Region Archives: Canada

Special Feature

Navigating the Shifting Landscape of US Tariffs: Robert Mckellar

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
The Tree Frog Forestry News
June 3, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, United States

Robert McKellar

At International Pulp Week, political risk expert Robert McKellar delivered a timely and unconventional keynote that used a real-world policy shift to test a scenario-based approach to geopolitical uncertainty. Titled “Managing Geopolitical Uncertainty and Its Challenges,” the presentation featured a hypothetical pulp company navigating a shifting landscape of US tariffs, culminating in an unexpected twist: a policy reversal on tariffs the day after the analysis was completed. McKellar, Director of Harmattan Risk, emphasized from the outset that his session was not about delivering forecasts or policy advice, but about helping companies become more comfortable working with uncertainty. The tool he introduced—a scenario-based assessment—was less about pinpoint accuracy and more about creating a “living intelligence picture” to guide decisions in real time.

The unique twist, however, was that McKellar’s own process of preparing for the keynote presentation mimicked the very conditions of uncertainty he was seeking to illustrate. As he developed the ‘fictional company’ Thor Wood Pulp AB’s case study throughout late March and early April, the global trade landscape kept shifting. His assessment was finalized on April 8. On April 9, the Trump administration abruptly announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs. This reversal not only disrupted his planned narrative, but underscored his entire thesis: in volatile times, any analytical framework must remain adaptive, fluid, and responsive. …In a world of rapid political change, pulp producers and global businesses don’t need perfect foresight. What they need is a way to stay balanced, make timely decisions, and keep moving forward—even when the path ahead is constantly shifting.

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Looking Back, Moving Forward: 20 Years of Industry Insights at IPW 2025

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
Tree Frog Forestry News
June 2, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, United States, International

International Pulp Week 2025 opened in Vancouver with a note of celebration and reflection as delegates marked the event’s 20th anniversary. “After decades of being in Montreal in January… we decided to move the event to Vancouver and into the spring and summer months,” said Tim Brown, Vice-President at Numera Analytics. Over the years, Brown noted, the event has drawn participants from more than 50 countries and consistently focused on the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. “It’s an industry that has innovated, adapted, and is one that itself is smarter and more sustainable.” Following Brown’s welcome, he introduced Kevin Mason, Managing Director of ERA Forest Products Research, who returned to the IPW stage to reflect on two decades of transformation in the global pulp sector—and to look ahead.

…Mason highlighting four key developments that have defined the past two decades: “A dramatic rise in demand for market pulp from China… Chinese demand met by massive growth in hardwood capacity in Latin America… hardwood steadily gained share versus softwood… and tissue expanded while printing and writing papers contracted.” Looking ahead, Mason projected the estimated end-use composition of pulp demand in 2040: tissue at 54%, specialty papers at 24%, packaging at 12%, fluff-based products at 7%, and graphic paper at 3%. He also shared a slide titled “Potential Developments Over the Next 20 Years,” listing several scenarios: continued expansion of domestic pulp capacity in China; hardwood gaining further share over softwood (though possibly nearing saturation); and the potential for dramatic growth in specialty papers and packaging—if government policy supports a shift away from plastics.

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Business & Politics

US Lumber Coalition Comments on National Association of Home Builders FoxBusiness Statement

The US Lumber Coalition
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

The NAHB has a long-established policy priority of working with Canada to promote unfettered access to the US market for unfairly traded Canadian lumber. …In a recent FoxBusiness report highlighting falling lumber prices… CEO of the NAHB, again indicated a desire to ensure continued access to Canadian lumber imports by stating that “we need to make sure that we have a reliable, affordable source of lumber.” “It is no secret that Canada engages in harmful unfair trade practices,” stated Andrew Miller of Stimson Lumber Company, adding “yet NAHB continues to advocate for the importation of injurious unfairly traded Canadian lumber while paying lip service to the idea of fair and balanced trade. …”It is ironic that NAHB and Canada are pushing the theme that US consumers pay for the duties, yet they are spending upwards of $50 million dollars a year fighting against the imposition of antidumping and anti-subsidy duties,” said Zoltan van Heyningen.

