Region Archives: Canada

Business & Politics

What Mark Carney’s meeting with Mexico’s president could mean for North American trade

By Judy Trinh
BNN Bloomberg Politics
September 18, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Prime Minister Mark Carney is embarking on a pivotal meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, just as the United States officially launches the process to review the North American trade agreement. The Office of the US Trade Representative will seek public comments on the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) over 45 days and has scheduled a public hearing in November. Public consultation is required by law and is a clear sign that the Trump administration is preparing to renegotiate, not just review, the trilateral agreement, says Eric Miller, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group. Under the current agreement, Canada’s trade with the U.S. is 85% tariff free, but that could change when CUSMA expires next June. …It’s under this pressure that Carney is meeting with Sheinbaum to strengthen their bilateral relationship and increase trade. Mexico is Canada’s third biggest trading partner and last year, the two countries did $56 billion in imports and exports.

In related coverage [subscriptions required]:

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Element5 Mass timber celebrates grand opening of expanded manufacturing plant in St. Thomas, Ontario

Element5
September 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada

ST. THOMAS, Ontario —Element5 officially opened a new state-of-the-art Glulam production line and expansion to its manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, Ontario. As part of the government’s plan to build a more resilient forestry sector, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli announced that Ontario is providing $8 million in funding through the Invest Ontario fund towards the $107 million expansion. Element5’s growth is reinforced by a strategic investment from parent company, the HASSLACHER group, one of Europe’s largest and most innovative timber producers, as well as by partnerships with federal and provincial governments. …The company is Ontario’s first certified manufacturer of cross-laminated timber, and the expansion more than doubles the size of the plant from 130,000 square feet to over 350,000 square feet. The expansion also doubles the facility’s production capacity from 50,000 cubic meters annually to 100,000 cubic meters annually of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued-laminated timber (Glulam) products.

Related coverage:

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Vida AB completes acquisition of sawmills in Central Sweden

Canfor Corporation
September 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, International

VANCOUVER — Canfor Corporation announced that its 77%-owned subsidiary, Vida AB, has completed the acquisition of AB Karl Hedin Sågverk. The transaction, announced on July 22, 2025, adds approximately 230 million board feet to Vida’s annual production capacity, bringing its total annual production capacity to approximately 2.1 billion board feet. “We are excited to welcome the employees at AB Karl Hedin Sagverk’s three sawmills in Karbenning, Krylbo and Sater into the Canfor family,” said Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of Canfor. “This acquisition strengthens Vida’s geographic footprint, increasing access to high-quality timber resources in Sweden, while continuing to diversify Cantor’s operations globally.” 

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Canada files for USMCA binational panel review in softwood lumber dispute

US International Trade Administration
September 18, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Two Requests for Panel Review were filed in the matter of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final Results and Rescission, in Part, of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2023 with the U.S. Section of the USMCA Secretariat on September 11, 2025. The first Request for Panel Review was filed on behalf of Resolute FP, the Conseil de l’industrie forestière du Quebec, the Ontario Forest Industries Association, and each association’s respective individual members (collectively Central Canada). …The second was filed by The Government of Canada, the Governments of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec; Alberta Softwood Lumber Trade Council, British Columbia Lumber Trade Council; Canfor, Interfor, EACOM, Chaleur Forest Products, J.D. Irving, Tolko, Gilbert Smith Forest Products, and West Fraser. The USMCA Secretariat has assigned case number USA-CDA-2025-10.12-03 to this request.

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US Lumber Coalition comments on 2019 antidumping order, says majority of $7.2B paid to date by Canadian mills will go US Treasury

The US Lumber Coalition
September 16, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Zoltan van Heyningen

WASHINGTON — The US Lumber Coalition supports Canada’s decision to drop its appeal of the second administrative review of the antidumping order in the trade case against unfairly traded softwood lumber imports from Canada. This step finalizes the total antidumping liability for Canadian softwood lumber producers who dumped their product into the US market in 2019. …“With the conclusion of this appeal, Canadian lumber producers will now owe US taxpayers an additional $236 million. That liability reflects the high level of dumping that occurred in 2019 and sets the stage for a total estimated payment of $760 million once the anti-subsidy portion of that review is completed,” stated Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition. To date, Canadian softwood lumber producers have paid an estimated $7.2 billion in duties as a result of their unfair trade practices, the majority of which will be liquidated into the US Treasury.

