Region Archives: Canada

Business & Politics

Trump says imports of wood products may pose national security threat — raising fears in BC

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
August 25, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

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. 

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North Island First Nations planning to engage in free trade with Indigenous communities in the US

By Kori Sidaway
Chek News
August 20, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Terry Teegee

As a possible workaround to the escalating tariffs and duties from the United States, a group of BC First Nations is exploring a bold plan to engage in free trade with Indigenous communities in the United States. …“We need to find something that’s going to get us through this,” said Dallas Smith, Nanwakolas Council president. …The council is talking seriously with Indigenous Nations to the south about cross-border nation-to-nation free trade, to circumvent escalating American duties on softwood lumber. …No American Nations wanted to speak with CHEK News for fear of retaliation prior to plans being set in motion. …BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee said, “Nations have tried, but those authorities, such as the United States and Canada, came in and imposed their authority,” said Teegee. …The group of six nations is planning to put legislation on both sides of the border to the test, soon.

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Judge approves process to sell off Northern Pulp assets

By Michael Gorman
CBC News
August 22, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has authorized the process that will ultimately lead to the sale of the Nova Scotia timberlands, Crown land leases and a nursery controlled by Northern Pulp. Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick approved a $104-million baseline bid for the assets by Macer Forest Holdings on Thursday. Macer’s bid, known as a stalking horse agreement, positions the Ontario-based company to pick up the …Pictou County pulp mill assets unless other interested parties come forward. If other bidders are identified by Nov. 20, an auction would be held using the stalking horse price as the starting point. …If Macer is not successful at auction, it would receive compensation of up to about $3.1 million. …Proceeds of the asset sale are to go toward Northern Pulp’s debts, including money its parent company, Paper Excellence, has lent it for the creditor protection process, the cost of winding up company pension plans and some of what is owed to the Nova Scotia government for previous loans.

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Labour dispute ongoing at closed Galloway sawmill

By Trevor Crawley
The Kimberly Daily Bulletin
August 22, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

JAFFRAY, BC — The BC Labour Relations Board has dismissed an application from unionized employees with Galloway Lumber Company seeking a court order against the employer in a labour dispute over a negotiated severance agreement due to the permanent closure of the Galloway sawmill, near Jaffray. While the labour board dismissed the application on Aug. 14, vice-chair Carmen Hamilton deferred the matter to the parties’ negotiated dispute resolution process. Meanwhile, both sides are have agreed to bring the matter before an arbitrator who is not available until January 2026. “At its heart, this matter is a contract interpretation dispute,” wrote Hamilton. The United Steelworkers Local L-405 is seeking roughly $1.2 million in severance that was negotiated as part of an adjustment plan that was negotiated following the closure of the mill.

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1 in 5 businesses won’t survive another six months: Canadian Federation of Independent Business report blames tariffs

By Sonia Aslam
CityNews Everywhere
August 21, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Canadian business owners are sharing growing fears that things could go from bad to worse if the U.S.-imposed trade war doesn’t end soon. New data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) shows those business owners are being hit the hardest, particularly in B.C. “Two-thirds of B.C. businesses import or export directly to the United States, and when you look at those who do so indirectly, so they buy from importers or exporters, that number jumps up to 80 per cent of all businesses exposed to trade with the United States. So, that’s a huge number,” Ryan Mitton, director of Legislative Affairs in B.C. at the CFIB said. He adds that the situation appears even more grim for hard-hit industries like steel and lumber.  “…one in five in BC have been impacted by softwood lumber tariffs, and that’s the highest rate of all the provinces in Canada,” he adds.

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Labour rights are at the heart of the USW-LKSM strike on Vancouver Island

By Brian Butler, president of United Steelworkers Local 1-1937
The Times Colonist
August 20, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Brian Butler

Dallas Smith’s Aug. 16 commentary, “Indigenous rights are key to resolving strike,” rightly emphasizes the need for stability in the forest industry. …However, one company that stands apart in rejecting that stability is La-kwa sa muqw Forestry LP (LKSM). This company is refusing to follow the coast pattern collective agreement and the level playing field it provides. …While I agree with Smith that many bargaining proposals are agreed upon, it is incorrect for him to say wages and monetary terms are settled. …Smith’s commentary suggests our constitutional right to collectively bargain is “inconsistent with Indigenous self-determination and constitutionally protected rights.” We strongly disagree. It also claims that introducing a non-union contractor aligns with the 2019 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). Again, we reject the notion that constitutionally protected, and provincially regulated labour rights can be overridden simply because an employer — regardless of Indigenous ownership — wants to contract out union jobs.

