BC Wood’s 22nd Annual Global Buyers Mission (GBM) opened in Whistler, BC on Friday morning, with Premier David Eby declaring the tradeshow floor open and underscoring the value-added sector’s critical role in British Columbia’s economy and its importance to international markets. …Nearly 600 participants attended this year’s gathering, including specifiers, government representatives, and international buyers from across Asia and beyond. BC Wood CEO Brian Hawrysh welcomed the attendees… and Board chairperson Kelly Marciniw of Zirnhelt Timber Frames, introduced the Honourable Premier of British Columbia, David Eby. …Eby emphasizing the importance of BC’s international buyers, pointing to his recent experience at Expo 2025 Osaka. …At the same time, he acknowledged the dual challenges of natural and man-made disruptions, from wildfires and the mountain pine beetle to softwood lumber duties.
“Our friends and allies in the United States, who remain friends and allies, but are under the leadership of an individual who somehow sees affordable BC timber products as a threat to the United States, at a time when the government is simultaneously recognizing a housing crisis in the United States and a need to improve affordability for people,” he said. He argued that Canada and the US have an opportunity to reset their relationship, suggesting that the $8 billion currently held in a tariff account could be used “to promote wood products across North America for a net win for everybody.”…Eby also outlined steps the provincial government is taking to support the industry, including a pause on stumpage payments. …”There are so many opportunities for us right now, and they are matched, unfortunately, by threats. But we will be successful as a group if we push together in ensuring we’re expanding those markets.”
Ottawa — Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) welcomes the federal government’s announcement of new measures to support trade-exposed Canadian businesses and employees and to enable economic transformation. The measures announced today — ranging from the Strategic Response Fund to procurement reforms, tariff-response financing, workforce supports, and biofuels incentives — if well executed, can provide hope for the future for Canada’s forest sector and its 200,000 employees. In addition to the measures announced today, FPAC continues to call on the federal government to extend Clean Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) to include biomass for heat and electricity generation as part of Budget 2025. Introducing the biomass ITCs will create new jobs, improve energy security, lower carbon emissions, and help reduce wildfire risks. …“While a negotiated agreement on softwood lumber is the sector’s number one priority, today’s announcement is about trying to create stability as we modernize and innovate for the future,” said FPAC President and CEO Derek Nighbor.
Trade disputes between the United States and Canada are nothing new. What began as two neighbouring countries seeking to expand their markets and assert economic sovereignty has evolved into a broad range of conflicts. These historical trade disputes have included accusations of unfair subsidies, protectionist tariffs, and, more recently, concerns over national security, fentanyl and border security. Softwood lumber, one of the most important items on the list of Canadian exports to the U.S., has been consistently under attack by different American administrations. …Though some might call it weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent move to lift the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods covered under CUSMA, while retaining tariffs on auto, steel and aluminum, is arguably a wise strategy. The end goal is to minimize economic damage to Canada. According to Carney, this tariff removal on about 85 per cent of Canada-U.S. trade is consistent with the commitment under CUSMA.
Lumber prices that have dropped more than 20% over the past month are prompting one of North America’s largest producers to throttle back output by 12%. Interfor said Thursday that it would reduce hours and reconfigure shifts as well as lengthen holiday breaks and maintenance shutdowns at its mills in Canada and the US to reduce output by about 145 million board feet through year-end. Lumber futures, which had fallen 18 of the past 22 trading sessions rose in response. …Interfor, which has headquarters in BC, is among the big Canadian sawyers that have shifted operations into the US as duties and diminished log availability have put sawmills out of the money back home. About 50% of Interfor’s capacity these days is in the US South. Another 12% is Washington and Oregon, where mills compete fiercely with Canadian rivals to sell the same species of wood. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
WASHINGTON – Canada’s government joined the Canadian lumber industry in seeking a trade panel review over certain softwood lumber products from Canada under the USMCA, according to a U.S. government notice posted online on Monday. The two requests were filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Association following the departments July 29 decision following its investigation into the matter, the notices posted to the Federal Register said.