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‘Frustrating’: Forestry strike continues on north Island

By Dean Stoltz
Chek News
September 15, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER ISLAND — Over 3 months later, 105 forestry workers are still on the picket lines this week after walking off the job June 6, and it doesn’t look like they expect to be going back to work anytime soon. …“I didn’t think we’d get to this point,” said United Steelworkers’ Jason Cox. …The union says the company wants to contract out jobs but La-kwa sa muqw Forestry says that’s not the case, it just wants to give new employees the choice. Operations manager Greg DeMille said, “They are demanding that we agree to mandatory union certification. And so with that and the fact we can’t agree to that because we feel it impacts employee’s rights to choose and has an impact to First Nations rights to free, prior and informed consent. …The union says it respects First Nation rights but insists this should be considered a “normal labour dispute” and nothing else. 

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Northern Ontario leaders plead for federal help to save Kap Paper Mill

By Lydia Chubak
CTV News
September 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is issuing a stark warning that the Kap Paper Mill in Kapuskasing faces imminent closure without urgent financial support from the federal government. In a direct appeal, FONOM has stated the mill could shutter within two weeks if funding is not secured. FONOM President Danny Whalen confirmed the anxious wait for a federal response. …Kapuskasing Mayor Dave Plourde described the mill’s status over the past year as a “roller coaster ride. …We just need the federal government to ensure the 2500 jobs that would be affected in our area”. …Whalen pointed to punishing international tariffs as a core issue hindering the industry. …Plourde explained that the mill’s closure would trigger a catastrophic domino effect, crippling the entire local forestry sector as sawmills in the region rely on the Kap Paper Mill to consume their wood by-products, such as chips and sawdust.

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Uncertain future for 400 employees of Domtar’s Kénogami and Dolbeau plants

By David-Alexandre Vincent
TVA Nouvelles
September 15, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

QUEBEC — Just over 400 Domtar workers in Kénogami and Dolbeau, in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, are uncertain about the future of their plants. Unifor is scheduled to meet with senior management shortly to provide an update on the situation. “This year, production shutdowns have been more significant and longer than usual,” said Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier. The decline in demand for newsprint is forcing the company to adjust and review its business model. According to him, Domtar is managing the decline, but this strategy does not position the regional facilities for the long term. The union wants to discuss alternative solutions to ensure future prospects. …”It’s not necessarily about reassurance, we want the truth,” says Gilles Vaillancourt, of the Kénogami Pulp and Paper Workers Union. …Domtar assures it “continues to operate its various mills responsibly in order to address market trends,” while maintaining dialogue with the unions. [original article in French, translation by Google Translate]

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Finance & Economics

Why the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cut is no silver bullet for mortgages and housing

By John MacFarlane
Yahoo! Finance
September 17, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

Benjamin Tal

Variable mortgage rates in Canada could drop below fixed rates now that the Bank of Canada has cut its overnight rate as was widely expected, but scars from past rate swings and wider economic anxieties may keep the housing market muted even if borrowing costs fall further, experts say. CIBC’s Benjamin Tal said that key economic indicators for employment, inflation and housing gave the BoC “the green light” to cut, “not only in September but also I think after.” But he notes the policy rate “is very close to neutral already,” meaning that any rate relief will be modest. Before today’s announcement, markets had largely priced in two cuts, said Ron Butler, a broker. …Tal warns that further declines are unlikely. US deficits, sticky inflation, and Ottawa’s own likely heavy borrowing are all pushing up long-term yields.

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2025 forest product trade trends

By George Lauriat, Editor in Chief
The American Journal of Transportation
September 16, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

…The all-out tariff war initiated by the Trump administration has thrown international trade into chaos and forest products are no exception and retaliation isn’t always in the form of more tariffs. For example, back in March the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) announced it was banning the imports of US logs. GACC stated that these suspensions were in response to recent detections of forest pests such as bark beetles and longhorn beetles in US shipments. …On August 22nd President Trump announced that the administration would complete a Section 232 investigation into imported furniture within 50 days. …Of course, in July President Trump signed an executive order to impose a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil which also includes wood and wood products which took effect on August 6th. The main forest product exemption to the tariff is imported Brazilian wood pulp. …In the short term, confusion in the forest product sector is likely to continue.

