British Columbia’s forest sector is warning that it has reached a critical point and is calling on Premier David Eby’s government to take immediate action to prevent further damage across the industry.
In a joint letter to the B.C. premier, organizations representing workers, manufacturers, contractors, communities and businesses across the province’s forest sector are urging the government to establish a Forestry Crisis Action Group led by the Premier’s Office.
The proposed group would bring together senior government decision-makers and representatives from across the forest sector, with a straightforward mandate: get economically viable wood moving, reduce costs, remove regulatory barriers, stabilize fibre supply, protect operating businesses and retain — rather than retrain — British Columbia’s skilled forestry workforce.
The call comes after the federal Forest Sector Transformation Task Force confirmed concerns that industry has been raising for some time: many of the most serious problems facing Canadian forestry are “homegrown.”
International trade pressures remain outside the province’s direct control. However, the organizations argue that many of the conditions determining whether B.C. forestry companies can continue operating are directly influenced by provincial decisions.
British Columbia therefore has both the authority and the responsibility to act, the groups say.
The federal task force has also recommended creating a Canadian Forest Management Office. In the view of the organizations signing the letter, a B.C. Forestry Crisis Action Group could give the province a coordinated mechanism for advancing its priorities with that federal office and ensuring that federal initiatives reflect the immediate realities confronting B.C. producers, workers and communities.
An international trade crisis is putting additional pressure on B.C.
The need for provincial action has become even more urgent following the breakdown of Canada-U.S. trade discussions and the introduction of new 50 per cent Section 338 tariffs.
Canadian softwood lumber is already facing combined U.S. duties and tariffs of more than 45 per cent. The Section 338 measures now broaden that high-tariff environment to a much wider range of Canadian forest products and building materials.
The affected products include plywood, engineered wood products, pulp, paper and other value-added products.
B.C. companies cannot determine U.S. trade policy. They can, however, be affected by decisions made within British Columbia concerning operating costs, regulations, policies, permitting processes and access to fibre.
Those domestic factors can determine whether a company is able to withstand the additional pressure created by international trade measures.
The sector says it cannot absorb those pressures indefinitely.
The problem is also no longer confined to one part of the forestry industry. The entire value chain is exposed, including harvesting and transportation, primary manufacturing, pulp and paper, engineered wood, value-added manufacturing, silviculture and forest management.
With the industry already dealing with a major international trade crisis, the organizations are calling for a government response that matches the scale and urgency of the situation.
Forestry could help B.C. address both fiscal and wildfire challenges
The forest sector’s case for immediate action also comes as British Columbia confronts a significant fiscal challenge.
The province has acknowledged an error in its natural-gas revenue forecasts that is expected to reduce government revenues by approximately $300 million annually, or roughly $1.46 billion over five years.
Industry representatives argue that forestry has the potential to help offset a substantial portion of that loss.
B.C.’s current fiscal plan assumes an annual Crown timber harvest of approximately 29 million cubic metres. The industry believes that, with immediate government action, the province could move toward an economically sustainable harvest of approximately 45 million cubic metres annually.
The government has already identified the path toward a 45-million-cubic-metre annual harvest as a major project.
On April 9, 2025, the minister of forests confirmed in the Legislature that the objective was being advanced alongside the province’s other priority projects through a deputy ministers’ committee.
The organizations are now asking the government to turn that commitment into immediate decisions, coordinated action between ministries and measurable results.
The Council of Forest Industries, or COFI, has estimated that raising the harvest to approximately 45 million cubic metres could generate nearly $600 million in additional annual government revenue.
At the same time, such an increase could put British Columbians back to work, support contractors and communities, preserve manufacturing capacity and generate additional economic activity throughout the province.
That potential annual revenue would be roughly twice the amount the province currently expects to lose because of the natural-gas forecasting shortfall.
The organizations say this makes the forest sector particularly relevant at a time when the province needs new sources of revenue.
But the argument extends beyond government finances.
The forest sector also has the capabilities needed to help B.C. respond to the province’s rapidly increasing wildfire risk and make forests and communities more resilient.
For that to happen, however, the industry must be able to operate effectively and efficiently.
One immediate priority is accelerating salvage permits so wildfire-damaged timber can be put to productive use as quickly as possible.
The organizations also stress the importance of investing in silviculture and forest management to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires before they happen.
Their position is clear: prevention is considerably cheaper than response.
The industry is not simply asking the province for financial assistance. Instead, it is asking government to reinvest in the forest resource and remove barriers that fall within its own control.
Doing so, the organizations argue, would allow forestry to generate additional government revenue, support healthy forests, protect communities and thousands of jobs, and strengthen British Columbia’s wider economy.
At a time when the province urgently needs revenue, they question the logic of leaving burned or economically viable Crown timber standing because of avoidable permitting delays, administrative obstacles or policies that make harvesting uneconomic.