Related coverage in Mortgage Professional America: Experts split over lumber market’s role in housing slump

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West Fraser Credit Facility and Term Loan Renewals Increase Liquidity

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
June 2, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber announced it has entered into a syndicated credit agreement providing for the renewal of its $1 billion credit facility and extension of the facility’s maturity from July 2028 to May 2030. The renewed credit facility is undrawn and is made available on substantially the same terms and conditions as the Company’s existing credit facility. Additionally, the Company has increased and extended its existing $200 million term loan maturing July 2025. The new term loan is for $300 million and matures May 2028.  “We exited the first quarter of 2025 with more than $1.4 billion of available liquidity, and with this renewed credit facility and expanded term loan we have further strengthened West Fraser’s near-term liquidity and financial flexibility,” said Sean McLaren, President and CEO, West Fraser.

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First Ministers’ statement on building a strong Canadian economy and advancing major projects

Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
June 2, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

“Today, Canada’s First Ministers met in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to build a stronger, more competitive, and more resilient Canadian economy… “This is a first step in implementing a broader set of reforms to overhaul the project assessment process. A significantly improved, streamlined project assessment process is necessary for Canada to grow its economy to become the strongest in the G7 and a global energy superpower. “First Ministers are committed to immediately begin to address project approval and permitting efficiency and timelines for all projects. Premiers welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are rendered within two years, beginning with projects of national interest. First Ministers also agreed to work toward efficiently and effectively implementing ‘one project, one review’ with the goal of a single assessment for all projects, in a manner that respects federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction, enhancing co-ordination activities on permitting and eliminating duplication.

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Yu wants Prince George to factor into provincial, federal economic plans

By Colin Slark
The Prince George Citizen
June 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Simon Yu

With BC Premier David Eby currently on a trade mission to Asia and Prime Minister Mark Carney looking to establish an east-west energy corridor, Prince George Mayor Simon Yu has hopes that his city will be part of the provincial and federal government’s plans to diversify the Canadian economy. Yu said it was great to see the premier head to Asia to visit some of the province’s biggest customers. …“We are looking forward to the premier perhaps re-establishing a BC trade mission in Asia in a much broader, prominent way,” he said. The mayor said he was also hoping that the premier promotes BC’s timber industry while in Asia. While the US will always be one of our biggest customers despite the ongoing trade disputes with the Trump Administration, Yu said having secondary customers in Asia would help stabilize the supply chain.

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As Liberals push prefab, B.C. researcher touts new construction methods

By Jami Makan
Business in Vancouver
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government plans billions in financing for builders of prefabricated homes, one expert says it’s a “significant amount of money” and “a very healthy kick-start” for the industry. The federal government’s Build Canada Homes (BCH) plan promises, among other things, more than $25 billion in financing to “innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada,” according to the Liberals’ website. Ramping up prefabrication could result in cheaper, faster and better-quality homes, said Tony Yang, professor of structural and earthquake engineering at University of British Columbia. “We are building too slowly right now,” he said. “We are lacking skilled workers on site.” The goal of prefab is to shift manufacturing from construction sites, which he called relatively inefficient, onto production lines that operate more quickly through repetition. 

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B.C. port foremen’s union and employers ratify 4-year deal

By Chuck Chiang
The Canadian Press in CBC News
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Maritime employers in British Columbia and the union representing port foremen say they have ratified a new four-year collective agreement, after a dispute that saw workers locked out of container terminals last year. The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship and Dock Foremen Local 514 said in a joint statement that the new collective agreement extends from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2027. …It is the second major labour deal for Canada’s West Coast ports that will be in place until March 2027, after an earlier agreement with thousands of port workers that was signed in August 2023 following a strike. The details of the new deal with supervisors have not been released, and neither the employers association nor the union representing roughly 700 supervisors immediately responded to requests for comment. They had been without a deal since the last accord expired in March 2023.

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Province, First Nations take next step to grow economy through partnerships, planning, conservation in northwestern B.C.

By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of British Columbia
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

In partnership with the Province, the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations are kicking off land-use planning in the northwestern corner of B.C., engaging with industry, community and other partners to implement world-leading land-use plans that will provide greater certainty for investors, First Nations and communities alike. Last week, Premier David Eby outlined government’s vision for building prosperity centred on the pillars of economic growth, reconciliation and conservation in northwestern B.C. The vision includes partnering with First Nations to achieve large-scale conservation and strengthen reconciliation envisioned by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). …To that end, over the next year, the Province, Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations will undertake expedited, inclusive land-use planning and essential stakeholder and public engagement. 