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US-Canada dispute threatens supply and American homeownership availability

By Julie Gedeon
The American Journal of Transportation
September 16, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Major concerns are being expressed on both sides of the border regarding the higher US duties on Canada’s softwood lumber. …The current 35.19% duty, along with any steeper tariff, is detrimental to US homebuilders and homebuyers longer term, warns Rose Quint, of NAHB Survey Research. Higher mortgage rates of 6% to 7% since 2022 have already weakened housing demand and caused lumber prices to edge downwards. The real effect of tariffs might be delayed by wholesalers having stocked up building materials earlier in the year to avoid higher tariffs “Years of building above and beyond our traditional baseline is required to make up the 1.5 million deficit that we have in new housing units,” Quint adds. …Affordability challenges already existed and will be further worsened by the higher costs. …The overriding hope among the Canadian producers and American homebuilders is that a suitable agreement will be reached between the US and Canada. 

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Trucking and other transport impacted by lumber dispute

By Julie Gedeon
The American Journal of Transportation
September 16, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Higher duty rate and possible additional tariffs have transportation modes on edge. The softwood lumber dispute threatens to have repercussions on various transportation modes, particularly trucking. “Our members are saying their business is still okay, even with the softer rates due to mill overcapacity, but they’re worried that if anyone pushes on this wall with more tariffs, there’s nothing to hold it up,” says Dave Earle, the BC Trucking Association’s CEO. …Trucking has already been dealing with the overcapacity that was put in place for the greater demands for deliveries for most everything during the pandemic but has not subsided. …In terms of rail services, CPKC has seen its forest product shipments rise this year to date based on revenue ton miles. …At the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, the potential to export more lumber is significant with approximately half of last year’s containers leaving the port empty.

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Canada’s annual pace of housing starts in August down 16% from July

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
September 16, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

The six-month trend in housing starts increased (1.6%) in August (267,259 units), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). …The total monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was down 16% in August (245,791 units) compared to July (293,537 units). “The slowdown in the SAAR that we saw in August is notable as it is well below the six-month trend line. If sustained, this adjustment in the level of housing starts would be consistent with both our forecast and current market intelligence indicating a slowdown in the pace of housing construction. It is worth noting that current housing starts levels are generally reflective of decisions made when interest rates were receding and investor confidence was higher than it is today,” said Kevin Hughes, CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

New handbook on offsite wood construction now available

FPInnovations
September 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

FPInnovations has a new addition to its roster of wood-building construction guides—the Offsite Wood Construction Handbook. Industrialized offsite construction, also known as prefabricated or modular construction, is a construction method where building materials and components are manufactured and assembled offsite in factories before being transported to the project site for the final assembly. This approach can improve efficiency, reduce cost, and enhance quality compared to the traditional onsite construction. Industrialized offsite construction results from the reality of labour shortages, as well as the desire to automate manufacturing processes and shorten delivery schedules. …This free handbook is available for download now.

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Mass timber prefab housing system uses local lumber to build affordable homes faster

ReNew Canada
September 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

When Nak’azdli Development Corp. (NDC) unveils its inaugural Timber House next month – a unique prefabricated home in Canada that uses stud lumber from local saw mills and an innovative panel construction system by local forestry startup Deadwood Innovations – visitors will see firsthand what’s possible when academia partners with business to solve pressing challenges. Reflecting on Canada’s housing crisis and challenges faced by the forestry industry, “there has been a lot of emphasis recently on fast-tracking mass timber construction for large-scale buildings in large urban centres, but very little focus on supporting regional housing, tailored to the specific needs of remote and rural communities,” said Owen Miller, Deadwood Innovations CEO and co-founder, explaining that these large projects primarily use high-cost dimension lumber. “Our approach is all about tapping into local lumber, resources and expertise to build housing that aligns with community and cultural needs, is sustainable and delivers affordable homes built to last,” Miller said. 

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Limberlost Place: A New Era for Mass Timber

Canadian Wood Council
September 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

We’re proud to share the story of Limberlost Place, the world’s first 10-storey exposed mass timber academic tower — a landmark project at George Brown College that redefines what’s possible in sustainable construction. Limberlost Place demonstrates how mass timber reduces carbon, enhances well-being, and delivers design innovation at scale. It’s also a story of collaboration — bringing together architects, engineers, contractors, and educators to set a new standard for the built environment. Watch the full video case study now to see how Canada is building a more sustainable future.

