Marc Carney
Negotiations have been taking place as the US has been fundamentally transforming all its trading relationships. …In a positive development, earlier this month, the US reaffirmed a core commitment to our free trade agreement, Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), by reinforcing that those Canadian exports to the US that are compliant with CUSMA will not be subject to US IEEPA tariffs. As a result, the actual US average tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6% and remains the lowest among all its trading partners, and more than 85% of Canada-US trade is now tariff-free. …In this context and consistent with Canada’s commitment to CUSMA, I am announcing that the Canadian government will now match the US by removing all of Canada’s tariffs on US goods specifically covered under CUSMA. This decision will take effect on September 1, 2025. …The Canadian government will begin our preparations for the CUSMA review process due next year.
Related coverage by Katie DeRosa in CBC News: BC jobs minister surprised at Ottawa’s move to drop retaliatory tariffs against US
BC’s forestry sector is awaiting the results of a US Commerce Department investigation into the imports of wood products, which could impose further tariffs on the beleaguered industry. It comes months after US President Trump launched a Section 232 investigation into whether importing timber, lumber and derivative products could pose a national security threat to the US. …”Lumber is just one of many sectors that could get impacted … maybe lumber gets a lower tariff, but plywood and OSB and pulp get a higher tariff. We don’t know,” said Russ Taylor. …Taylor says that, while the Section 232 tariffs could cause further mill curtailments in BC, the U.S. forestry industry doesn’t yet have the capacity to fill the void. …”And the US mills will be very happy to raise their price … at a discount to the Canadian price because that’s just free money in the short term for them,” he added. 
West Fraser Timber is continuing to succeed in this ever-changing world, despite a lower second quarter. …Sales were up slightly from Q1 — $1.532 billion, compared to $1.459 billion. However, earnings were nearly cut in half — $24 million compared to $42 million in the first quarter. “Demand for many of our building products slowed in the second quarter as spring building activity fell short of our expectations,” said Sean McLaren, West Fraser’s President and CEO. “This was more acute in our North America Engineered Wood Products segment, which experienced further easing of demand as the quarter progressed [with] softer U.S. new home construction.” …West Timber’s director of communications, Joyce Wagenaar, told Black Press Media that this year has been a challenge economically. “2025 has brought a number of changes, most notably sluggish demand for building products in Canada and the U.S. due to challenging economic conditions, leading to a slowdown in new home construction,” said Wagenaar.
A fire at a lumber yard inside Quesnel city limits is being managed by West Fraser Mills and was expected to be completely extinguished on Monday, Aug. 25, the city’s fire chief said. The 500-square-foot fire at BC Eco Chips on Pinecrest Road was first spotted around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, leading to a response from six fire departments in the Cariboo Regional District, BC Wildfire Service and personnel from West Fraser Mills. Reached by phone on Aug. 25, Quesnel Fire Chief Ron Richert said that the fire departments and wildfire service withdrew from the scene around 8 p.m., leaving West Fraser Mills in charge of managing the scene. At that point, the chief said, there were still “significant flames” but it was fully contained. …Richert confirmed that there were no structured damaged or people hurt by the fire. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Lumber futures have come under strain after the initial tariff-driven upswing has fizzled out and the cracks in the housing market are beginning to show… retreating from an early August high of ~$695 per thousand board feet to about $560, a decline of nearly 19.5%, making it just shy of the 20% mark that would push it into a technical bear market. Lumber futures saw a surge driven by tariffs and optimism over lower interest rates, which pushed prices to their highest levels in more than three years. However, the enthusiasm soon faded away, as recent housing data disappointed, and builders scaled back due to higher input costs, weaker demand and looming affordability challenges. Housing affordability remains stretched even with potential rate cuts, requiring better wage growth or increased supply for meaningful improvement, according to Rafe Jadrosich, Senior US Homebuilders and Building Products analyst.