First priority: Do no further harm
According to the organizations, the first immediate step should be straightforward: freeze any new provincial fees, taxes, charges or government-imposed cost increases affecting B.C.’s forest sector for as long as the current international trade crisis continues.
Forestry companies are already absorbing extraordinary costs linked to trade measures beyond their control.
Adding new domestic costs, the groups argue, would further weaken the competitiveness of B.C. operations at precisely the wrong time.
They are therefore calling for an immediate review of planned provincial cost increases, with any measures that would further undermine companies already struggling to remain operational deferred.
Second priority: Get the wood moving
The next step should be an immediate province-wide triage of permitting and fibre opportunities.
The organizations say economically viable timber opportunities exist that could support existing mills, manufacturers, contractors and workers, but some are being delayed by permitting requirements, approval processes and unresolved administrative barriers.
They want the government to establish a senior, cross-ministry permitting and fibre triage team with the authority to identify those opportunities, address barriers and make decisions quickly.
The objective should be simple: identify timber that can be harvested both economically and responsibly, and get it moving.
That would include accelerating ready-to-sell BC Timber Sales volumes, advancing permits capable of generating near-term fibre and expediting wildfire salvage permits.
The process should also address delivered log costs and administrative bottlenecks while prioritizing opportunities that can protect existing manufacturing operations and employment.
The organizations stress that such an approach does not mean reducing environmental standards, weakening consultation obligations or compromising responsible forest management.
Instead, they are asking for greater urgency, coordination and accountability in decisions that they consider essential to the province’s economic future.
Industry outlines an immediate action plan
The organizations are asking Premier Eby’s government to take six immediate steps.
First, they want the province to convene a Forestry Crisis Action Group immediately, led by the Premier’s Office and involving representatives from across B.C.’s forest sector, as well as all ministries and agencies whose decisions materially affect forestry operations, competitiveness and fibre supply.
Second, they want the province to deliver on its existing major-project commitment by increasing the economically viable harvest from the current projection of approximately 29 million cubic metres toward 45 million cubic metres.
Third, they are calling for an immediate freeze on new provincial fees, taxes, charges and government-imposed cost increases affecting the forest sector while the current international trade crisis continues.
Fourth, they want an immediate permitting and fibre triage process, led by senior officials and involving industry and First Nations, to identify and resolve barriers preventing economically viable timber from reaching B.C. manufacturers.
Fifth, within 30 days, the government should release a public Forest Sector Crisis Action Plan setting out specific measures, the ministers responsible for delivering them and firm implementation timelines. The plan should identify actions that can be completed during the first month, as well as measures that will be implemented before the end of the year.
Finally, the province should report publicly and regularly on progress, including the additional timber brought to market, permits advanced, barriers removed, facilities kept operating, jobs protected and additional government revenues generated.
Retain workers instead of waiting to retrain them
For the organizations behind the letter, protecting workers cannot simply mean providing support after another mill, manufacturing facility or contracting business has already closed.
The priority, they argue, must be preventing those closures wherever possible.
That means retaining the skilled workers, contractors, manufacturers, businesses and industrial infrastructure that British Columbia will need in the future.
Once that capacity disappears, rebuilding it would be extraordinarily difficult.
Every day that passes without stable and predictable access to economically viable timber increases the risk facing B.C. businesses, workers, families and forest-dependent communities.
The organizations acknowledge that the long-term transformation of the forest sector remains important.
But they argue that the province can no longer rely primarily on incremental measures, studies and long-term transformation plans while the industry faces an immediate crisis.
British Columbia is in the middle of a major international trade challenge.
The immediate priority, they say, must be keeping British Columbians working, getting economically viable wood into the supply chain, keeping B.C. manufacturing facilities operating and generating revenue for the province.
The organizations say they are prepared to work constructively with Premier Eby and his cabinet to stabilize the sector, protect employment and restore British Columbia’s global competitiveness.
They are also requesting an urgent meeting with the premier to establish the proposed Forestry Crisis Action Group.
Their message to the province is direct: the industry wants to move from discussion to action.
British Columbia has the wood. It has the skilled workforce, world-class manufacturers, contractors and technology, as well as customers looking for the essential forest products produced in the province.
At a time when the industry is confronting an unprecedented international trade challenge and the province is facing growing fiscal pressure, the organizations argue that forestry can be part of the solution to both.
Forestry helped build British Columbia.
Now, they say, British Columbia must act to secure forestry’s future.
Sincerely,
Kim Haakstad, COFI
Brian Menzies, IWPA
Todd Chamberlain, ILA
Peter Lister, TLA
John Nester, NWLA
Ted Dergousoff, ILMA
Lennard Joe, FNFC
Jeff Bromley, USW
Gord Chipman, Woodlots BC
Jennifer Gunter, BC Community Forests Association
Megan Hanacek, PFLA
Joe Nemeth, Pulp and Paper Coalition
Brian Hawrysh, BC Wood
John Betts, Western Forestry Contractors Association
Bhavjit Thandi, BC Plywood & Veneer Coalition