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‘It doesn’t get to the root issues’; Critic Stamer unsure if new forest policy official will be able to affect change

By Michael Reeve
CFJC Today Kamloops
August 20, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Ward Stamer

KAMLOOPS, BC — …Rick Doman was appointed as the new chair of the Forest Innovation Investment (FII) board. …While Doman brings more than 40 years of industry experience, B.C. Forest Critic Ward Stamer is unsure if it will lead to tangible changes. “I have all the confidence in someone like Rick Doman to be able to chair that,” highlighted Stamer. “But it doesn’t get to the root issues that we have right now in our forest industry. One of them is certainty of supply. We don’t have enough fibre for our manufacturing facilities and without that fibre, our secondary manufacturing — which is what FII is really set up for — isn’t going to have products to sell in the first place.” …Stamer doesn’t believe Doman can be successful in this new role because he isn’t being given the tools from the province to succeed.

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US trade court dismisses Canadian lumber company J.D. Irving challenge

MLex.com
August 21, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East, United States

The US Court of International Trade threw out a legal challenge from Canadian softwood lumber producers J.D. Irving Ltd. granting a motion-to-dismiss from the Commerce Department. Timothy Reif said in the opinion that J.D. Irving, which had challenged Commerce’s 2022 antidumping administrate review on grounds that the agency erred by assigning a higher cash deposit rate in the order, has its proper venue under a binational panel though the USMCA now reviewing the Commerce order. While the Canadian firm said it was challenging not the Commerce fine order but the instruction for the cash deposit rate. Reif said the challenge entered on the commerce final result and thus should rest before the USMCA panel. [to access the full story, a MLex.com subscription is required]

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Ontario Investing $70 Million to Protect Workers Affected by U.S. Tariffs

By the Office of the Premier
Government of Ontario
August 20, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

HAMILTON — The Ontario government is delivering on its plan to protect Ontario workers by investing $70 million in expanded training and employment services for those affected by U.S. tariffs and policies. This funding includes support for the province’s Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response (POWER) Centres, which builds on and enhances existing ministry-supported action centres. The province is also providing enhancements to Better Jobs Ontario (BJO) to help more job seekers quickly train and upskill for in-demand, good-paying careers. …These investments are part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario workers by investing in training and reskilling to give workers the tools they need to land rewarding, good-paying jobs while strengthening Ontario’s economy to make our province the most competitive jurisdiction in the G7.

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Quebec government tries to ease growing tension over forestry blockades

By Maura Forrest
The Canadian Press
August 19, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

François Legault

MONTREAL – The Quebec government is trying to ease rising tensions between forestry workers and Indigenous protesters who oppose a new bill. Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina and Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière announced Tuesday they were meeting with three Atikamekw communities in Quebec’s Mauricie region, roughly 200 kilometres north of Montreal. The region has been the site of recent tense confrontations between protesters and industry workers over a series of blockades that have disrupted operations for some in the forestry sector. …The Assembly of First Nations Quebec–Labrador is expected to meet with the office of Premier François Legault on Wednesday. The conflict stems from a bill tabled in the Quebec legislature this spring that aimed to protect communities dependent on the forestry industry. …Indigenous leaders were quick to criticize the bill, saying it infringed on their rights. …The blockades have led to hostile exchanges between the group’s members and forestry workers.

Updated coverage: Quebec government renews promise to make changes to forestry reform bill

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Finance & Economics

What are the Prospects for Lumber Prices?

By Andrew Hecht
Barchart
August 21, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

The United States is the top wood-importing country. Trade issues and tariffs could be a significant factor in determining the path of least resistance for lumber, lumber futures, and wood product prices over the coming weeks and months. …The offseason for lumber demand is on the horizon. The potential for increased price variance due to the uncertainty created by U.S.-Canada trade relations remains high, and the path of least resistance of U.S. short-term interest rates is likely to be lower. Time will tell if longer-term rates follow any Fed Rate cuts over the coming months. Lumber remains a critical construction material, and the current price levels offer a positive risk-reward profile. Accumulating lumber-related assets on a scale-down basis during periods of price weakness over the coming weeks and months could be optimal for 2026, provided the housing market improves and lumber demand rises. 

