Budget 2026 pledges $6.5 billion for forestry, with no word yet on B.C.'s share

The federal budget handed down Thursday proposes $6.5 billion over six years for the forestry sector, but it gives no figure for British Columbia, which accounts for 29 per cent of the national sector's GDP, the largest share in Canada.

The largest piece is $4 billion for a new "forestry sector accelerator," aimed at large facilities and major transformations of existing ones, including biorefineries, biofuel facilities and other higher-value forest product operations. Another $2 billion would help forest businesses modernize and expand, and $500 million would go toward fibre supply chains and forest management.

The budget's figures are proposals, not money already approved or disbursed.

BC Council of Forest Industries president Kim Haakstad said the funding cannot resolve the strain on the industry's competitiveness on its own. She called for "a clear strategy with concrete actions and timelines" to get more wood moving and protect jobs and communities. Outgoing B.C. forests minister Ravi Parmar called the federal money a "good start" and said B.C. "needs to get its fair share."

The province's share has not been set. Residents of the North Shore, Richmond and the Fraser Valley will learn it only when Ottawa breaks the $6.5 billion down by province, a figure the budget does not yet provide.