The United States has increased countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber [from 6.74% to 14.63%], bringing the total duties on lumber to 35.19%. The decision was announced on Friday by the US Department of Commerce. Although the escalating fees were anticipated, they still drew swift condemnation and words of alarm from industry and political leaders in BC and Ontario, who say it is yet the latest example of unfair treatment of the industry from their largest and most important international partner. “Two words describe Donald Trump’s latest move to increase countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber: absurd and reckless,” B.C.’s Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said. “Adding these additional softwood duties … will only worsen an affordability crisis on both sides of the border.”
In response to the increase in countervailing duties:
- Kim Haakstad, Council of Forest Industries: COFI condemns doubling of duties. Urges action to improve business environment for forestry in BC
- Government of Ontario Ministers: Ontario renews calls for removal of duties on softwood lumber exports
- Kurt Niquidet, BC Lumber Trade Council: Urges Canada and the US governments to make resolving the dispute a top economic priority
- Northern Ontario Municipalities: Softwood lumber tariffs ‘deal a serious blow’ to northern forestry sector
The US lumber industry says new financial support pledged by Canada to domestic forestry companies risks deepening the neighbors’ long-running trade dispute, and may result in yet more import taxes. Last week Prime Minister Mark Carney promised as much as C$1.2 billion in loan guarantees, grants and contributions for Canadian sawmills to pursue product development and market diversification — in response to what he said were unjustified US import taxes. Three days later, US Department of Commerce separately confirmed it would more than double combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber. …“We will absolutely be asking Commerce to look at whether companies received a distortive benefit from this package,” said Whitney Rolig, who acts as lead attorney for the US Lumber Coalition. …The Quebec Forest Industry Council said that “even the Department of Commerce has long since ceased to consider loan guarantees as subsidies,” and the aid package also aims to boost domestic demand.
The Liberal government has released a proposal for its new housing entity, laying out suggested loan offerings and other details ahead of the planned fall launch. …The Liberals said the new entity would develop and manage affordable housing projects and partner with builders for the construction phase, providing $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders. …The BCH would also provide $25 billion in debt financing and $1 billion in equity financing to prefabricated home builders, with the Liberals saying the housing type can reduce construction times by up to 50 per cent and lower costs by up to 20 per cent. The entity would issue bulk orders of units from manufacturers to create sustained demand.
It will take time to fully understand the implications of a landmark court ruling that appears to place Aboriginal title in British Columbia above standard private property rights. But already, there’s a fierce political debate. The BC Supreme Court ruled that the Cowichan Tribes holds title over federal, city and private land in Richmond that it historically used as a fishing village. This title sits higher in the legal hierarchy than fee simple land rights of other current owners. The ruling could set a precedent that fundamentally changes the security of standard private property in B.C. …Eby’s comments hit at the core of the fallout — that with most of British Columbia identified by First Nations as traditional territory, the court ruling could scare away not only the general public but businesses considering investing in the province. …But Justice Young appeared to set a new precedent by calling Aboriginal title the “senior interest in land vis-a-vis the fee simple titles.”
For one local lumber mill, the federal government’s announcement of support for the Canadian softwood lumber industry is a step in the right direction. Nick Arkle, CEO at Gorman Brothers Lumber, said in his 50 years of working in the forestry industry, he hasn’t sensed a government that has been this supportive at a federal level. “Both federally and provincially, I’m seeing some major shifts,” Arkle said after Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the Gorman Brothers Lumber mill in West Kelowna to announce the federal government’s strategy to bolster Canada’s softwood lumber industry. …Arkle said Canada also has to figure out how to get along with its neighbours. Gorman Brothers has strong relationships with many customers in the U.S., said Arkle, and those customers can’t figure out why they’ve got this trade action going on because they want Gorman Brothers’ lumber.