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Lumber prices are tumbling. Here’s what that means for the housing market now.

By Myra Saefong
Dow Jones in Morningstar
August 21, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber buyers placed unsuccessful bets on tariffs and interest rates Lumber prices have dropped by more than 14% from a record high in early August. Many home builders, contractors and retailers wagered that higher U.S. tariffs on imports would boost the cost of lumber, while lower interest rates would lift demand for the building material. But those bets have failed to pay off – and lumber prices have tallied a steep decline from a record high reached only three weeks ago. That price decline could lead to a drop in production at a time when home-building and housing demand starts to heat up. The demand component for spring 2025 was a “complete swing and a miss,” said Greg Kuta, at lumber broker Westline Capital Strategies. …On Tuesday, lumber futures for September delivery settled at $595.50 per thousand board feet. …Canadian mills are losing out with lumber prices well under the cost of production,” Kuta said.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Final mass-timber beam installed for new PNE amphitheatre’s roof

By Kenneth Chan
DH Urbanized
August 20, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

©PNE

VANCOUVER, BC — Construction on the new Freedom Mobile Arch amphitheatre at the PNE in Hastings Park reached a significant milestone, with the installation of the final segment of glulam beam for the landmark mass-timber roof structure. …In addition to the steel arches, there are 60 mass-timber arches arranged in six barrel vaulted segments, reaching a height of up to 82 ft. and spanning 344 ft. between buttress tips. These components form a starburst-shaped roof, the largest freestanding mass-timber structure of its kind in the world. The mass-timber roof design incorporates both glulam, which offers superior strength, and a cross-laminated timber deck made of three-ply Douglas Fir, which provides a structural diaphragm for stability. The project’s design firms are Revery Architecture, Fast + Epp Structural Engineers, and PFS Studio, and the general contractor is EllisDon. The long-planned venue’s very first event will be its use for Vancouver’s official FIFA World Cup Fan Festival.

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Forestry

The US should stop taxing Canadian lumber if it wants cleaner air

By Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, Conference Board of Canada
The Financial Post
August 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

Canada’s forests are burning. …Smoke from these fires has degraded air quality across Canada and the US. The situation has led some US policymakers to publicly blame Canada for failing to manage wildfires and to demand more active forest management. These critiques are hypocritical, given their record of climate change denial. …Yet beyond partisan politics, the US continues to impose tariffs on Canadian lumber, undermining our capacity to invest in stronger forest management. …Eliminating or reducing US tariffs would instantly raise the value of Canada’s standing forest stock, sending a price signal that makes forestry activity viable in regions that are currently too remote or costly to harvest. At the margin, higher returns would unlock investment in better forest management, including areas that are now left untouched because they are uneconomic to service. …Lifting tariffs would be the first step, but it would not be a cure-all. 

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Free to Grow in Forestry Initiative announces new management structure

By Free to Grow in Forestry
LinkedIn
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

After much reflection on what is best to fulfill the mission of the Free to Grow in Forestry initiative, the Canadian Institute of Forestry / Institut forestier du Canada and Centre for Social Intelligence have decided to consolidate the management of it so as to create efficiencies and regular communications for our followers. Free to Grow in Forestry (FTGF) will build off the Canadian efforts to-date, maintaining those relations, while also expanding into the global arena. To that end, you will now see a refreshed Free to Grow in Forestry website. …At FTGF, we recognize that workplace culture issues (such as harassment, bullying, undermining, abuse of power, destruction of workplace relationships) are the primary reason people leave the forest sector – making it difficult to attract and retain top talent. The resources above aim to address these issues and support inclusive workplaces. Stay tuned for the September newsletter! 

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New approaches needed for Canada to prepare for, combat wildfires: experts

By Julia Wong
CBC News
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

…calls are growing for Canada to change how it prepares for, reacts and responds to the natural disasters. Experts say Ottawa needs to rethink how it deals with wildfires… Ken McMullen, the president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, which represents municipal firefighters, has been calling for the creation of a national fire administration. …When asked by CBC News if the federal government will create a new entity or program to improve wildfire response, federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said it is one idea under consideration. …While suppression is critical, Yolanda Clatworthy, the interim director of the Mitigating Wildfire Initiative, argues that it does not address the root cause of the wildfire crisis. …She said mitigation and prevention work can include choosing where homes are built, how communities are protected, how forests are managed, as well as supporting Indigenous fire stewardship and moving away from fossil fuel expansion.

