Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he sees a path to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and anticipates more specifics from the U.S. administration soon. Gearing up to head back to Washington, DC next week to meet with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and “others” next week, LeBlanc said he’s “not pessimistic about renewing the trilateral framework.” “Renewing. It doesn’t expire, it expires in 2036. But the review is not a renegotiation,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc said two of the key factors underpinning his optimism are that when US President Trump levied his latest global tariff, he maintained the CUSMA exemption, and because American political and business leaders are “speaking up more now.” …Amid speculation that Trump wants to scrap the trilateral trade pact and strike trade deals with Canada and Mexico independently, LeBlanc said the way he sees it, Trump may pursue separate bilateral deals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of CUSMA.
Trade negotiations used to be underpinned by an unspoken assumption: that trade barriers were lose-lose propositions. All sides could gain something if they mutually disarmed. …[They] were always about how much tariffs and other walls would go down, not how much they would go up. …United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer sums up the Trump administration’s break with the postwar trade consensus, saying the administration is “focused on reshoring supply chains related to automotive, steel, aluminum … If Canada wants to come in and participate in this type of reshoring we’re trying to do, we’re happy to have those discussions.” …The U.S. wants higher tariffs at home, and lower tariffs abroad. The old give-and-take is now take-and-take. …”We want to have production here. We don’t necessarily want to be dependent on China, Canada or anybody else for things like cars.” [This article is only available to subscribers to the Globe and Mail]
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties, and now additional tariffs on softwood lumber and derivative wood products add to a long history of trade measures applied to Canadian exports. …Recent trade data shows exports of targeted wood products to the US have declined by roughly 11% in 2025 from a year earlier with losses concentrated in Quebec and BC. Export gains elsewhere have only partially compensated for reduced US market access—in part reflecting the geographical constraints in shipping lumber and wood products. …Average industrial capacity utilization rate for wood product manufacturing has declined roughly 10 percentage points to 75% in 2025 Q3 from a decade earlier, while employment in sawmills and wood preservation fell roughly 20% between May 2017 and November 2025 with more pronounced declines in BC (-32%) and Quebec (-13%). …Reduced domestic supply could also put pressure on downstream industries such as pulp and paper mills and construction. The combination of weak demand and constrained supply raises the risk of further production curtailments and mill closures.
Tom Hodgson
Federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson says Ottawa will continue to come to the forestry sector’s aid in the face of punishing tariffs, even amid threats from the US alleging that Canada is now further escalating with new subsidies. It’s a threat Hodgson dismissed as “hyperbole.” …Since August, the federal government has introduced over $2.35 billion in measures designed to ensure Canada’s forest sector remains competitive and resilient in the face of escalating US tariffs. …But it also comes as the US Lumber Coalition has begun to allege that a wide range of federal and provincial programs amount to unfair subsidies. … “We are in no way inflaming the situation with the Americans by reducing the amount of our fibre that goes into commodity lumber by doing other value-added products. That’s actually good for Canada, that’s good for Canadian workers, and it reduces the amount of wood that gets sent to the United States.”
The Forest Products Association of Canada responded to the federal government’s announcement to support and retool our forest sector to ensure it remains a pillar of national strength and prosperity. The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, launched a national 
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.
The Ontario Forest Industries Association is looking forward to welcoming you to our 83rd Annual Convention at One King West Hotel & Residence in Toronto, April 28 – 29, 2026. We are planning another high-impact event, and we want to ensure your visit is as smooth and enjoyable as possible. If you have not registered for the event, do so as soon as possible as limited spots remain. If you haven’t yet secured accommodations, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. There are options at the One King West Hotel as well as several hotels within a short walking distance of One King West. The OFIA is a trade association representing Ontario’s sustainable forest industry and serves as a unified voice for forest products companies across the province — from timber producers to wood manufacturers — advocating on policy, market access, sustainability, and economic development issues. The Annual Convention is our flagship event, intended to bring together industry leaders, members, and stakeholders for networking, education, discussion, and celebration.
Statistics Canada says the economy capped off a volatile year with a contraction in the final quarter of 2025. The agency said that real gross domestic product declined 0.6% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter, falling short of expectations from the Bank of Canada and most economists for flat growth. Real GDP per capita was unchanged in the fourth quarter. StatCan said the main reason for the contraction was businesses drawing down their inventories. The economy swung back and forth between gains and losses every quarter last year as sharp changes in exports tied to US tariffs drove volatility in GDP data. …The agency said real GDP rose 1.7% in 2025 overall, cooling from 2% growth in each of the previous two years and marking the slowest pace of annual growth since 2016 outside the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lower exports, particularly to the United States, were the main contributor to the slower rise in GDP in 2025”.
Lumber futures fell toward $550 per thousand board feet, marking a six-week low, as a stagnant North American housing sector failed to absorb heavy seasonal inventories. Demand weakened as January data showed a 7% year over year drop in single family starts and an 8.4% decline in units under construction. High 6.25% mortgage rates and a 5.8% slump in Canadian home sales during January 2026 further stalled new project starts. On the supply side, regional inventory remained bloated. While BC curtailments continued harsh winter storms in the US South halted jobsite activity more than mill output, creating a distributor logjam and forcing aggressive dealer discounting to clear yard space. Additionally, while Trump’s administration 45% softwood duties were meant to buoy prices they instead stifled demand by adding nearly $17,500 to average home costs. This eroded the builder confidence needed to clear current supply.
The strong momentum and bull run of basic materials carried over into 2026 and appears poised to be the TSX’s top-performing sector for the second consecutive year. While mining heavyweights continue to lead the surge, lumber stocks are delivering market-beating returns. Stella-Jones, Canfor Corporation, and Doman Building Materials are worth watching right now. These companies offer operational leverage and have maintained resilience amid persistent price volatility and trade restrictions.
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.
The head of an Indigenous-owned forestry company in New Brunswick says that provincial government statements about consultation with Indigenous communities over forestry policy are “hollow” without efforts to increase self-determination. Annie Simoneau, owner of L’Puk’Tuwis Forestry — which is based in Natoaganeg, also called Eel Ground First Nation — says that most small Indigenous communities currently lack the capacity to cut and manage their own timber. “Many are forced to rely on large forestry companies or urban-based contractors to do the harvesting for them. Those companies decide the methods — and too often that means clear-cutting, followed by herbicide spraying,” she told the NB Media Co-op. “That’s not self-determination,” she continued. “That’s dependency created by decades of policy that withheld equipment, training, and access from First Nations, then turned around and said, ‘You were consulted.’”
Drax Group is launching a strategic review of its Canadian pellet operations due to a constrained fiber market and low margins. …CEO Will Gardiner discussed the company’s changing pellet production strategy. …“Our US business is fundamentally part of our UK supply chain. That business is doing very well As you will have seen, our Canadian business is more challenged, and we’ve been talking about this for some time as margins have come down due to fiber costs rising in Canada more rapidly than indexed power prices in Asia. As we noted last year, this dynamic contributed to the decision we’ve made to close one of our pellet plants in Williams Lake towards the end of last year.” As a result, Drax is not currently expecting to commit any additional capital to the pellet production segment, including the paused pellet plant planned for development in Longview, Washington.
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