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Canada’s Wood Industry Applauds Build Canada Homes Initiative, Calls for Bold Action on Rapid Housing Delivery

CWC and FPAC
September 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

The Canadian Wood Council (CWC) welcomes the federal government’s launch of the Build Canada Homes (BCH) agency, announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Backed by a $13 billion investment and a plan to construct 4,000 homes across six federally owned sites, BCH will fast-track the delivery of affordable, sustainable housing nationwide. “This commitment to factory-built housing and prefabricated building components, including both mass timber and light wood frame systems, directly supports the architects, engineers, and builders we work with every day. It enables them to rapidly deploy quality homes at scale, while meeting Canada’s sustainability and affordability goals,” said Rick Jeffery, President and CEO of CWC. “We’re especially encouraged by BCH’s plan to adopt a ‘Buy Canadian’ policy and streamline permitting for bulk projects.”

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) welcomes the federal government’s creation of the Build Canada Homes (BCH) agency. “The top priority of our sector continues to be seeing the federal government get the best trade deal possible at the Canada-US negotiating table. There are no measures that will offset the impacts of a prolonged trade dispute with our biggest trading partner. That said, we welcome Prime Minister Carney’s commitment to working with us on a plan for the long-term, which includes building more with Canadian wood products here at home and finding new pathways to bring more Canadian wood exports to other parts of the world,” said Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of FPAC.

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Wood Connections – News for BC’s Wood Products Industry

The BC Wood Specialties Group
September 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

In this newsletter you’ll find these stories and more:

  • 2025 Global Buyers Mission Review – BC Wood celebrated our 22nd Annual GBM this month, welcoming almost 500 delegates from all over the world to Whistler, BC. 
  • Leadership Updates at BC Wood: Welcoming Our New Chair and Board Members – BC Wood is excited to announce the appointment of Kelly Marciniw as the new Chair of the BC Wood Board of Directors, alongside new member Nick Arkle. 
  • Coastal Currents – Forestry Fibre Flow Forum: October 17. A Value-Added Accelerators event.
  • Final Report: BC Value-Added Wood Products Workforce Development Implementation 2025
  • Update: 2025 BC Timber Building Technical Tour – 16.5 BC House CPD credits approved – Scheduled for October 20 – 24, join this unique exploration of BC’s thriving mass timber and prefabricated construction sector.
  • UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing to host Industrial Wood Finishing Certificate Program, January 5th to April 10th, 2026

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Decoding Timber Towers: Global contest promotes mass timber housing

By Rebecca Keillor
Vancouver Sun
September 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Decoding Timber Towers is a global competition that drew 44 submissions from six countries, exploring how mass timber can shape new housing solutions. Run by Urbanarium, a Vancouver-based non-profit, the competition awarded $50,000 in prize money. “At a time when we urgently need low-carbon, livable, and affordable housing, it is vital to share ideas and pursue scalable solutions,” said competition juror Natalie Telewiak, principal at Michael Green Architecture. Telewiak said the competition attracted provocative proposals that challenge regulation, reimagine mass timber at scale, and spark strategies for change. First place went to Timber Commons by team MT3, which also received part of the DIGITAL Prize for innovation in standardizing housing construction. …Second place went to KAPLA by Team Softwood, an 18-storey design that combined modular efficiency with prefabricated balconies. Third place went to Vancouver’s Culture House by team 637427, which tied for the DIGITAL Prize for its on-site prefabrication factory concept.

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Programs to help advance your career in the lumber and sawmill sector

By Linh Tran
British Columbia Institute of Technology
September 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BCIT School of Construction and the Environment offers two Associate Certificate programs designed to support workforce development in the North American lumber and sawmill sector: Industrial Wood Processing (IWP) & and Business of Sawmilling (BOS). The programs were developed in collaboration with industry experts to equip professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to advance their careers while meeting the evolving demands of the sector. Both programs are delivered online, on a part-time basis, and over 12 months. The programs are designed to allow working professionals to gain practical, job-relevant skills through formal education while balancing their workplace responsibilities.

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How do you build a house that could get grandma through the apocalypse?

By Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood
The Narwhal
September 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Since wildfires tore through his Yunesit’in community in 2017, Russell Myers Ross has been pursuing a dream: building a fire-resistant house that will survive everything climate change can throw at it. …The design includes a white, highly reflective metal roof that deflects heat and is fire-resistant, gravel lining the house and sprinklers facing the walls — using easily accessible technologies for a resilient home that makes sense for the dry, hot interior of B.C. …Ross and professor John Bass from the University of British Columbia’s school of architecture and landscape architecture released videos of the prototype on Monday that include a three-dimensional walk-through of the design and community members speaking to the importance of getting this house built.

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Forestry

Growing together: The future of forestry is Indigenous-driven

By John Desjarlais, Executive Director, Indigenous Resource Network
The Globe and Mail
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

John Desjarlais

Many Canadians may not realize we are soon entering National Forest Week, a time to reflect on forests’ vital role in our history, economy and future. National Forest Week, happening September 21–27, 2025, reminds us to balance economic opportunities with sustainability. Indigenous-led forest ventures already exemplify this. Indigenous communities have managed forests responsibly for thousands of years, and their involvement has increased significantly, with more land and resources under their control, including forest tenures. …The future of sustainable forestry depends on increasing Indigenous participation. This includes stronger industry-Indigenous partnerships, expanded forest tenures, fair forest sector procurement policies, better Indigenous recruitment and retention within the forestry world, and greater integration of Indigenous knowledge into policy frameworks. Let’s celebrate National Forest Week by honouring Canada’s original forest managers and their lasting legacy in sustainable forest management.

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Record-breaking planting season helps Forests Canada reach 50 million tree milestone

By Forests Canada
Cision Newswire
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Jess Kaknevicius & Rob Keen

BARRIE, ON – After supporting the planting of approximately 4 million trees across Canada in 2025 – a record for the organization – national charity Forests Canada has reached the 50 million tree milestone since it began planting trees in 2004. …Forests Canada supported the planting of approximately 3.9 million trees this spring and has hundreds of thousands more set to be planted during the fall planting season to bring the yearly total to over 4 million – smashing the organization’s previous record of 2.7 million trees from 2024. …Getting past the four million mark in 2025 and achieving this 50 million tree milestone is proof that the quality infrastructure and unique forest recovery system built by Forests Canada over the years is not only dependable, but necessary. …The collaboration necessary to plant 50 million trees extends beyond just trustworthy planting partners to a vast collection of supporters who make the funding of these planting projects possible.

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Building to the forest’s edge fuels fire danger

By Cloe Logan Rory White
National Observer
September 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

… Fires in Canada’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) are becoming more common as cities continue to sprawl, increasing the risk to structures. Regions across the country are grappling with the competing pressures of building housing and expanding industry, while climate change… continues to create hot, dry conditions that make wildfires more intense and frequent. A paper released in 2024 states that the “unprecedented expansion of global urbanization” has led to huge expansion of the WUI globally — by nearly 36 per cent since 2000, with 85 per cent of that growth occurring between 2010 and 2020. The study findings highlight the urgency of implementing tailored fire management strategies in WUI areas. However, there are no up-to-date figures on WUI in Canada, though Natural Resources Canada notes, “the risk of WUI fire is expected to increase both in regions of Canada with a long history of wildfires and in those with no such history.” 

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UBC expands Beaty Biodiversity Centre to tackle preservation

By Sally Ji
Victoria News
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The University of British Columbia unveiled a $45-million expansion to the Beaty Biodiversity Centre with an open house event. The expansion adds dedicated research and meeting spaces to the Biodiversity Research Centre, as well as a new fossil storage room and pollinator garden to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Biodiversity Research Centre director Mary O’Connor said the expansion brings new opportunities for collaboration with both researchers and non-academic partners from across the globe. …O’Connor said she would describe biodiversity as “all life on Earth.” This immense scope is what makes collaboration so important when it comes to tackling biodiversity issues. By adding spaces designed for collaboration, the research centre hopes to form new partnerships as well as expand on existing ones. …Meanwhile, the new additions to the museum hope to improve public engagement and awareness of biodiversity.

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District of 100 Mile House unanimously refuses solar, wind project proposal

By Misha Mustaqeem
The 100 Mile Free Press
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The District of 100 Mile House is refusing a proposed project that could see solar and wind farms built in the South Cariboo. During the Sept. 9 District of 100 Mile House Council meeting, around 50 people showed up to council to hear them deliberate about the Cariboo Wind and Solar Projects, which are a collection of wind and solar projects that are being proposed by MK Ince and Associates Ltd. …In a letter to the district, Tyrell Law, who is the current manager of the 100 Mile Community Forest, said that the project significantly overlaps with the Community Forest areas. The 100 Mile Community Forest is around 18,000 hectares in size and is managed by the 100 Mile Development Corporation. The proposal comprises around 730 hectares of the community forest. Law said that while Ince is partially correct to say that the area had been recently harvested and was in a plantation, it is more complicated than that. 

