Ottawa's $6.5B forestry package has no B.C. share yet, as mills keep closing
Federal money starts flowing no earlier than mid-2027, but Ottawa has not said how much reaches B.C., which has lost about 15,000 forest jobs since 2022.
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Ottawa has pledged $6.5 billion over six years to the forestry sector, but has not said how much will reach British Columbia. Forest sector jobs in B.C. have been lost since 2022, according to the BC Council of Forest Industries, which attributes the closures to plummeting lumber prices and American tariffs.
Federal funding will not start flowing until at least the middle of next year. The money breaks down into $4 billion for a "forestry sector accelerator" for large facilities and transformations, $2 billion to help businesses modernize and expand, and half a billion dollars to strengthen fibre supply chains and forest management.
B.C. has lost at least 20 mills, permanently or indefinitely, in the last three years. The Truck Loggers Association says companies are shutting down and laying off workers. Its executive director, Peter Lister, said, "It's really an urgent situation and we really need action right away."
The BC Council of Forest Industries wants federal measures to complement provincial efforts to get wood moving to mills. Kim Haakstad, speaking for the council, said the federal measures should "compliment the provincial efforts Premier-elect Doerkson has been talking about." Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson welcomed the budget and said he hopes B.C. gets most of the funding.
How much of the $6.5 billion will go to B.C., and when will the province learn the split?
What would the federal measures need to do to get wood moving to mills within the next month or two?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