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KPMG buys assets of insolvent Victoria tech firm Llamazoo for $1.45M

By Michael John Lo
Sunshine Coast Reporter
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

KPMG in Canada has acquired the assets and remaining workers of a Victoria tech firm that went bankrupt and laid off most of its staff last year following a downturn in the tech market. B.C. Supreme Court approved the accounting firm’s $1.45-million purchase of LlamaZOO on May 20. Founded by Charles Lavigne and Kevin Oke in 2014, LlamaZOO provided real-time 3D visualizations for the forestry, mining, and oil and gas industry to map out their projects, cutting down on the amount of travel needed to maintain remote work sites. One of their flagship products, Timberops, was used to plan forest cut blocks and road-survey operations through topographic visualizations. The software, based on a century’s worth of logging operation data, allows users to see what a mountain might look like if the trees on its slopes were logged or kept growing.

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Lumber producer Remabec cuts 1,000 jobs in Quebec, citing tariffs

By Mathieu Dion
Bloomberg News in the Financial Post
June 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

One of Canada’s lumber producers, Groupe Rémabec, will temporarily lay off most of its workers as the industry faces rising US duties and weakening demand. The manufacturing division, Arbec Forest Products, is shutting down indefinitely, leading to more than 1,000 immediate job cuts. The number may reach 1,400 in the coming weeks, according to a company statement that blamed “persistent imbalances in both access to the resource and international markets.” Groupe Rémabec employs about 2,000 people and is headquartered in La Tuque, Quebec, about 300 kilometers north of Montreal. President Trump’s administration is poised to more than double the duties on Canadian softwood lumber.  …Rémabec said, with Arbec’s deposits representing an “astronomical amount.” …Rémabec also said a “feeling of exasperation is widespread” in the Quebec forestry industry over regulations that have created “an increasingly unstable ecosystem, without predictability or coherence.” The Quebec government has been trying to modernize its forestry legislation.

Related coverage in the Globe & Mail: Groupe Rémabec scales back operation

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‘We reject your bill:’ First Nations heads urge Quebec to scrap forestry reform bill

By Morgan Lowrie
Canadian Press
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

QUÉBEC – Representatives of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador urged a provincial legislature committee on Tuesday to abandon a forestry reform bill that would reserve large swaths of the province’s forests for logging.  AFNQL Chief Francis Verreault-Paul and three other leaders called on the government to work with them to develop a new bill from scratch because they say Bill 97 does not respect First Nations’ ancestral rights. The proposed legislation would divide the province’s public forest land into three zones: conservation zones, multi-purpose zones and forest development zones where the forestry industry is prioritized. …The bill tabled this spring by Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina specifies that activities that “restrict the carrying out of forest development activities” would be prohibited in the development zones, as would the implementation of conservation measures.

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Finance & Economics

Straight talk on tariffs: Brass tacks guidance amid ongoing uncertainty

By Neil Agarwal, Frisco Woodline CEO
The HBS Dealer
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Uncertainty regarding tariffs continues to challenge companies across industries. It’s a common theme in every conversation I’ve had with fellow business owners lately: How do we plan, price or grow when the rules are constantly shifting? In our case, the lumber industry got a temporary break—framing lumber from Canada, which makes up over 30% of the US market, was exempt from the original tariffs. That’s good news for now, especially for residential construction. But there’s still no clarity on imports from other key countries like Brazil and China, where tariffs remain in full effect. That could have a serious impact on specialty products like Ipe and hardwood veneers. Other building materials—fasteners, finishes, flooring, and more—are also caught in the middle. …That cost will be passed on to the end user. Businesses like ours don’t have the luxury of absorbing increased costs indefinitely. If we did, we’d be out of business.

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LBM Dealers comment on how lumber and other materials sold will be impacted by tariffs

The LBM Journal
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

There has been a lot of news recently on higher tariffs between the U.S. and its trading partners, including Canada and Mexico. One concern that is top of mind for many LBM dealers is how these new tariffs will affect lumber and other materials sold at yards and stores across the country. How concerned should I be and what action, if any, can I take to protect my business? Responses from lumberyards, full-line building material dealers, and specialty dealers/distributors:

  • Stock up heavy now and ride the wave. Things will straighten up.
  • Keep a sharp eye on inventory levels and don’t make any rash moves. Steady as she goes!
  • When the tariff goes on, adjust your prices that same day.
  • Don’t quote too far in the future. Quote only subject to tariffs.
  • Communicate with customers and suppliers regularly. Keep things transparent when possible.