BURNABY, BC — Interfor Corporation announced plans to reduce its lumber production by approximately 145 million board feet between September and December of 2025, representing approximately 12% of its normal operating stance. The temporary curtailments will be through a combination of reduced operating hours, prolonged holiday breaks, reconfigured shifting schedules and extended maintenance shut-downs. The curtailments are expected to impact all of Interfor’s operating regions, with both the Canadian and US operations expected to reduce their production levels by approximately 12% each. The curtailments are in response to persistently weak market conditions and ongoing economic uncertainty. The Company will continue to monitor market conditions across all of its operations and adjust its production plans accordingly. [END]
WENDAKE, QC
CORNER BROOK, Newfoundland — Kruger is going to resume operations in Corner Brook on Monday. The pulp mill shut down after the province instituted a province-wide fire ban in light of the wildfires and a high forest fire index. Their forestry operations resumed about ten days ago. In preparation for the restart, the company is actively rebuilding its wood inventory. The Deer Lake hydro plant will gradually resume operations starting today, gradually increasing until Tuesday. That will result in higher water flows and rising water levels in Deer Lake and the Humber River, both of which are currently at low levels. Kruger also noted that it is still waiting on a formal response to its diversification plan on the long-term sustainability of the operation. That proposal calls for financial involvement from the provincial government. 
MANIWAKI, Quebec — The Domtar sawmill in Maniwaki, Quebec, will temporarily close again next month. The company, which acquired the mill when it bought Resolute Forest Products in 2023, confirmed Wednesday to Radio-Canada that the indefinite closure will begin Oct. 10. It cited difficult market conditions and US softwood lumber duties, which rose to more than 35 per cent last month. About 120 workers at the mill lost their jobs in a previous closure that started in December 2024. The mill reopened for about 50 hours a week at the start of June. About 3,800 people lived in the western Quebec community as of the 2021 census. [END]
Falling lumber prices are sounding an alarm on Wall Street about potential problems on Main Street. Wood markets have been whipsawed of late by trade uncertainty and a deteriorating housing market. Futures have dropped 23% since hitting a three-year high at the beginning of August and ended Friday at $535 per thousand board feet. The price drop might have been greater—but two of North America’s biggest sawyers said last week that they would curtail output, slowing the decline. Crashing wood prices are troubling because they have been a reliable leading indicator on the direction of the housing market as well as broader economic activity. …Analysts and traders say there will have to be further cuts to ease the glut of wood. That might not be a problem, given how higher duties have pushed up Canadian sawmills’ break-even prices while demand wanes. “We anticipate further closures or curtailments,” said Truist Securities analyst Michael Roxland. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is require]
Canada’s new homes market is booming with near record housing starts — with one exception, Ontario. 
Lumber futures fell again Wednesday, dropping to their lowest prices since last autumn. …Futures for September delivery shed $6 or about 1.1%, to end at $524 per thousand board feet. Futures have now declined 18 of the past 22 trading sessions. The selloff—about 25% over the past month—is reminiscent of the wild trading in lumber during the Covid-19 pandemic [but this time] …the continuing gyrations have been driven by trade policy. Lumber buyers stocked up ahead of a big increase in the duties levied on Canadian imports. …President Trump’s threats for additional tariffs on imported wood added incentive to hoard lumber. …The $54 difference in price between lumber futures for delivery this month and those for November in midday trading was well above the cost of warehousing wood for two months and a sign that traders’ demand outlook is bleak, Stinson Dean said. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]
In the September newsletter, you’ll find these stories and more:
Professor Susan Dudley at McMaster University in Ontario says drought-stricken parts of Canada could be in for some underwhelming fall foliage if stressed trees lose out on the energy needed to generate some of the season’s most brilliant colours. Dudley says trees in dried out parts of the country could see their leaves die off rather than turn red. As the days shorten, green chlorophyll in tree leaves starts to break down and reveals the yellow and orange pigments underneath. Yet Dudley says some trees, such as maple, oak and sumac, synthesize a pigment in the autumn responsible for turning their leaves into the reds and purples associated with the most brilliant foliage. If a tree is too stressed … the leaves may die off before that new pigment can fully develop and give off its most vibrant colour, leaving brown leaves associated with rapid stress-induced death…
Five years after the release of the Old-Growth Strategic Review report, the BC NDP’s momentum towards a “new, holistic approach” to the management of old-growth forests has slowed almost to the point of regression. “Rather than the ‘paradigm shift’ we were promised, we’ve seen Premier Eby’s government doubling down on its prioritization of timber and industry profits over all other values,” said Eddie Petryshen, Wildsight Conservation Specialist. After its public release on September 11, 2020, the BC NDP government promised to enact all 14 recommendations made in the landmark Old-Growth Strategic Review (OGSR). The goal: to shift its focus towards ecosystem health, rather than timber. Since then, temporary logging deferrals have been put in place in high-risk old-growth stands in some parts of the province, and a 2023 Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework was released for public review. 