The Headlines
COQUITLAM, BC — Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), announced an investment of over $6.8 million for two Coquitlam-based businesses that are developing technologies to reduce waste and advance sustainability in the energy and textile sectors. …Novo Textile Company is receiving an investment of over $1.8 million to expand its textile recycling capacity. Novo plans to bind recycled fibres with BC wood pulp fibres to produce Canadian-made textiles at a competitive price. This will strengthen Canadian supply chains and divert 15 million pounds of garment waste from landfills annually. …Novo Textiles was incorporated in 1991 as a supplier of fibre-filled home textiles. Most recently, Novo introduced a textile recycling production line, continuing its evolution within the textile sector. It is estimated that 92 million tonnes of textile waste ends up in landfills annually.
The lumber and sawmilling sector demands skilled leaders who combine technical expertise with sound business acumen. BCIT now offers two Associate Certificates, designed to be completed part-time and fully online in just 12 months, enabling working professionals to advance without leaving the industry. The Associate Certificate in the Business of Sawmilling (starting October 2025) focuses on the operational, financial, and strategic aspects of modern sawmill management. Topics include production planning, quality optimization, supply chain considerations, and market dynamics. Graduates are equipped to contribute to profitability and long-term competitiveness. The Associate Certificate in Industrial Wood Processing (IWP) (starting January 2026) emphasizes the science and technology of wood conversion. With courses in wood properties, manufacturing processes, quality control, and technical problem-solving, the program prepares participants to step into supervisory roles with confidence. Both programs are tailored for career advancement in the North American lumber industry.
Harvesting in North Cowichan’s 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve (MFR) is considered a primary issue for the rest of council’s term, which ends in October, 2026. On Aug. 20, council voted 4-3 to make harvesting, which hasn’t taken place since 2019, one of its strategic priorities. Coun. Bruce Findlay pointed out that the municipality has received no revenues from harvesting in the MFR for six years, and it may take several more years yet as negotiations with the Quw’utsun Nation on co-management of the MFR continue. …Despite the vote, CAO Ted Swabey advised council that he thinks that it’s unlikely that any harvesting could actually take place before the end of council’s term. …The public engagement aspect of the forest review concluded in early 2023, and the feedback from that process found very strong support for active conservation in the MFR, which would allow for targeted harvesting to provide some income, while restoring and enhancing biodiversity.
On the heels of record-breaking daily high temperatures, Vancouver Islanders face warmer than usual weather this week. Temperatures will continue to “remain well above seasonal” into mid-week for east and inland Vancouver Island with cooler temperatures overnight, according to an Environment Canada statement issued early Aug. 26. The extra warm conditions are expected to persist from inland Greater Victoria, up the east coast from Nanoose Bay to Fanny Bay. Cloud cover is expected Thursday. The Malahat area broke the newest record on the Island, hitting 30.2 C, topping the 29.8 daily record set in 2022. Nanaimo tied the oldest record, hitting a high of 33.3 set in 1958. Campbell River, Courtenay and Comox all flirted with 2016 records, with Campbell River shading the old 30 C temperature, hitting 30.2. Comox and Courtenay both tied the 2016 record of 30.3. The heat coincided with a new wildfire discovered Aug. 24 south of Nanaimo. The 8.6-hectare fire was classified as being held as of Tuesday morning.
An international research project in the northern is taking a hard look at the decline of keynote bat populations in a bid to help area ecosystems survive and thrive. Efforts to preserve a population of northern myotis – an endangered bat species that used to be found throughout eastern B.C., but whose range has been contracting to the central Interior – are under way near Kinbasket Lake, north of Revelstoke and Golden. Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society … are planting fake bark to mimic the old-growth trees where the northern myotis roosts, and on the north side they are using radio detectors to determine how many of the bats are present in logged areas. Logging may not be an automatic death sentence to bat populations, Lausen says, but it needs to stay within the limits of what northern myotis colonies can sustain. One of the project’s goals is to identify those limits.
A prolonged heat wave gripping British Columbia has already toppled more than 20 daily high-temperature records, with forecasters warning the sweltering conditions are set to persist through mid-week. Environment Canada has extended heat warnings to large parts of the province, including Fraser Canyon, South Okanagan, and South Thompson, where highs in the upper 30s are expected to continue. Inland sections of the north and central coasts are forecast to reach up to 29C, while four special weather statements remain in effect for Vancouver Island. …Even as air quality improves, wildfire officials warn the soaring heat and dry air are fuelling dangerous conditions. The B.C. Wildfire Service said low relative humidity is making forest fuels highly susceptible to ignition… For insurers, the intensifying fire risk underscores a costly pattern. …Another active fire season … adds further pressure to an industry already grappling with rising catastrophe exposures in B.C.
