BC Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar used his address at the 2026 COFI Convention to lay out what he described as the key objectives that will define his work as minister over the coming months — anchored by a vision for a working forest that moves British Columbia away from the permit-by-permit, boom-and-bust model that has defined the sector for decades. The session, moderated by COFI President and CEO Kim Haakstad, also included Deputy Minister of Forests Makenzie Leine, who joined the stage for a question-and-answer period that drew heavily from audience submissions and covered tenure obligation costs, BCTS reform, DRIPA, and the immediate challenge of moving fibre.
Parmar opened by acknowledging directly that workers who have received pink slips or don’t know whether their mill will continue to operate are living the reality of what a rocky path forward looks like. He said his job is to work with industry and all British Columbians to chart a path that delivers good-paying, family-supporting jobs, and that he is unapologetic about that work. He identified six key objectives that will guide his ministry: defending forestry jobs and the communities that depend on them; building a competitive value-added forest economy; creating healthier, more resilient forests to protect communities from wildfire; forging partnerships to compete in global markets; and protecting watersheds, biodiversity, and wildlife through responsible stewardship.
At the centre of Parmar’s remarks was the concept of a working forest — a defined land base characterized by certainty and long-term predictability, driven by sustainable, full-rotation management. He described it as a new vision for forestry in BC, one that works for investors, businesses, logging contractors, and workers, and that must be built together with First Nations as stewards of the land. He drew an analogy to how the province designates and protects agricultural land and provincial parks, suggesting the working forest concept could be formalized in a similar way. The goal, he said, is systemic change — not a silver bullet, but a shift built from the cumulative work of reviews already completed, aimed at providing predictable fibre flow and the stability needed for industry to grow.
Several significant investments already underway across the province were cited as evidence of confidence in BC’s sector, spanning major capital commitments in mass timber, value-added manufacturing, and coastal operations. Parmar said these investments reflect the work companies and nations are doing every day for their workers and communities, and that the ministry’s job is to make it easier for more of them to follow.
On the policy and legislative front, Parmar highlighted Bill 14, the Four Statutes Amendment Act, introduced in the Legislature the previous week, which he said is focused on three things: expanding the types of contracts that can be auctioned through BC Timber Sales, fast-tracking salvage of damaged and fire-impacted timber, and bringing a full-rotation approach to forest stewardship for BCTS tenures. He said the legislative changes are projected to unlock approximately 800,000 cubic metres of additional fibre. He also announced that the BC Timber Sales value-added manufacturing program is being extended to BC custom cutters, expanding eligibility to a broader group of manufacturers across the province. BC Timber Sales, he said, has already seen a 30% increase in volume sold comparing Q3 of last year to Q3 of this year.
On federal engagement, Parmar said the November forestry summit hosted by Premier Eby produced a new joint federal-provincial table, which has already met several times and resulted in federal announcements on liquidity assistance, a loan guarantee program, diversification support, and changes to federal procurement to buy more Canadian wood. He also referenced leading the largest trade mission to Asia in BC’s forestry history in November — to Japan and South Korea — where three MOUs were signed, and the opening of a new Forestry Innovation Investment office in the UK.
When Haakstad asked about the trade mission’s key takeaway, Parmar said the message heard clearly from Japanese customers was that they love BC’s product and consider it the most sustainable available — but that it is an expensive product. For Leine, the trade mission reinforced what her industry experience had already made clear — that the Ministry of Forests has a direct role to play in reducing the costs operators face, including the cost and efficiency of the permitting process itself. She said the ministry has been conducting detailed analysis of those costs, including inconsistencies across district offices in what is charged and required, and that a report was finalized for internal use during the week of the convention, with an action plan to follow.
On tenure obligation costs — which Haakstad noted have increased more than 50% since 2017 — Parmar said the ministry has been working with industry groups across the province on a detailed administrative review of the permitting process and what is driving costs. He said steps to reduce those costs will be announced in the coming weeks. Leine added that the review encompasses not only what licensees are charged but also non-legal or voluntary obligations that are adding cost, inconsistencies in expectations across the province, and whether district managers have the support and direction they need to make decisions efficiently.
On DRIPA and the question of who has final say on logging approvals, Parmar said the ultimate decision-maker is the statutory decision-maker under the Forest Act, and that his expectation of the ministry is to fulfill its constitutional obligation under Section 35 and then make a decision. He said his ask of industry is to continue forging partnerships with First Nations and to submit permits. On the broader DRIPA question, he said there is no intention in forestry to walk away from the work of reconciliation, describing such a move as detrimental and stating that walking away from the table would leave the sector in an even more difficult position. He said the relationships he has built with First Nations chiefs across the province have shown him that nations want to build partnerships with government, not oppose it. He also said his direction to the ministry is that industry must be at the table from day one in Forest Landscape Planning processes — not brought in partway through.
On the harvest forecast, Parmar addressed the Budget 2026 projection of 30 million cubic metres for the next three years, clarifying that the number is set by the Ministry of Finance, not the Ministry of Forests, and reflects current lumber prices and US housing demand. He said his goal is not to hit 30 million but to reach the 45 million cubic metre target in his mandate letter. He framed land stability as the foundational requirement — without a stable land base, neither the primary sector nor the value-added sector can function — and said the working forest concept is ultimately what gets harvesting moving across the province.
Leine described the ministry’s approach to fibre flow as operating on three tiers simultaneously. The first is immediate — maintaining funding and support to keep the sector functioning through the current tariff and economic pressures. The second is unlocking timber supply through management unit reviews that identify what is holding fibre up on the ground and how to address it. The third is the longer-term systemic change represented by the working forest. She said the most important work across all three tiers will require genuine collaboration in the areas where conservation measures, economics, and strained relationships are all factors.
Drafted with the assistance of digital tools to streamline the process.