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The Woodland Almanac Summer 2025

Woodlots BC
August 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

In the Summer Almanac you’ll find these headlines and much more:

Come for a Ride on the Forestry Roller Coaster, by Gord Chipman, Executive Director. Market conditions have been challenging, with falling log prices and break-even lumber prices for mills creating a climate of uncertainty. …the Canadian dollar has risen by five cents against the US dollar, and the looming threat of an average 34% in dumping duties at the end of August dampens any optimism in the lumber market. The political landscape remains dynamic. …two significant forestry reviews are underway, with results expected in the fall. In response to these external pressures, our focus remains on controlling what we can, aligning our operational contracts with our strategic plan.

Value-Added Niches Boost Woodlot in Coastal BC, by Tom Younger: Value-added manufacturing is a key strategy in BC aimed at maximizing the economic potential of timber by producing finished or semi-finished products rather than exporting raw logs.

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Vancouver Island wildlife recovery centre officially opens bear pavilion

By Michael Briones
The Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle
August 24, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre has officially opened its new bear pavilion, an educational building that features black bears, with a focus on old-growth forests. A ribbon-cutting ceremony opened the new building, which cost approximately $200,000. The pavilion was envisioned by centre founder founder Robin Campbell in 2021… The pavilion was completed in time for the the 40th anniversary celebration of the Errington wildlife recovery and education centre. Campbell, who founded the centre with wife Sylvia, felt emotional upon seeing his vision become a reality. …Campbell said the pavilion shares two goals, “the vital role of black bears and the irreplaceable value of old-growth trees in our wild rainforests”. “These two are woven together in a remarkable relationship that sustains the forests heartbeat.”

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When heat and drought stress B.C. trees, the consequences can be tragic

By Nono Shen
Canadian Press in Vancouver Sun
August 23, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Peter Constabel, a professor in the biology department at the University of Victoria said that several years of repeated drought in B.C. mixed with heat stress has increased the likelihood of branches breaking off, it could even happen on a “perfectly calm day” without any breeze. The consequences can be tragic. Constabel, who specializes in tree health said, “it’s the drought that specifically causes this, and somehow it stresses the tree and drops the branch, or the branch falls. If you get cumulative droughts, of course, it weakens the tree overall”. …Dry spells can leave trees in a weakened state, Simon Fraser University biological sciences professor Jim Mattsson said, reducing photosynthesis and growth, cutting their energy or sugar reserves, and lowering production of chemical defences. All of these can cause a chain reaction increasing trees’ susceptibility to insects and fungal diseases, causing trees to rot inside, weaken and potentially topple over.

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Kelowna discussion on connection of forestry and flooding in BC

By Barry Gerding
The Vernon Morning Star
August 22, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Sonia Furstenau

The former leader of the BC Green Party will be one of the panellists leading a discussion about the negative impacts of clear-cut logging on the environment. Sonia Furstenau will participate in the upcoming event co-hosted by the Interior Watershed Task Force and Joe Rich Forestry Trails and Watershed Committee. Along with the panel discussion, there will be a screening of the documentary film Trouble In The Headwaters, which examines the 2018 Grand Forks flood and reveals the connection of clear-cut logging in the headwaters of the Kettle River Basin. Filmmaker Daniel Pierce will also be on hand and Dr. Younes Alila, a professor of hydrology at UBC, and two retired loggers. On the panel along with Furstenau and Pierce will be Mike Morris, a former Liberal MLA; Dave Gill, general manager of Ntityix Resources LP, a natural resource company owned by Westbank First Nation.