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Bank of Canada holds policy rate at 2.75%

The Bank of Canada
June 4, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 2.75%, with the Bank Rate at 3% and the deposit rate at 2.70%. Since the April Monetary Policy Report, the US administration has continued to increase and decrease various tariffs. China and the US have stepped back from extremely high tariffs and bilateral trade negotiations have begun with a number of countries. However, the outcomes of these negotiations are highly uncertain, tariff rates are well above their levels at the beginning of 2025, and new trade actions are still being threatened. Uncertainty remains high. While the global economy has shown resilience in recent months, this partly reflects a temporary surge in activity to get ahead of tariffs. …In Canada, economic growth in the first quarter came in at 2.2%. …CPI inflation eased to 1.7% in April. …Excluding taxes, inflation rose 2.3% in April.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Built Green Canada Declares June 4 National Green Building Day

Built Green Canada
June 4, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

EDMONTON, AB – In conjunction with National Environment Week, Built Green Canada encourages the building sector and municipalities to recognize the first Wednesday of June (June 4) National Green Building Day. The intention is to raise awareness and support for sustainable building practices—recognizing industry leaders already doing so and encouraging others who aren’t as far along in their journey. Built Green Canada celebrates those building more sustainably and encourages others in the industry, including trades, consultants, contractors and the media that profile them, as well as municipalities, to recognize those building beyond code. For sustainable builders, and their supporters, this is an opportunity to spotlight your efforts and how these benefit homebuyers and the environment, while also setting a standard that helps progress industry. Your leadership deserves recognition. For municipalities committed to encouraging more sustainable communities, this is an occasion to recognize local leaders and strengthen your relationship with them. 

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Vancouver Island mass timber home shows potential of green building tech

By Marc Kitteringham
Oak Bay News
June 3, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Tom Grimmer

Just over a month ago, the spot where Tom Grimmer is standing was little more than an empty lot. Construction crews had cleared the land, built the foundation and laid the groundwork for what was to come, but for the most part, it was empty; he explained this as he went up the stairs onto the second floor. …The house, since there is indeed most of a house there now, was dropped off in six containers in late April and has been subsequently assembled into what it is now. “The first panels landed a month ago,” he said. “It’ll be done pretty soon.” …This, according to Grimmer, is the only mass timber passive house on Vancouver Island. Grimmer isn’t new to passive homes. …While there are mass timber facilities in Canada and B.C., they are more geared towards institutional and commercial buildings.

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Forestry

Demand for water bombers has ‘skyrocketed’ as Canada grapples with more intense wildfires

By Darren Major
CBC News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

As Canada is again dealing with massive wildfires, the increasing severity of the natural disasters is having the knock-on effect of spiking the demand for water bomber planes — and it will be years before Canada gets its hands on a new one. Premiers gathered in Saskatchewan this week, one of the provinces currently gripped by wildfires. They were primarily meeting to discuss major infrastructure projects, but a number of premiers talked to reporters about dealing with the wildfire situation. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, whose province has also seen thousands flee wildfires in recent weeks, mentioned that his government is waiting for an order of water bombers — but he doesn’t expect them to be delivered any time soon. …John Gradek, an aviation management lecturer at McGill University, agreed [with Premier Ford] that it’s well past time for Canada to have a nationalized water bomber fleet.

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Trees may be able to help us predict volcanic eruptions

By Cheryl Santa Maria
The Weather Network
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

Eruptions can’t be prevented, so scientists have focused on improving early detection technologies. New work being done by NASA and the Smithsonian Institution builds upon the existing knowledge that changes in tree leaves can signify a volcanic eruption. Magma releases carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and other gases as it ascends. Nearby trees absorb the carbon dioxide and become greener and more lush in response. According to the new research, these changes are detectable from space. The greener foliage can be read by NASA satellites like Landsat 8, as well as airborne instruments from the Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO). There are roughly 1350 active volcanoes in the world, many of them in remote or hard-to-navigate terrain. Volcanic carbon dioxide is difficult to detect remotely. Scientists often have to travel to volcanoes to take direct measurements, which is a difficult and sometimes hazardous assignment.

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Data capturing hot spots and burned acres show Canada wildfire season off to wild start

By M. K. Wildeman
Victoria Times Colonist
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

While images of wildfires capture their ferocity, data can provide insight into how bad a fire season is. Such is the case with two graphics, powered by satellite data, that showcase a Canadian wildfire season off to a wild — and scary — start. Twice a day a NASA satellite sends images to the ground, giving a real-time view of where fires are burning. This is especially useful for remote areas where no sensors are stationed. As of Tuesday that satellite had picked up four times as many fire hot spots across Canada than is typical for early June. Based on data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, about 200 fires are actively burning in Canada and have consumed about 7,700 square miles (19,900 square kilometers) of terrain, most of it in the last week.