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College of New Caledonia awarded $170K federal grant to launch remote sensing lab for forest stewardship

College of New Caledonia
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE, BC — CNC’s Applied Research team received a $170,775 Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) grant through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for the creation of a state-of-the-art remote sensing lab. …Remote sensing technologies have great potential to support the planning, execution, and monitoring of forestry, wildlife management, and other applications in natural resources. The grant allows for the acquisition of terrestrial LiDAR scanners, allowing researchers to capture, analyze and better understand individual tree characteristics, forest structure, and wildfire hazards, among other forest attributes. CNC research fellow Dr. Pablo Crespell will lead research activities related to remote sensing lab purchases and operation, including drones, LiDAR sensors and scanners, multispectral sensors, software applications, and computer hardware. Grant funds will also be used to support the costs of relevant training for CNC research staff, such as drone pilot training and new analysis approaches.

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Lichen, logging, land rights: Complex forces play out in fate of ancient B.C. forest

By Brenna Owen
The Canadian Press in the Financial Post
September 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A shaggy, cool-green lichen hangs from the trunk of a tree in a forest on northeastern Vancouver Island. Lichenologist Trevor Goward has named it oldgrowth specklebelly. …Old-growth advocate Joshua Wright photographed oldgrowth specklebelly this summer in a forest about 400 kilometres northwest of Victoria. …Wright and Goward prize the forest in the Tsitika River watershed for its age and biodiversity, and a provincially appointed panel recommended that it be set aside from logging in 2021. But if a plan by the provincial logging agency, BC Timber Sales, goes ahead, the site will be auctioned for clearcut logging by the end of September. The area was stewarded by several Indigenous nations. …The plan to log it reveals differing opinions among Kwakwaka’wakw leaders on how to protect old-growth forests, while raising questions about which Aboriginal rights holders the BC government chooses to listen to, and why.

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BC’s dry forests are a consequence of bad decisions. But the fix is simple – and cheap

By Jesse Zeman, BC Wildlife Federation
Vernon Now
September 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Drought and wildfire have become the rule rather than the exception and that is bad news for wildlife, for fish, and for British Columbians who rely on healthy watersheds. …over the past couple of decades we drained wetlands, straightened streams, logged forests, built highways, and ripped millions of beavers from the landscape. The result is dry forests, destructive fire seasons, and choking smoke … every summer. Dry riverbeds are unable to support salmon populations, or any wildlife for that matter. A dewatered landscape is a towering forest of matchsticks waiting to burn. … So, how do we get from here to there? Fortunately, some of the answers are simple, natural, and inexpensive. …Prescribed and cultural burning helps restore native grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems providing improved forage for large mammals. …BCWF’s 10,000 Wetlands Project has recently installed more than 100 beaver dam analogues and dozens of post-assisted log structures…

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Osoyoos Indian Band to begin tree thinning project northeast of Oliver

By Sarah Crookall
Castanet
September 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Osoyoos Indian Band is kicking off its first commercial thinning silviculture treatment via Siya Forestry. In the project 28 kilometres northeast of Oliver, select trees will be harvested while the strongest will remain left to grow in the OIB First Nations woodland licence area. …Siya Forestry, the OIB-owned new company, said it aims to care for the land through stewardship, balance, and responsibility. “This is a great pilot project and hopefully it will lead to a bigger program within the Osoyoos Indian Band’s traditional territory,” said Luke Robertson, Siya Forestry, operations supervisor, in the press release.

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Fire ban to lift Wednesday for northern part of Vancouver Island

By Marc Kitteringham
Victoria News
September 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Coastal Fire Centre is lifting the campfire ban for the Campbell River, North Island and Sunshine Coast forest districts as of Sept. 17 at noon. Due to declining fire danger ratings on the northern part of Vancouver Island, the Province has chosen to re-allow campfires and other small fires in the area. Campfires will remain prohibited for the rest of the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of the Haida Gwaii Forest District. The activities that will be allowed also include the use of sky lanterns, wood-fired hot tubs, pizza ovens and other devices that are not vented through a flue or are incorporated into buildings. Category 2 and 3 open fires remain prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre, which includes backyard burning, industrial burning, fireworks, burn barrels and burn cages. These restrictions will remain in place until 12:00 (noon), PDT, on Friday October 31, 2025, or until the order is rescinded.