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Rethinking Forestry: Bold Ideas for a Sustainable Future with Gary Bull

By Matthew Kristoff’s YourForest Podcast
Spotify
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

In this episode of YourForest, Matthew Kristoff discusses the future of forestry with Dr. Gary Bull, a leading expert in forestry economics, policy, and sustainability. Dr. Bull, a Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia, explores the evolving relationship between forest management, biodiversity, and the forest industry. He emphasizes shifting from timber-focused practices to integrating non-timber values like carbon storage, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. With decades of global experience, Dr. Bull advocates for rethinking forestry to create a more sustainable future. Key Points: Rethinking the Annual Allowable Cut; Circular Bioeconomy and Wood Products; Biodiversity and Carbon Credits; Balancing Forest Health and Resource Production; and Indigenous and NGO Collaborations in Forestry

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Keeping climate crisis and forestry mismanagement in focus amid the Mount Underwood wildfire

By S. Clay Steell, chair, Bamfield Huu-ay-aht Community Forest Society
Ha-Shilth-Sa
August 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Clay Steell

Since the Mount Underwood forest fire cut off power and direct road access to the community of Bamfield and Anacla, the town has been abuzz with talk on what it all means. …While we don’t yet know what caused the Mount Underwood fire, we can be certain that climate warming made it vastly more likely to spread out of control. …In addition to climate warming, the legacy of colonial forest mismanagement has also made fires far more likely to spread out of control. Since colonization, a large majority of primary forests have been cut down across this coast and replaced by tree farms, including the area where the Mount Underwood fire has spread. All the while, the forestry industry has shifted from local milling to mechanization and raw log exportation, sending jobs overseas and enriching shareholders while local workers get laid off, with over 50,000 jobs lost province-wide since the late ‘90s. 

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Opinions: North Cowichan Municipal Forest Reserve

Letters by Peter Rusland and Larry Pynn
Cowichan Valley Citizen
August 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Cowichan Valley Citizen has published two letters to the editor referencing the North Cowichan Municipal Forest Reserve

Taxpayers expect community plan to be followed, By Peter Rusland: Active conservation is council’s only moral, smart option outlined in the Harvesting Considerations Summary of our Growth Strategy plan — set for debate Aug. 20, 2025. Any thoughts about resuming logging in our ecologically and culturally rare municipal forest reserve would be egregious at the very least. Profits from destroying our forests with inane harvesting would apparently total chump change compared to potential revenues from carbon-credit programs.

Council must reject the idea of resuming logging, By Larry Pynn: Council must reject the idea of resuming logging in the Municipal Forest Reserve. A lengthy and detail public consultation process showed strong support for conservation. Just over six years ago, North Cowichan council responded to a massive outpouring of public concern by voting to suspend new logging in the Municipal Forest Reserve. …I strongly urge council to do the right thing by its citizens and stand for protection of our imperilled forests.

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B.C. caribou populations predicted to fall by up to 61%

By Stefan Labbé
Business in Vancouver
August 21, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Global warming is predicted to drive one of the greatest declines in caribou populations in the last 21,000 years, with British Columbia’s herds expected to see declines of up to 61 per cent by 2100 if high rates of warming go unchecked, a new study says.  Caribou — also known as reindeer in Europe and Asia — have survived several spells of Arctic warming in the past. Their presence across the planet’s tundra, forests and mountains have long supported Indigenous populations while acting as ecosystem engineers, disturbing the soil and trampling vegetation in a way that promotes new plant growth. …Human disturbance of those landscapes — from logging to road building — has already led to a two-thirds decline in the global population over the past 30 years. New research, published in the journal Science Advances last week, has now found global warming could push caribou populations even closer to extinction. 

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BC’s Coastal Fires Have Entered a New Era

By Tyler Olsen
The Tyee
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Mount Underwood fire near Port Alberni wasn’t your typical Vancouver Island blaze. But what is normal is changing. Thanks to droughts and heat waves, tiny fires that crews were once able to extinguish in a matter of hours are now ballooning into major blazes. Historically, fires have been nearly non-existent in coastal B.C., and the playbook for putting them out has been simple: Find fire. Spray water on it. Dig up hot spots. Case closed. This “direct attack” was possible because of the slow speed at which fires grow in coastal ecosystems. But the Mount Underwood fire, which ignited along the road connecting Port Alberni to Bamfield, spread rapidly, burning as a Rank 5 fire, with flames rising into the crowns of trees and up the mountainside. “In the seven years I’ve worked for the Coastal Fire Centre, I don’t think I’ve seen a fire like this on Vancouver Island,” Julia Caranci told CBC.

