The Canadian mass timber industry has been making great strides forward, but it has been kept from growing even faster by challenges it faces in procuring reasonably priced insurance and financing. Simon Fraser University (SFU) Renewable Cities recently released a guide that describes these challenges. Titled, Advancing Mass Timber/Risk mitigation and insurance strategies for a thriving sector, the guide presents three what it calls pathways “to help address risks, improve insurability and support a thriving mass timber industry.” Mass timber’s benefits notwithstanding, projects built with it often face higher insurance rates than traditional materials. According to the guide, “This can discourage developers from using mass timber elements…Understanding this could influence a phased approach to a building that could make it easier and cheaper to insure. “It is crucial that the insurance broker negotiating the project understands these specific issues and concerns.”
Prime Minister Carney has pledged billions of dollars in financing for makers of prefabricated homes to help end the country’s housing shortage. Experts say the plan is visionary – and laden with risks. Mr. Carney has promised to provide $25-billion in loans and $1-billion in equity financing for companies that largely build homes in factories rather than on construction sites. The federal government will also place bulk orders of prefabricated housing to help jump-start a nascent industry. …It’s a big, bold bet that could make it faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly to build a chunk of the 3.5 million homes that Canada needs to add by 2030. But factories need sustained demand, a large enough market and streamlined production. That’s what must weave out of the web of housing bureaucracy and hyperlocal rules that currently tangles up residential construction, the experts caution. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]
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Professionals working in the lumber and sawmill sector and looking to advance their careers can gain specialized training through BCIT’s Associate Certificate in Industrial Wood Processing, starting June 2025. The IWP program was developed with industry subject matter experts and informed by industry leaders to support upskilling and professional development within the sector. The program is 1-year, delivered online and part-time to allow students to balance work and studies. What sets the program apart is the expertise behind the scenes—seasoned instructors who bring decades of hands-on experience from across North America.
CALGARY — The one constant of Trump’s tariff plan seems to be that it is in a constant state of flux. “The time is now to start planning for what those impacts could possibly be and develop the mitigation strategies and tracking mechanisms…so that as they (tariffs) evolve in real time you are prepared to deal with them,” said Rick Moffat. Moffat moderated a webinar panel recently on legal and practical strategies for managing the impacts of the tariffs on construction projects in Canada. …Stressing the importance of detailed contingency plans that account for potential cost hikes caused by tariffs, Bulut Cinar said contractors would benefit by including “multiple scenarios” illustrating how their contingencies help manage their costs. …If contractors consider delay-causing tariffs a force majeure event, but the contract deals with tariffs differently they might be “precluding themselves” from compensation, he added.
House Republicans have approved an amendment that authorizes the sale of thousands of acres of federal public land in Nevada and Utah; two states where the federal government owns most of the land that have long been at the forefront of a controversial movement to cede control of it to state or private entities. The House Natural Resources committee approved the amendment late Tuesday night after previously indicating federal land sales wouldn’t be included in a budget reconciliation bill. Most of the proposed land sales or exchanges appear to be aimed at building affordable housing on US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land outside Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada and in fast growing southwestern Utah around the tourist town of St. George, Utah. …Democrats and environmentalists say the amendment is part of a broader far right push for a wholesale transfer of federal public lands.
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Material intelligence refers to how materials perform, adapt, and interact with ecological and cultural systems. It considers howstone, steel, or timber respond to intertangled forces, how those materials are sourced and assembled, and how they persist after demolition. Designers are centering material intelligence in constructing our cities in a generation of environmental uncertainty and strained supply chains. Few materials embody this shift as vividly as cross-laminated timber (CLT). By layering and bonding planks into structural panels, CLT offers strength, fire resistance, and a significantly lower carbon footprint than concrete or steel. Across Europe and Canada, mass timber has emerged as a centerpiece of decarbonized construction. Yet in the United States, progress has moved more slowly. Developers hesitate. Codes trail behind innovation. Conventional materials still dominate the urban skyline.
MARYLAND — After five years of work and many interim steps, Maryland became the sixth US state to pass extended producer responsibility legislation for paper and packaging, continuing the policy’s evolution in the country. Sent to the governor on April 7, SB 901 would direct a producer responsibility organization to set goals for post-consumer recycled content, recyclability, recycling and reuse rates, source reduction, composting rates and contamination reduction. However, it also builds on newer elements, such as a phased-in approach to reimbursement, seen last year in Minnesota’s law. …The American Forest and Paper Association has called the bill “misguided.” “EPR programs are helpful for materials that don’t have strong end markets or aren’t highly recycled,” the association wrote. “Paper is a highly recycled material with strong end markets.” …Any EPR program must fully and fairly credit our early and voluntary actions to increase recycling in Maryland and across the country.”