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Public feedback key as Revelstoke corp eyes 253 ha of logging near Downie Arm

By Evert Lindquist
Revelstoke Review
September 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

This summer, the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) published a Forest Operations Map for public review of a series of cutblock and logging road proposals… The map remained available Aug. 15 until Saturday, Sept. 13, with RCFC pursuing three years of cutting and road-building 70 kilometres north of Revelstoke near Downie Arm. …But community members having the chance to submit comments and concerns directly to a licensee … was part of a “relatively new process” implemented last year by the B.C. government, Wildsight conservation specialist Eddie Petryshen explained. Effective since April 2024, the province has amended its Forest and Range Practices Act to require that licensees provide a Forest Operations Map for public comment as part of the review and approval process. Petryshen said B.C.’s forestry management has spun in cycles, rather than evolve, and “who knows what cycle we’re in now.” But looking ahead, he’s hopeful RCFC will take the feedback it gathered to heart.

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Vancouver Island municipality’s move to consider logging upsets collaboration efforts, says First Nation

By Edzi’u Loverin
CBC News
September 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

First Nations in the North Cowichan region on Vancouver Island say a motion by the municipality is undermining collaborative efforts on the future of logging in the region’s forest reserve. …Cindy Daniels, chief of Cowichan Tribes, said the move by the council “undermines the collaborative nature” of work to date on a joint plan for the forest. …The North Cowichan council has been in discussions for a collaborative framework with Quw’utsun Nation since 2021 and announced a commitment to establish a co-management strategy for the forest reserve in April 2024. …Gary Merkel, director of the Centre for Indigenous Land Stewardship at UBC…. “It’s a little bit ahead of itself that motion, but not too far. I mean, they haven’t said ‘we’re just going to go and log,’ they’ve allowed the possibility”. …”We are going to get a staff report outlining some of the implications and next steps,” North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said.

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Forest Practices Board to audit stand-level biodiversity practices in Mackenzie District

BC Forest Practices Board
September 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

MACKENZIE – The Forest Practices Board is launching a limited-scope audit in the Mackenzie Natural Resource District to assess how licensees manage biodiversity in forest stands through the use of block reserves. Fieldwork for the audit will begin Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, and will examine forestry activities of three licensees from Sept. 1, 2023, to Sept. 26, 2025, to evaluate compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act. The three licensees selected for the audit are BC Timber Sales Prince George area, the McLeod Lake Mackenzie Community Forest and Conifex Timber Inc. The Mackenzie district spans about 6.41 million hectares within B.C.’s Omineca region. …Sixteen First Nations have overlapping territories in the area, including the Kwadacha and Tsay Keh Dene Nations and the McLeod Lake Indian Band. First Nations rely on the area for cultural practices, sustenance and spiritual well-being. Recent years have seen an increase in woodland licences and forest-industry partnerships with local Nations.

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Fire-damaged road to Bamfield set to reopen at end of October

By Cindy Harnett
Victoria Times Colonist
September 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The fire-ravaged Bamfield Main Road, which connects Bamfield and several First Nation communities to Port Alberni, will reopen by the end of October, the Transportation Ministry announced. The ministry said temporary closures could still occur, however, during periods of heavy rain and strong winds. It said a geotechnical assessment to identify hazards, and assessments of the stability of trees are ongoing. Based on those findings, thresholds are being established for wind and rain events that will trigger increased patrols of Bamfield Main and potentially closures. A weather station and closure gates will be installed in the coming weeks, according to the ministry, which is leading efforts to reopen the road with Mosaic Forest Management, the company that oversees the affected stretch. …Ditidaht Nation Chief Judi Thomas said she suspects the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, Huu-ay-aht First Nation and Mosaic and Bamfield would be more than happy to support a provincial paved alternate route.