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Over 70,000 new trees have been planted in Narrow Hills Provincial Park since fire tore through area

By Aliyah Marko-Omene
CBC News
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Over 70,000 new trees have been planted in Narrow Hills Provincial Park after the destructive Shoe Fire ripped through the area in May. The park, about 130 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert, Sask., is home to Gem Lakes and Lost Echo campgrounds, which remained closed for the season due to the wildfire. “There was a lot of enthusiasm to get the new life going back in the forest,” Pat MacKasey, a provincial park forest ecologist. MacKasey has been the supervisor of a five-person crew who have planted 73,080 Jack pine and white spruce trees since July. Trees have been planted in an area in Pine Lake that had previously been wiped out by a windstorm in the 1990s, he said. MacKasey says regrowth after that storm was slow, but new trees were eventually planted again in 2002 once forest health improved.

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Rising wildfire risk fuels stress in B.C. home insurance industry

By Bill Metcalfe
Comox Valley Record
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The number and severity of wildfire damage claims are increasing partly because fire seasons are longer with more hectares burned, according to IBC spokesperson Adam Sutherland. “As we see the frequency and severity of claims growing, that’s putting pressure on premiums. “We know the risk is only going to grow. Insurance puts a price on risk. That’s why it’s paramount that we do much, much more as a society to reduce that, to better fireproof our communities and better protect our homes.” He said in addition to government action to reduce fire danger in the forests, residents need more incentives to protect their properties. “But then we also need to rethink our building codes and how we are developing our communities in the first place. That means moving away from wood shingles, wood roofs. No more vinyl siding. We need non-combustible materials on homes and interface fire zones for all new development.”

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Forestry workers are on the frontlines of the wildfires

By Geoff Russ
Resource Works
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Forestry has long been a key pillar of British Columbia’s resource economy and is central to many regional economies, but for those who work in the forests, the industry is increasingly defined not by trees but by fire. Every year wildfires force loggers, silviculture crews, and sawmill suppliers to adapt to a landscape where risk is constant, work is precarious, and survival often depends on quick action. Few industries are more exposed to wildfire, and few workers bear the burden more. …The problem is twofold. Forestry workers are directly threatened by flames, smoke, and unstable terrain, but they are also squeezed by the economic impact of fires. The loss of timber means fewer shifts in the bush or at the mill. Salvaging burned wood is a partial solution, but even that requires speed and regulatory flexibility. …For forestry workers, wildfires are no longer seasonal events; they’re part of the job.

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Company won’t spray controversial herbicide in northern Ontario

By Darren MacDonald
CTV News
August 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Interfor says it won’t proceed with its plan to spray forests in northern Ontario with a herbicide critics say is harmful. While the province said it was safe, First Nations and some municipalities were opposed to the plan to spray glyphosate over Crown land near Elliot Lake, Blind River, Espanola and other forest management areas in the north. Andrew Horahan, executive vice-president of Interfor’s Canadian operations, confirmed it won’t be conducting the aerial spray of the herbicide, at least for now. “Interfor is committed to responsible forest management and to maintaining open, constructive dialogue with our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate,” Horahan said in a statement. “The use of herbicide sprays is a carefully regulated and widely accepted industry practice, overseen by relevant authorities. For 2025, Interfor has chosen not to proceed with an herbicide application in the Pineland, Spanish and Northshore forests.”

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Predicting the future of black spruce growth

University of Waterloo
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Trees are valuable components of the Canadian ecosystem and natural instruments of carbon storage and sequestration. A tree’s growth is controlled by regional climate, including growing season length and air temperature. It is also impacted by local hydroclimate; water and temperature variations that occur on a smaller scale. Black spruce trees are common within the boreal landscape of North America, including within fen wetlands. There is limited research on black spruce growth in fens, and how the unique hydroclimate of fens may impact tree growth in a changing climate. Tree core and ring samples were collected from both sites and placed within a microscope slide scanner. This allowed key tree growth characteristics to be identified on a cellular level. Correlation analysis was conducted between these growth characteristics and long-term climate data to determine the relationship between the two variables.