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2025 Ontario Envirothon champions crowned

Forests Canada
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Barrie, Ontario – This spring, 460 students representing 92 five-member teams from across Ontario took part in regional Envirothon workshops and competitions, a team from University of Toronto Schools was crowned as 2025 Ontario Envirothon Champions on May 28. The provincial Envirothon was held at the University of Waterloo from May 25 to 28 and featured 85 students from 17 teams competing to represent Ontario at the National Conservation Foundation (NCF)-Envirothon in Calgary, Alberta this July. “Envirothon is exciting for Forests Canada, and for the students who are gaining a deeper appreciation for nature and honing their STEM skills,” Jess Kaknevicius, CEO, Forests Canada, says. “I impressed by the knowledge and exuberance of this year’s students but also the selflessness and dedication of all the volunteers, teachers and sponsors who make Ontario Envirothon possible.” Ontario Envirothon is an environmentally-themed academic competition that immerses students in hands-on learning and discovery while building STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills.

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News & Views from the Forest Stewardship Council Canada

Forest Stewardship Council Canada
June 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

This month’s news includes:

  • The Forest Stewardship Council Canada is proud to announce that FSC-certified products are now officially featured in Amazon Canada’s Climate Pledge Friendly program.
  • In May 2025, members of the Forest Stewardship Council Canada Board of Directors visited South Nation Conservation (SNC) in Eastern Ontario to recognize SNC’s leadership in sustainable forest management, Indigenous collaboration, and climate resilience.
  • FSC Canada is pleased to welcome Karen Kaizer as the new Director of Marketing and Stacey Thompson-Marcial as Operations Manager.
  • Honoring Indigenous Leadership and Stewardship at Earth Week: Reflections from Menominee Territory
  • FSC Canada is inviting forest managers, Indigenous communities, smallholders, and certificate holders to participate in its new Forests as Climate Solutions pilot projects, launching July 1, 2025.
  • Registration is open for FSC FOREST WEEK 2025 – Be part of this global campaign to help raise awareness about the importance of responsible forestry.

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West Fraser donates 1,200 trees to 108 Mile Ranch Greenbelt Commission

By Patrick Davies
Coast Mountain News
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Following fire mitigation efforts in and around the 108 Mile Ranch, a new generation of trees have been planted to restore the land. West Fraser 100 Mile donated 1,200 trees that were planted by treeplanters from Zanzibar Holdings Ltd. on behalf of the 108 Mile Ranch Greenbelt Commission. Greenbelt commissioner Chris Betuzzi said it’s all part of the commission’s work to secure the 108 Mile Ranch against future fire seasons and avoid a repeat of the 2017 Gustafsen fire, which burned parts of Walker Valley. As a registered forest technologist, he said helping manage the forest is a responsibility close to his heart. In May of 2024, Betuzzi said they carried out fire mitigation efforts in three areas along the Greenbelt, including Donsleequa Road, Qua Place and Gloinnzum Drive to reduce forest fuel in the event of a wildfire. Betuzzi said they had Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd come up to process the slash piles and fibre.

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Forest Practices Board to audit Interfor’s forestry operations near Castlegar

BC Forest Practices Board
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forestry planning and practices of Interfor Corporation on Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 3, starting Monday, June 9, 2025. TFL 3 is located within the Selkirk Natural Resource District, about 40 kilometres north of Castlegar, near Slocan. The licence area covers approximately 78,000 hectares of public land, with an annual allowable cut of approximately 80,000 cubic metres, and is managed by Interfor’s Castlegar division. …The audit will examine whether forestry activities carried out between June 1, 2023, and June 13, 2025, comply with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act. Activities subject to audit include timber harvesting, road and bridge construction and maintenance, silviculture, wildfire protection and related operational planning. …Once the audit is complete, a report will be prepared. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations will be released to the public and provincial government.