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Minister of Forests visits Malcolm Knapp Research Forest

By the Faculty of Forestry
The University of British Columbia
September 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

On September 11, 2025, UBC’s Faculty of Forestry welcomed British Columbia’s Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar, to the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest (MKRF) to witness the critical work being done to advance sustainable forest management and educate the next generation of foresters. The tour, led by Dr. Dominik Roeser, Associate Dean of Research Forests and Community Outreach, and joined by Dr. Robert Kozak, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Hélène Marcoux, Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Manager, provided an important opportunity to showcase MKRF’s role in bridging scientific research, education and practical forest management. Minister Parmar’s visit included important conversations focused on forest stewardship and the role research plays, not just in understanding forests, but also in driving innovation, education, and creating future opportunities. Minister Parmar was able to see firsthand the vital research taking place to support both industry and government, and the advancement of sustainable forest management practices in British Columbia.

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Old-growth protesters in Walbran Valley stay put as BC Supreme Court approves injunction

By Robyn Bell
The Capital Daily
September 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The ancient forests near Fairy Creek, where the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history took place in 2021, have been fairly silent for nearly four years. But as logging in Vancouver Island’s old-growth forests picks up, protesters have returned to protect these ancient trees. On Friday, BC Supreme Court judge Amy Francis approved an injunction requested by Tsawak-qin Forestry Inc.—co-owned by Western Forest Products and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations—after two days of hearings. Those named in the injunction—including Elder Bill Jones…are banned from blocking the logging company’s access to old-growth forests in the Tree Farm License 44 area. …The removal of the sculpture and the people protesting could happen at any time. Today, blockaders at Cougar Camp—named for the sculpture blocking the logging road—said they were ready and waiting to be arrested while protecting Upper Walbran. 

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What fish in northwestern Ontario reveal about the impact of climate change, forestry

By Rajpreet Sahota
CBC News
September 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Researchers from Trent University are immersing themselves in forests and streams in northwestern Ontario to understand how forestry practices and climate change affect brook trout populations and freshwater ecosystems. The team is working in the Walkinshaw and Wolf watersheds, northeast of Thunder Bay. They are focusing on headwater streams, which are small rivers that feed larger waterways across the Great Lakes. “Northern freshwater ecosystems are currently experiencing major disturbances, two of which are forest harvest and climate change. One of the effects of climate change is an increase in water temperatures. And the consequences of these predicted increased temperatures on the stream ecosystem are still unclear,” said PhD student Celeste Milli, who is leading the fieldwork. …Milli said the research could help inform science-based policy decisions in Canada’s northern forests, ensuring that both forest ecosystems and freshwater resources remain resilient in a changing climate.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

2024 emissions estimate shows progress stalled, Canada’s 2030 climate target out of reach

By Canadian Climate Institute
Cision Newswire
September 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON – Canada’s emissions progress flatlined in 2024, according to the latest Early Estimate of National Emissions (EENE) from 440 Megatonnes, a project of the Canadian Climate Institute. With emissions essentially unchanged from 2023, at 694 megatonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (Mt), the new data shows that previous years’ improvements have stalled. Further, emissions trends indicate Canada’s 2030 emissions reduction target is now out of reach given weakening policy momentum across the country. That’s despite years of disruptive and costly wildfires, extreme weather and other climate-related disasters that increasingly threaten Canadians’ security and drive up the cost of living. …While some sectors—including electricity and buildings—continued to cut emissions in 2024, progress was modest and more than countered by rising emissions from oil and gas, particularly oil sands production.

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CO280 Awards Pre-FEED Contracts for an 800,000 Tonnes per Year Carbon Removal Project at a Pulp and Paper Mill in Canada

By CO280
Cision Newswire
September 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

VANCOUVER, BC – CO280 Solutions Inc. (CO280), a leading developer of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects, in collaboration with a pulp and paper partner, has awarded Preliminary Front-End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) contracts to technology and engineering suppliers for a groundbreaking carbon removal project in Canada. The project is designed to capture and permanently store over 800,000 tonnes per year of biogenic CO2, beginning in 2029. The resulting CDR credits will be sold to buyers in the carbon market. The award of the Pre-FEED contracts follows the successful completion of a Pre-Feasibility study by CO280 and the pulp and paper mill partner in 2024. The Pre-FEED study will evaluate the integration of commercially proven liquid amine carbon capture technology into the existing mill infrastructure. In parallel, CO280 and its partners have initiated marketing and sales of CDR credits to buyers in the carbon market, community engagement consultations, and project financing.

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