch breaks. The Hatzic Valley Community Association recently issued an advisory regarding plans to log between Eng and Kussman Roads, with construction set to begin this summer if Forest Service Road Proposal 2801 is permitted. Residents were then advised to share their thoughts about terrain stability, historical flooding and landslide events, or watershed concerns in the area before March 6 with the Chilliwack District Tenures Team. As of Thursday, February 26, a petition was started to stop the project, citing the watershed’s 44-year history of repeated debris flows, landslides and destructive flooding that have once damaged 45 homes in a single storm and relocated entire creek channels through residential areas.
Results from a targeted deer hunt in the Cranbrook area show no new detections of chronic wasting disease (CWD), supporting ongoing efforts to contain and manage the disease in southeastern B.C. From Jan. 5-31, 2026, a general open-season deer hunt was implemented in a defined area near Cranbrook to bolster sampling efforts and reduce the risk of CWD spreading to surrounding deer and elk populations. A total of 228 deer were harvested during the hunt. All samples submitted for testing were negative for CWD. Of the deer harvested and tested, 79% were white-tailed deer and 21% were mule deer. Although no animals tested positive, targeted hunts within the established management zone aim to reduce deer population and density, providing fewer opportunities for close contact between animals and limiting the risk of CWD spread.
The newsletter highlights the ongoing work of the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) as it enters its tenth year of operations, showcasing the positive impact of FESBC-funded partners on forests across British Columbia. It opens with a safety tip from the BC Forest Safety Council aimed at improving workplace orientations and on-the-ground safety. FESBC also invites readers to participate in its Decade in Review, asking for stories about memorable, locally meaningful projects that have strengthened forests or communities. The newsletter introduces FESBC’s new Administrative Assistant, Jen Kulchar, and celebrates community forestry by linking to the BC Community Forest Association’s new film, Rooted Together. It also features a Faces of Forestry profile on Hengda Liu and shares additional news on FESBC-related forestry developments and partnerships. Throughout, the focus remains on collaboration, forest resilience, and the people driving meaningful forestry work province-wide.
Many people in British Columbia, including those living in remote First Nations communities, still rely on forestry revenue to keep the lights on. But as the forestry industry continues to wade through economic uncertainty, outdated forest legislation and – in some regions – a declining fibre supply, one can’t help but wonder: Could shifting gears to tourism pay the bills? “We watched the fishing industry decline …Now we’re watching the forestry decline. We are in a place where we need to look at other options…. I think tourism is a great option for that story,” said Paula Amos, Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC). The harvest tenure for TFL 61 is held by Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings (PATH) and managed by Angus Hope. … “There are a lot of challenges,” Hope says. From the “glacial pace” of government to the high cost of getting the logs to market, Hope says the status quo just doesn’t make sense anymore.
DUNCAN, BC — Mosaic Forest Management is launching a multi-year pilot on its private lands in the Koksilah watershed on Vancouver Island to demonstrate how working forests can deliver both economic performance and environmental resilience by integrating watershed services, carbon programs, renewable energy, recreation and real estate activities alongside timber production. This pilot supports the historic government-to-government agreement signed by Cowichan Tribes and the Province in May 2023 to develop BC’s first water sustainability plan in the Koksilah River which has experienced critically low summer flows in recent years. As part of the planning process, Mosaic sits on the Community Collaborative Advisory Table for the Xwulqw’selu / Koksilah Watershed and Water Sustainability Plan (XWWSP). “This pilot is about figuring out what works by combining sustainable forestry with watershed stewardship and other land solutions,” said Duncan Davies, President and CEO of Mosaic. “We’re committed to building the business model that makes this approach viable and scalable where the right conditions exist.”
It could take anywhere from six months to a year before a coalition of area First Nations can start logging following a timber acquisition deal made with the provincial government in January during a natural resources forum in Prince George. The wood, amounting to 1 million cubic metres, comes from a licence held by Canfor and was timber that the company was not logging itself. Called an ‘undercut’ because it amounts to less than what Canfor could cut, the timber will now be converted into a licence held by a coalition of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, the Witset First Nation, the Lake Babine Nation, and the Wet’suwet’en First Nation. When logging does start, the new licence will call for logging of 200,000 cubic metres a year for five years. Through regulations, an undercut can be transferred by the forests ministry from one entity to another.
PRINCE GEORGE – British Columbia’s Forests Minister Ravi Parmar has announced that changes to BC Timber Sales are beginning to yield positive results, particularly in the Prince George area. The province aims to boost job creation, support local mills, and enhance forest health through this updated approach. Following a 2021 review of BC Timber Sales, several recommendations were made, and since then, the province has reported an increase in timber sales across British Columbia. This includes the recent auction of two new commercial thinning sales in the Prince George area, marking a significant achievement for the region.
The mood was jubilant at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island after a weekend storm saw 108 centimetres of snow blanket the resort. The snow was a welcome reprieve from the warm and wet weather that started the season… A 
The forest industry and related associations, unions and community leaders have now coalesced behind the banner “forestry is a solution.” Their purpose, they say, is “to address the urgent challenges, from building affordable housing to reducing wildfire risks in our backyards” and to “rally British Columbians to support forestry workers and their families.” They will roll out the old dogma that BC practices the most sustainable forestry in the world. …The real purpose, I suspect, is that the coalition wants to continue the old model of intensive industrial forestry, despite the reality that our forests can no longer support this outdated model. In 2003, in an address at UBC, Pedersen, the chief forester of the day, stated that the forest industries’ plan was to harvest BC’s primary forests as quickly as possible and convert them into densely planted managed forests. Today, they have achieved that vision.
Transport truck drivers have the most injury claims for work-related crashes of any occupation in BC over the last 10 years. And driver fatigue is a contributing factor in many crashes. Developing a strategy for reducing driver fatigue is smart business. It can help save lives and reduce the risk of injuries. It can also help you meet your legal responsibilities. Use Road Safety at Work’s no-cost resources to create or enhance your fatigue management strategy. Transport truck drivers account for nearly one-quarter of all injury claims from work-related vehicle crashes in our province, according to WorkSafeBC. …A successful fatigue management strategy depends on an effective safety culture and employee engagement. Encourage drivers to report fatigue and to pull over for a short rest when they feel it. Discuss it at safety meetings. Make fatigue part of your fit for duty assessments. Emphasize the importance of adequate sleep.
The March 2026 issue of Forest Safety News is out now — and it’s packed with important updates for everyone in the forest sector! From mental health resources to leadership changes and upcoming safety events, this edition focuses on building safer workplaces across British Columbia. This month’s lead story highlights the Connection to Care program, a FREE and confidential support service for forestry workers navigating stress, job pressures, or life challenges — because mental wellness is now a core part of workplace safety. We also mark a leadership moment as long-time CEO Rob Moonen retires after 16 years, and Cherie Whelan steps in as the new CEO, bringing deep experience in safety and industry engagement. Plus, don’t miss the Interior Safety Conference in Kamloops — a full day of sessions and networking for professionals across harvesting, silviculture, transportation, and manufacturing. There’s much more inside including safety alerts, training updates, and industry links you’ll want to see. Read the full issue for all the details!
COWICHAN BAY, BC — Simon Fraser University researchers have uncovered concerning fibreglass contamination in a key estuary on Vancouver Island, raising concerns about how an as-yet overlooked contaminant could affect aquatic birds, marine life and coastal communities that rely on shellfish and seafood. A