A BC manufacturer that says it’s facing closure is accusing the provincial government of hypocrisy after the premier recently touted a product it had a hand in. BC Veneer Products provided the wood fibre that UBC designers used to fabricate a soccer ball out of innovative “wood leather,” something which Premier Eby promoted while on a June trade mission to Japan. …The problem, Gunia explained, is the company hasn’t been able to secure more logs to keep his plant and its 17 employees working. The forestry company he works with on Vancouver Island has already reached its maximum allowable cut for the year. The operator has another block it can harvest in January, but Gunia says that will be too late. …Gunia said his company’s troubles are particularly galling, given the emphasis the premier and the province have put on promoting value-added wood products.
BURNABY, BC — Interfor recorded net earnings in Q2’25 of $11.1 million compared to a net loss of $35.1 million in Q1’25 and a net loss of $75.8 million Q2’24. Adjusted EBITDA was $17.2 million on sales of $780.5 million in Q2’25 versus Adjusted EBITDA of $48.6 million on sales of $735.5 million in Q1’25 and an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $16.7 million on sales of $771.2 million in Q2’24. …North American lumber markets over the near term are expected to remain volatile as the economy continues to adjust to changing monetary policies, tariffs, labour shortages and geo-political uncertainty. …Overall, the Company is well positioned to navigate this volatility with a diversified product mix in Canada and the US, with approximately 60% of its total lumber produced and sold within the US Ultimately, only about 25% of the Company’s total lumber production is exported from Canada to the U.S. and exposed to duties and any potential tariff.
OTTAWA — Canada’s housing crisis may get worse before it starts to show much relief, as new projections say that the number of housing starts will actually decrease this year and next. These new estimates, from both public and private sector housing forecasts, contradict political promises from all levels of government to boost supply of homes across the country. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) forecasts that the total number of housing starts in Canada this year will be about 237,800, down from 245,367 in 2024. CMHC, a Crown corporation that acts as Canada’s national housing agency, also forecasts a drop to no more than 227,734 next year and 220,016 in 2027. Those forecasts are all below the 267,000 annual output for housing starts from 2021-22 and less than half the 480,000 that the CMHC says Canada needs to add each year over the next decade.
CALGARY, Alberta — Wildfire season is in full effect across much of Canada, and Canadians are facing significant impacts. …Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Tim Hodgson, announced $45.7 million in funding for 30 projects across Canada through Natural Resources Canada’s Build and Mobilize Foundational Wildland Fire Knowledge program. These projects are driving research focused on protecting Canadians from the growing threat of wildfires, strengthening wildfire risk assessments and improving mitigation and adaptive forestry practices. We are also helping Indigenous communities access the tools needed to lead on wildfire readiness in their communities and backing Indigenous-led projects that support fire stewardship.
TORONTO — Canada’s 2025 wildfire season is now the second-worst on record. The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, has made Canada’s fire season longer and more intense, scientists say. The last three fire seasons are all in the 10 worst on record. “We really need to do a lot more to manage our forest, to reduce the impact of climate change and better prepare the communities that are at risk,” said Anabela Bonada, managing director of climate science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.
SMITHERS – The Forest Practices Board has released the results of its investigation into a complaint about logging in the Lemieux and Gardner Creek watersheds, 30 kilometres southeast of Smithers. A resident alleged that over-harvesting had dried up creeks and wells, and that logging proceeded without proper public consultation. Board investigators examined recent harvesting, road construction and maintenance by three licence holders: BC Timber Sales (BCTS), Kyah Development Corporation (KDC) and the holder of woodlot licence W0104. Investigators assessed whether licensees met legal requirements for water management and public review. All three licensees complied with requirements for public review. BCTS and KDC exceeded requirements by voluntarily sharing operational-planning information with stakeholders. BCTS and KDC also met all water- management requirements.