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Record-breaking wildfire season in 2023 cost Quebec more than $8B, new study finds

By Annabelle Olivier and Sharon Yonan-Renold
CBC News
August 20, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

The historic wildfires that ripped through Quebec in 2023, destroying millions of hectares of forest and impacting thousands of people, is estimated to have cost over $8 billion. That’s according to a new provincially funded study published Wednesday by Nada Conseils — a climate action consultancy firm — highlighting the impacts and collective costs of the fires on citizens, governments, businesses and ecosystems. According to SOPFEU, the agency responsible for wildfire prevention and suppression in Quebec, the 2023 wildfire season was the worst in over 100 years with 713 fires — 99.9 per cent of which were caused by lightening — burning 4.3 million hectares of forest. …For governments, much of the costs incurred stemmed from firefighting operations, emergency services including evacuations and housing evacuees, and financial assistance programs. …The report notes that some of the most significant costs for citizens were linked to property damage, as well as financial impacts related to lost income and increased expenses.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Canadian Wood Pellets at the Forefront of Asia’s Energy Transition

By Gordon Murray
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
August 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) participated in the May 2025 BioInnovAsia Conference in Tokyo. The event underscored the shifting landscape—one where biomass is gaining recognition not only as a renewable energy source, but as a vital tool in decarbonizing some of the world’s toughest sectors. The conference featured two parallel tracks—Biofuels & Biocarbon Asia and Biomass Pellet Trade Asia—and drew strong participation from Japan, South Korea, and across the region. Attendees included power producers, industrial buyers, project developers, and policymakers—interested in how sustainable biomass can help meet energy security and climate goals. For WPAC and the broader Canadian pellet sector, the event was a great opportunity to reinforce Canada’s reputation as a trusted supplier of low-emission, high-quality pellets from responsibly managed, third-party certified sources.  It also offered critical insights into where the market is headed, and how we must evolve to stay ahead.

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Health & Safety

Bamfield Road remains closed due to unsafe conditions

By Ministry of Transportation and Transit
Government of British Columbia
August 23, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

The Province of B.C. is lending its expertise to Mosaic Forest Management as it develops plans to reopen the Bamfield Main Road, sections of which were rendered unsafe due to the Mt. Underwood wildfire. “We recognize the importance of Bamfield Road to the Huu‑ay‑aht First Nation and area residents,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Transit. “There is substantial work necessary … to reopen Bamfield Road. Ensuring the safety of the travelling public is the top priority, and the Province will continue to support to Mosaic throughout this process.” Initial engineering assessments have determined a section of the Bamfield Road managed by Mosaic is unsafe for all traffic, prompting Mosaic to close the route with a section of the road being defined as a No Work Zone by BC Wildfire Services. Falling rocks, dangerous trees and a fire-damaged slope are presenting exceptionally challenging conditions, and there is no timeline for reopening the road in its current configuration.

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New safety video, updated resources & key OHS changes

WorkSafeBC
August 21, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

Don’t miss the August WorkSafeBC Health and Safety News:

  • Revisions to OHS Regulation requirements for combustible dust: Combustible dust is a common hazard in a wide variety of industries such as bakeries and other food processing, metal foundries, wood products manufacturing, and agriculture. Proposed OHS Regulation amendments will guide employers in what you need to do to keep workers safe from combustible dust hazards. To provide feedback on the proposed changes, register to speak at the public hearing on September 24, or submit a written submission before September 26.
  • New video: Safe work practices for flytables
  • Prime contractor role and responsibilities (information sheet)
  • Safety on the job is everyone’s responsibility (poster)
  • Hear for Good: A Worker’s Guide to Preventing Hearing Loss (pamphlet)
  • Staying connected supports a safe return to work

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2025 New or Revised American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values and B.C. Exposure Limits

WorkSafeBC
August 21, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation provides that, except as otherwise determined by WorkSafeBC, an employer must ensure no worker is exposed to a substance exceeding the Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) prescribed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). …When WorkSafeBC adopts the new or revised ACGIH TLVs as regulatory exposure limits for chemical substances, these exposure limits are referred to as B.C. Exposure Limits (ELs). An EL is the maximum allowed airborne concentration for a chemical substance for which it is believed that nearly all workers may be exposed over a working lifetime and experience no adverse health effects. …The following substances with new or revised TLVs for 2025 have been added to the Table of Exposure Limits for Excluded Substances in Prevention Manual Item OHS Policy R5.48-1: Copper naphthenate, Inhalable Fraction & Vapour; Nicotine; and Nicotine, Inhalable Fraction & Vapour.