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Edmonton braces for pest that has decimated ash tree populations to east, west

By Jackie Carmichael
Edmonton Journal
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Traps are expected to go up around Edmonton this week to capture the emerald ash borer. The shining and dangerous pest is poised to wreak havoc on Edmonton’s $400-million population of ash trees, and the city has two staffers working full time to detect any advance here as the invasive bug closes in from the west or east into Alberta. “We have the largest percentage of our urban forest canopy in green ash of almost any city in North America,” said Michael Jenkins, senior scientist with the City of Edmonton. Ranging from 8.5 mm to 14 mm long and 3.1 mm to 3.4 mm wide, the beetle is difficult to spot. “A single piece of firewood can destroy millions of trees,” warns a poster depicting a stack of ash firewood as dynamite sticks with an emerald ash borer at the tip of the fuse.

Related content:

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Launching Your Community Fireguard Project

Silvacom Ltd.
June 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Is your community prepared for the rising risk of wildfires? Join wildfire mitigation experts from Silvacom for an insightful webinar on launching effective Community Fireguard projects. This session is designed to equip you with the knowledge to protect people, infrastructure, and vital ecosystems. Learn how Fireguards serve as a critical front-line defense and understand the comprehensive process from initial concept to successful construction. Municipal Leaders, First Nations Representatives, Planners and Land Managers, and people involved in community wildfire preparedness and mitigation in Alberta are encouraged to attend. Highlights: 

  • Understanding fireguards and their effectiveness in reducing wildfire spread. 
  • Comprehensive guidance on planning, permitting, and constructing a fireguard. 
  • Strategies for addressing regulatory processes and fostering community engagement. 
  • Real-world case studies from municipalities and First Nations across Alberta. 
  • How Silvacom can assist your organization at every stage – from planning to implementation. 
  • Engage directly with environmental professionals and get your questions answered. 

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Why Quebec’s forestry reform is facing backlash from Indigenous groups, conservationists

By Cassandra Yanez-Leyton
CBC News
June 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Quebec’s sweeping reform of how forests are managed is causing concerns among Indigenous leaders, conservation groups and unions, who warn the changes prioritize logging over long-term health of the ecosystem. Bill 97, tabled this spring by Minister of Natural Resources and Forests Maïté Blanchette Vézina, proposes to divide the forest into three zones: one that prioritizes conservation, one focused on timber production and a third zone for multiple uses. At least 30 per cent of Quebec’s forests will fall into that second category, Blanchette Vézina said. Speaking at the legislative hearing on Bill 97, Lac-Simon Anishnabe Nation Chief Lucien Wabanonik says he wants to see it scrapped and rewritten from scratch in collaboration with First Nations people. “They call it triade in French, meaning 30 per cent of the territory will be specifically used by the industry in exclusion of other users,” he said. “It’s very negative on our rights as First Nations.”

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Pellets: A ‘Backyard Solution’ for Energy Needs

By Jonathan Levesque, Biomass Solution Biomasse
Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 5, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Jonathan Levesque

Transforming wood waste into versatile wood pellets makes sense for Canada’s forest industry, the local and national economy and a world that needs clean, dependable energy. It’s been a busy time delivering news about biomass energy. In May, I represented the Wood Pellet Association of Canada at the Energizing Efficiency conference held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, delivered the webinar Driving Decarbonization and Cost Savings with Bio-heat during Bioheat Week and was a featured guest on the Reimagined Energy podcast. Pellets are a reliable and inexpensive source of energy for Canadians that can help with our heating needs. Rising energy costs mean wood pellet heat is competitive with heat pumps, cheaper than baseboard heating and less than oil and propane. In Canada, we do not have enough electricity to address the needs of the future. …Bioheat is an on-demand form of energy that can help alleviate pressure on the electrical grid.

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Register Now: Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s Annual Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia!

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 4, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Join us in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 23-24, 2025 for Biomass for a Low-Carbon Future. As the world moves toward a low-carbon future, biomass and wood pellets play a key role in ensuring Canada has renewable and responsible energy. Join us to explore the numerous opportunities biomass presents, from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to supporting economic growth in the transition to a net-zero economy. Who Should Attend? Anyone interested in advancing electrification, including pellet producers, customers, First Nations and government officials, policymakers, regulators at every level, researchers, safety specialists, logistics personnel and equipment manufacturers.