The Forest Appeals Commission dismissed a Vanderhoof hunting and fishing lodge’s appeal of a $25,000 fine for cutting Crown timber without a licence. In an Aug. 13 decision, panel chair Maureen Baird upheld the March 2023 fine against Crystal Lake Resort Ltd. by the Ministry of Forests. Daniel Brooks, whose family bought the resort in 1975, admitted trees were cut without a licence in July 2020 on a right of way and the company asked, after the fact, for the Ministry of Forests to authorize the removal of merchantable timber. The ministry advised the company that it needed to have a licence to harvest in the first place. Brooks said he did not know he needed a licence. …The Ministry approved the required management plan, that allowed cutting trees if the resort had a forestry licence to do so.
In the Summer Almanac you’ll find these headlines and much more:
A monster firestorm roared through the pine and spruce forests of New Brunswick. It burned one-fifth of the province’s forests and raged through villages, reducing buildings to ash and killing at least 160 people — although historians believe that is likely a severe undercount. This was the Miramichi Fire, which 200 years ago this fall announced an era of megafires in North America. Commemorated in folk songs, documented in archives and seared into memory for those who lived through it, the Miramichi Fire to this day ranks among the largest and most devastating fires the continent has ever seen. The Miramichi Fire was the continent’s first megafire rooted in extracting resources from the land, but that century was packed with other examples that collectively destroyed thousands of buildings and caused millions in damages, all while claiming lives. Among the major fires were Quebec City in 1845, 1866, 1876 and 1881; St. John’s in 1846 and 1892; Toronto in 1849, 1885 and 1895; Montreal in 1850, 1852 and 1898 and both Calgary and Vancouver in 1886.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s annual conference is just around the corner! Register now for one of the biggest draws of the WPAC annual event: the tour. This time it’s the day before the conference, when we’ll learn more about the people, facilities, and communities behind the sector. Depart from Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel around 8:30 am and enjoy a scenic drive to Hardwood Lands, where you will see the Shaw Renewables pellet plant. From there, we will make our way back to Halifax, stopping at an installation or for a scenic break. We will tour the Port of Halifax in the afternoon and return to the hotel by 4:00 pm. Don’t miss this chance to be inspired by those in our sector who are committed to producing clean, renewable and responsible energy from Canadian wood pellets. Space is limited. Cost: $124/person
It’s hard not to forget the 2023 Canadian wildfire season, when more than 16 million hectares of forest were lost, thousands were displaced and smoke suffocated cities across both Canada and the U.S. And it turns out Canada experienced its worst air pollution levels that year since 1998, according to a new report released today by the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI). At the same time, the report found that pollution levels didn’t change much for the rest of the world in 2023. If those levels continued for a person’s lifetime, the average Canadian would lose roughly two years of their life expectancy, according to the report. Efforts have been made around the world, including in Canada, to curb harmful emissions of fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, also known as PM 2.5. But wildfires are reversing those advances — with serious health consequences.
In this edition of Forest Safety News you’ll find these stories and more:
New Brunswickers will be permitted once again to enter the province’s forests, following a bout of cool weather that has reduced the risk of wildfires, officials said Monday. Starting Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., the province will lift its ban on access to Crown land, parts of which have been scorched in recent weeks by wildfires triggered by drought-like conditions and lightning. “I would like to thank New Brunswickers for their co-operation, for changing their plans for protecting our forests and communities,” Premier Susan Holt said Monday. About two weeks ago, there were 39 active wildfires across the province, and temperatures were close to 40 C with the humidex, said Natural Resources Minister John Herron. But over the past couple of days, temperatures have fallen well into the “very low teens” at night, he said, adding that parts of New Brunswick got rain on Monday, which has helped in firefighting.