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Fears for B.C. First Nation’s water supply as fire evacuation orders and alerts end

By Chuck Chiang and Nono Shen
Canadian Press in the Victoria Times Colonist
August 21, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

©BCWildfireService

Evacuation orders and alerts due to a wildfire on Vancouver Island have been lifted and downgraded, but First Nations say they are still feeling the impact, warning that a propane-powered water-supply system could fail unless gas deliveries are restored. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council said the road linking the Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht First Nations to Port Alberni had been cut by the Mount Underwood fire, and propane deliverers would not send trucks down an alternative forestry road. “The only other route out of their communities to Youbou is very rough and dangerous. Flat tires are a common occurrence,” the council said. …Judith Sayers, president of the tribal council, appealed for the Youbou road’s repair, calling propane delivery a “critical measure.” …The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, representing 14 First Nations on Vancouver Island, said four nations had been directly impacted by the fire, which is burning about 12 kilometres from Port Alberni and within their territories. 

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Forest Fires

Wildfire prompts evacuation alerts north of Hope, B.C., air quality warning in Fraser Valley

By Lauren Vanderdeen
CBC News
August 24, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

©BCWildfireService

A new wildfire between Hope and Spuzzum, B.C., along Highway 1, has led the Fraser Valley Regional District and Spuzzum First Nation to issue evacuation alerts. An evacuation alert requires residents to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. The regional district’s alert currently affects about 240 people over 85 properties on the east and west side of the Fraser River between Spuzzum and Yale, according to Samantha Piper, Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) communications manager. …The blaze, dubbed the Sailor Bar wildfire, was discovered late Saturday night on the east side of the Fraser River, opposite Highway 1, seven kilometres north of Yale. The fire, which measured 120 hectares in size as of Sunday evening, is classified as out of control, meaning it is expected to spread beyond its current perimeter. …the fire is burning at Rank 2, which is an open visible flame front and a slower rate of spread.

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Evacuation order expanded as strong winds fan Long Lake wildfire

CBC News
August 24, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

ANNAPOLIS COUNTY, Nova Scotia — An evacuation order was expanded Sunday afternoon and again in the evening as the Long Lake wildfire in Annapolis County continues to grow due to strong winds and high temperatures. An emergency alert Sunday evening said evacuations were being extended to include Highway 10 around Trout, Zwicker and East lakes, Old Liverpool Road, Che-Boag-A-Nish Road and West Dalhousie Road in Albany Cross. Another post by the Department of Natural Resources said the fire remains out of control and growing. It said the fire has crossed West Dalhousie Road at several points, crossed Thorne Road and moved as far as Paradise Lake. …Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection with Natural Resources, told reporters Sunday afternoon that weather conditions are working against the efforts of firefighters trying to bring the blaze in the West Dalhousie area under control.

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How long will it take to control the Nova Scotia wildfire? Hurricane Erin makes it hard to predict

By Anjuli Patil
CBC News
August 21, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East

©NovaScotiaGovernment

Natural resources officials say high winds expected from Hurricane Erin make it difficult to determine how much longer it could take before the out-of-control Long Lake wildfire in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, is considered held. For the third straight day, the wildfire near the community of West Dalhousie was estimated Thursday to be 3,210 hectares or roughly 32 square kilometres. “Obviously with this weather system coming through, we don’t know [what will happen so the fire is] still classed as out of control. We don’t know where the fire is going to go. That’s why it’s not classified as being held yet,” Jim Rudderham, the department’s director of fleet and forest protection, told reporters during an update on Thursday afternoon. Hurricane Erin, which was a Category 2 storm on Thursday, is not expected to make landfall in Nova Scotia — but the province will likely feel its strong winds.

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Firefighting crews tiring as wildfires still burn out of control in New Brunswick

By Katelin Belliveau and Hannah Rudderham
CBC News
August 20, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada East

There were 20 active fires and five out of control on Wednesday in New Brunswick, according to an update from the province. The province’s fire watch dashboard, however, fluctuates often, depending on the status of the fires at the time. The Beaver Lake Stream fire in Northumberland County is 238 hectares, according to the dashboard, and the Chief’s fire is listed at 218 hectares. The Chief’s fire, in northern New Brunswick, is also listed as a fire of note. A fire of note, according to the government, is one “requiring significant resources or threatening homes or critical infrastructure.” The Oldfield Road fire, which straddles the northern edge of Miramichi, is still listed as a fire of note, despite being contained at 1,403 hectares. …Firefighters and co-ordinators who have been working for weeks have been met with gruelling conditions, and the man leading the strategy on the ground says first responders are tired.

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