Castlegar sawmill and mass timber producer Kalesnikoff Lumber received a mention from Prime Minister Mark Carney on Aug. 5 during a visit to Kelowna. Carney was talking about his government’s Build Canada Homes initiative when he brought up Kalesnikoff’s innovations. The Build Canada Homes program prioritizes domestic materials in construction and requires companies contracting with the federal government to source Canadian lumber. It also calls for the use of Canadian technologies and resources in off-site construction of prefabricated and modular homes. “One example of the possibilities, just a few hours drive from here in Castlegar, Kalesnikoff Mass Timber recently opened its 100,000-square-foot mass timber prefabrication and modular facility – the first of its kind in North America,” said Carney. “They’re adding new products and services, including prefabricated wall panels, mass timber modules, and trusses designed and manufactured for construction efficiency.”
One of Revelstoke’s most popular mountains for Nordic skiing and cycling has reappeared on the map for B.C.’s lumber licensee, raising questions of how recreationists’ favourite routes could be impacted. Within the last year, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) issued a Forestry Operations Map outlining plans for Mount MacPherson, home to the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club (RNSC) and various Revelstoke Cycling Association trails. Currently, several dozen hectares in the Wetask-Mt. MacPherson area are licensed for cut blocks, while several hectares more are mapped for retention areas and roads. …Operations are indicated to run until 2027, and all six cut block licenses have a planned development date of last Jan. 15. In a statement the Ministry of Forests said one of its recent licences was auctioned last spring and will be harvested this fall or winter. Another licence currently sits in the development stage, slated for auction next summer.
Worsening dry conditions across New Brunswick — which sparked a provincewide burn ban and led this week to an uncontrolled wildfire near Miramichi — have prompted the provincial government to impose restrictions on some industrial activities in forested areas. The Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Friday that some forestry operations would be banned for the next several days given the high risk of another wildfire. …From midnight on Aug. 8 to midnight on Aug. 12, harvesting, forwarding, skidding, scarification, chipping and all pre-commercial thinning and cleaning are all banned. That restriction applies to all forestry on both Crown and private lands. Trucking, road construction and maintenance, vegetation management and tree planting are allowed to continue. …Except for the possibility of a shower Saturday afternoon in northern New Brunswick, the province could see at least six more days of dry, hot weather, according to Environment Canada forecasts.
Pointing to several recent closures that caused major traffic disruptions on Highway 97, Okanagan MPs and MLAs are urging the provincial and federal governments to work together on a solution. The group of six politicians gathered outside Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna MP Dan Albas’ office on Tuesday (Aug. 12) to offer their own idea — pave 201 Forest Service Road (201 FSR) between Kelowna and Penticton so it can be used during emergency closures of Highway 97. “People are going to be taking that road, as we’ve seen reported by local journalists, and they’re getting lost,” Albas pointed out. “So this is going to happen whether or not the federal and provincial governments decide to act, but we can’t tolerate that.” The 201 FSR is a long and winding route that many Okanagan residents use during extended closures of Highway 97.
Hundreds of residents who were forced out of their homes by a wildfire burning near Cameron Lake on Vancouver Island are being allowed to return. The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has posted an update removing 257 properties from its evacuation order, although residents remain on alert and must be ready to leave right away. The district said 37 properties in Little Qualicum River Village remain under evacuation order due to the six-square-kilometre wildfire that is now classified as being held. The B.C. Wildfire Service updated the status of the Wesley Ridge blaze, burning about 60 kilometres northwest of Nanaimo, saying it’s not expected to grow beyond its existing containment lines. An update from the wildfire service on Monday said the Wesley Ridge fire did not grow Sunday and was displaying mostly rank-one fire behaviour, a “smouldering ground fire with no open flame.”
VICTORIA — BC Wildfire Service said an out-of-control wildfire burning on Vancouver Island near Cameron Lake could generate smoke for the “coming weeks, and potentially the coming months.” The warning appears in a video that BCWS posted Sunday as part of a larger update on the Wesley Ridge wildfire. “The public will be seeing smoke at the height of land here on Wesley Ridge for the coming weeks, and potentially, the coming months,” said operations sections chief Beau Michaud while seen standing on a temporary helicopter landing pad fashioned out of logs. But Michaud added that he does not expect the fire to impact Highway 4 connecting communities along the western shore of Vancouver Island with communities on the eastern shore.