Hear from experts around the world on key topics including:

  • Bioheat opportunities for Canada
  • Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in action
  • Biomass’ role in reducing emissions in hard-to-abate industries and existing heat and power generation systems
  • Decarbonizing transportation with bioenergy innovations
  • Detecting, preventing and surviving self-heating in biomass storage

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Health & Safety

Huge, self-driving trucks roll onto Canada’s most treacherous roads

By Anita Balakrishnan
The Logic
June 6, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Deep in the wilderness, a semi truck cab carves a path through the snow, slowing as it approaches a one-lane bridge. …The situation would be anxiety-inducing for a human, but this truck cab is driving itself. It’s using a system developed by NuPort Robotics, a Toronto-based autonomous-driving startup. It’s just a test run—but one day, Canada’s north could be criss-crossed with self-driving trucks hauling huge loads on dangerous roads. …Seasonal logging firms struggle to compete with oil and mining companies for trained drivers. …The company has been in talks with several forestry companies to try and drum up more business. They’re looking for help, he said, to relieve driver fatigue, determine which complicated maneuvers can be automated, and which, like strapping logs to trucks, must be done by humans. NuPort is also testing how the technology reacts to unexpected issues like a log falling into the road.

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BC Wildfire Service working to address mental health toll on firefighters

By Sarah Adrian
The Trail Times
June 5, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Fighting forest fires has always been a physically demanding and dangerous job. But it can take a toll on firefighters’ mental health as well. In 2023, the deaths of six wildland firefighters in B.C. highlighted the importance of mental health, both for frontline responders and support staff. Wildland firefighters are challenged with stress and exhaustion, but the loss of colleagues heavily contributed to the mental toll on firefighters during the 2023 wildfire season, said Jessa Barber, a former wildland firefighter who is now a safety officer with the BC Wildfire Service. …BC Wildfire said it is being proactive, implementing policies and practices to support the mental health of its staff. …One of these practices is the New Recruit Boot Camp, which prioritizes educating recruits about the risks and dangers of being a wildland firefighter both physically and mentally. Ongoing support is provided to recruits.

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Man drowns after machinery falls into ocean at Crofton pulp mill

By Jeff Bell
Victoria Times Colonist
June 5, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP are investigating the drowning of a machinery operator in an industrial incident at the Crofton pulp mill on Wednesday. Police responded about noon to the Catalyst Pulp and Paper Mill after receiving a report that a piece of heavy equipment had fallen into the ocean with its operator trapped inside. Canadian Coast Guard divers attempted a rescue, but the 30-year-old man could not be revived. RCMP spokesperson Alex Bérubé said the B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC are both investigating what led to “this tragic outcome.”

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Forest Fires

Smoke knows no boundaries: What Canada’s fires mean for the U.S. in the future

By Scott Neuman
National Public Radio
June 6, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, United States

“Wildfires are happening more frequently. They’re getting bigger. They’re emitting more smoke,” Paige Fischer, a professor of environmental sustainability at the University of Michigan says. “The climate models are projecting that we’re going to have more frequent, more severe wildfires.” As of Thursday, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center said 201 fires are burning right now in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario … residents of the U.S. Midwest — especially in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan — are being forced to contend with the thick smoke. …the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow page is showing air quality moderate to unhealthy throughout a large swath of the U.S., with the worst conditions in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. …Lori Daniels, a forest ecologist and professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) who specializes in wildfire science, agrees. “Smoke knows no political boundaries — and neither does fire,” she says.

Related coverage in Euro News by Rosie Frost: Smoke from Canada’s wildfires reaches Europe amid extreme start to the 2025 fire season

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Canadian fire smoke threatens air quality in Canada, US as it reaches Europe

France 24
June 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, International

Canada’s wildfires have forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people and continue to spread with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe. Hazardous air quality alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighbouring United States. A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and more communities are threatened each day. “We have some challenging days ahead of us,” said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly. …Heavy smoke has engulfed part of the continent, forcing residents of four Canadian provinces and the US states of Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin to limit outdoor activities. …Elsewhere, extensive forest fires have been raging in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District since early April, generating carbon emissions of around 35 million tons, Copernicus reported.

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Nearly half of northern Alberta community destroyed as wildfires flare

By Wallis Snowdon
CBC News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

As Albertans forced out by wildfires are being allowed to return home, other evacuees are learning their homes have been lost to the flames. During what has proven to be a devastating wildfire season across western Canada, the remote community of Chipewyan Lake has been among the hardest hit in Alberta in terms of damage to infrastructure. Close to half of the buildings in the small community, nestled in the boreal forests of northern Alberta about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton, have been destroyed. A wildfire swept through the remote community last week, hours after it was evacuated. Questions remain about how and when the community can rebuild, and where its 100 residents will live during the long recovery ahead. Chipewyan Lake lost some of its most critical community buildings, local emergency management officials with Bigstone Cree Nation and the MD of Opportunity No. 17 said Tuesday.

