Natural Resources

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources met to study the state of the forest industry, hearing from four witnesses: Rick Jeffery of the Canadian Wood Council, Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl, University of Alberta professor Robert Froese, and TorchLight Bioresources managing director Jamie Stephen.

Rick Jeffery argued that the most affordable housing typology is a light wood-frame mid-rise building and that mass timber buildings up to 18 storeys are becoming cost-competitive. He said increasing domestic wood use could consume an additional two billion board feet of lumber, representing a major market diversification opportunity. Jeffery recommended that the government create a pipeline of projects through Build Canada Homes, de-risk investment in factory-built housing, fix procurement to match factory construction, and adopt a buy-Canadian procurement policy that specifies wood products. He noted that the $11 billion in softwood lumber duties held by the U.S. has impaired the industry's ability to reinvest.

Kermit Dahl described the systemic decline of British Columbia's forestry sector, citing a drop in stumpage fees from $1.5 billion to $550 million, the closure of nine coastal mills since 2018, and the loss of 5,400 jobs since 2022. He said 40% of coastal pulp mill fibre is now imported from the U.S. due to a chip supply shortage. Dahl called for a fair softwood lumber agreement, streamlined regulatory processes, timely federal support, and market diversification. He disagreed with any suggestion that the industry is unsustainable, noting that only a fraction of the allowable cut is being harvested and that 11 million hectares of old-growth timber remain standing.

Robert Froese testified that Canadian forests are resilient and that well-managed working forests are renewed faster than nature alone achieves. He argued that the recent mega-fires are a predictable consequence of decades with too little active management and that a strong forest industry is essential for reducing hazardous fuels and maintaining forest health. Froese warned that losing the tools to keep forests healthy should be a major concern, as active management is difficult without revenue-generating opportunities, and that forests left alone will eventually burn and release their carbon back to the atmosphere.

Jamie Stephen stated that Canada's forest industry has lost 150,000 jobs over 22 years and that annual timber harvest has declined by almost 50%. He argued that Canada's largest climate problem is wildfire emissions, which in 2023 alone emitted three billion tonnes of CO2, more than four times annual anthropogenic emissions. Stephen recommended focusing on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), noting that Canada is the lowest-cost jurisdiction for generating carbon dioxide removals and that this represents a major export opportunity. He said the key barrier is access to electricity grids, which is a provincial jurisdiction, and suggested that federal offtake agreements for carbon removals could help drive investment.

The committee debated a motion from Richard Martel that would report to the House condemning U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber and calling on the government to fulfill its election promise to negotiate a win for workers. Claude Guay moved to adjourn the debate, which was agreed to.