A BC logger is fighting for the return of a $180,000 deposit he paid to the provincial government to access a timber lot that he did not harvest for lack of demand. In 2023, Bill Bosovich struck a deal with BC Timber Sales to log 116 hectares of forest between Osoyoos and Midway. …Bosovich promised to pay the government at least $1.7 million for the wood he would harvest, and put down a cash deposit of $176,700 to cover any contingencies. However, before any logging had occurred and as wood prices fell, Bosovich learned that the four major log buyers in the area were not interested in his wood. …Bosovich let BC Timber Sales know he could not find buyers and was offered a 12-month extension, but only if he committed to paying a further $83,000 deposit. …Bosovich did not want to extend the licence. …BC Timber Sales’ Allan Powelson responded that the government would be keeping his money.
As wildfires tear through New Brunswick’s forests at record rates this year, researchers say the resulting damage is reshaping bird habitats — displacing some species while creating new opportunities for others. “With every disturbance in a forest, you have winners and losers,” says Joe Nocera, a forestry and environmental management professor at the University of New Brunswick. In this case, the winners will be woodpeckers. Wildfires, while destructive, are a natural part of forest ecosystems, said Amy-Lee Kouwenberg, an associate director at Birds Canada explained. They clear out underbrush and create habitats that support a wider range of species, boosting biodiversity in the long run. Woodpeckers thrive in burned areas, and the resulting tree cavities they leave behind are used as nesting sites that other birds rely on. …Species like the Canada warbler, wood thrush and Bicknell’s thrush — all of which depend on dense, mature or shrubby forests — are particularly vulnerable . 
Air quality warnings are becoming a feature of Ontario summers, but for most, the source has felt far away. As southern Ontarians stayed indoors … under air quality warnings this summer, fires closer to home ignited. In July and August, the province experienced a number of wildfires in places including the Kawarthas, a couple hours northeast of Toronto, and near the town of Huntsville, in the cottage country region of Muskoka. Farther north, First Nations communities like the Pikangikum First Nation and North Spirit Lake First Nation were evacuated due to wildfires and smoke… How do wildfires in southern Ontario stack up to the massive fires farther north, and what can be done? Here’s what you need to know. …fires in southern Ontario are different for two main reasons: the forest type and the many, many people here.
…Sweden, like Canada, sits atop vast boreal forests — part of the same great green belt circling the Northern Hemisphere. These forests act as planetary lungs, storing more carbon than even the Amazon. But the Swedish government’s latest forestry inquiry, En robust skogspolitik för aktivt skogsbruk, is heading in a troubling direction: grow more trees, cut them faster, and burn or export more biomass in the name of “green energy.” It sounds like a climate solution. But here’s the problem: forests are not factories. Most of the carbon in a boreal forest isn’t stored in the trees at all. It’s locked underground — in roots, fungi, humus, and delicate microbial networks built up over thousands of years. When forestry is intensified — shorter harvest cycles, heavier machines, wider clear-cuts — that underground bank of carbon is steadily drained. The trees grow back, yes, but the soil can take centuries to recover, if it recovers at all.
There are fewer injuries and deaths occurring on B.C. construction sites compared to previous years and decades, although much work remains to ensure worker safety. “Struck by’s,” “falls from” and “trips and slips” are among the most common incidents on job sites, and major events like Kelowna’s deadly crane collapse in 2021 highlight the risks that accompany modern construction. Work-related death claims in the construction sector totalled 31 in 2020, 29 in 2021, 54 in 2022, 39 in 2023 and 25 in 2024, according to data provided by WorkSafeBC. …Dave Baspaly, president of the Council of Construction Associations (COCA), which represents all major construction associations in BC said… the industry’s improved safety record is a result of more training, stricter enforcement of WorkSafeBC rules, and a culture of compliance where non-adherence is not tolerated. He emphasizes that proactive measures, like rigorous inspections and coordinated site management, are making construction sites safer.
The local service district of Lethbridge, N.L., is partially evacuated after a wildfire started in a bark pile and its adjacent forest outside Sexton Lumber late Sunday afternoon. The evacuation zone includes the areas of Oldford’s Hill to Southwest Bridge and Bayside Drive and Forest Drive, where the saw mill is located. Anthony Paddon Elementary in Musgravetown has been converted into a reception centre for impacted residents. In a social media post, the school announced that it will be closed to students on Monday, as it supports the efforts of emergency responders. The elementary school in Lethbridge, Hertiage Collegiate, is closed as well. In a social media post the school says more updates will be provided at 10:30 a.m. N.T. Route 233 remains impassible in both directions to all traffic. As of Sunday, three water bombers and ground crews were working the fire, and crews remained on the scene overnight to monitor conditions.