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Saskatchewan wildfires have already burned 900K hectares of forest so far this year

By Colleen Silverthorn and Hannah Spray
CBC News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

Wildfires continue to rage out of control in northern Saskatchewan, and have now burned almost 1,000,000 hectares of the province’s forest so far this year and forced thousands of people from their homes. “Based on the estimates we’re looking at over 900,000 hectares in the province so far this year,” Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), said in an update Thursday when asked how much forest had burned this year so far. For context, the entire province of Prince Edward Island is about 568,000 hectares. New fires are starting daily, according to the SPSA. Three new fires started Thursday alone, and the massive Shoe fire in the Narrow Hills was estimated to be about 471,000 hectares in size as of late Thursday morning. As of Thursday afternoon, there were 27 fires burning in Saskatchewan, six of them not contained, according to the SPSA.  The fires continue to pose new threats daily.

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Hundreds from Manitoba First Nations evacuate to Niagara Falls amid blazing wildfires

By Alex Arsenych and Aarjavee Raaj
CTV News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Hundreds of Manitoba First Nations are seeking refuge in Niagara Falls, hundreds of kilometres away from home, as fires continue to ravage the Prairies. Though thecentral province is expecting some precipitation across northern Manitoba, the provincial government said it will be insufficient to supress the wildfires, as the forecasted rain comes with a risk of lightning. The Canadian Red Cross registered thousands of evacuees—more than 14,300—having to flee their homes because of the active fires, a figure that includes roughly 2,400 households forced to leave First Nations lands. The Manitoba Keewainowi Okimaknak (MKO) said on May 28 that around 17,500 people across six First Nations communities were trying to get to safety. With the province declaring a national emergency, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced 1,000 rooms have been made available to those who have been displaced from their homes after First Nations leaders asked for more space to be made available.

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About 15,000 have fled Saskatchewan wildfires and more coming: Premier Moe

Canadian Press in Global News
June 3, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE ALBERT – As Manitoba grapples with wildfires that have forced more than 17,000 people from their homes, the premier of Saskatchewan said Tuesday the situation is becoming just as dire in his province. Scott Moe said upwards of 15,000 people have had to leave their communities and more are likely in the coming days. “We didn’t have a very good day yesterday,” he told reporters in Prince Albert, Sask. …Moe said the biggest destruction has been in places like the northern village of Denare Beach, near the Manitoba boundary, where some family homes have been lost. There will likely be challenging days ahead due to a lack of rain in the forecast, the premier added. …Marlo Pritchard from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said about 400 structures have been lost. Many firefighters had to stand down in some areas Monday due to “extreme fire behaviour,” he said.

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Evacuation orders issued as winds fan flames of wildfire near B.C.-Alberta border

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
June 3, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

New evacuation orders have been issued due to the Kiskatinaw River wildfire near the B.C.-Alberta border in northeastern B.C. on Tuesday, in addition to previous orders for 55 properties issued late last week. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire covered an area of just under 40 square kilometres, and is one of B.C.’s two “wildfires of note” — those that are particularly visible or pose a threat to public safety — the other being the Summit Lake wildfire in the far north. Highway 52 East remains closed in the area due to the blaze, which is burning close to the Pembina Steeprock gas processing facility. The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) says that the wildfire is set to experience “significant growth in the coming days”, with winds up to 60 km/h pushing the fire north, south and east towards Kelly Lake and the B.C.-Alta. border by Friday.

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Forest fire near Deer Lake now simply huge

By Mark Stimpson
NWOnewswatch.com
June 4, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The forest fire west of Wabaseemoong is no longer the largest in Northwestern Ontario now that a blaze farther north has grown to more than 65,000 hectares. The Red Lake 12 fire that caused the evacuation of Deer Lake First Nation last week was blanketing 65,186 hectares as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. That’s more than 3.5 times the size estimated on Monday. Smoke from fires to the west hurt the ministry’s ability “to monitor the growth of Red Lake 12 consistently throughout the operational window,” MNR fire information officer Allison Lake told Newswatch in an email. “After several days of reduced visibility, conditions improved, allowing for high-level infrared scanning of wildland fire Red Lake 12. “As a result of the scanning, the fire has now been remapped at 65,186 hectares, which accounts for growth that has occurred over the past few days.”

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