B.C. gov’t proposes legislative changes to increase wood fibre supply | CBC News
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The B.C. government says it’s making legislative changes to bolster access to wood fibre, including timber damaged by wildfires, insects and windstorms.
The Ministry of Forests says the changes will potentially increase the supply of fibre by as much as 17,700 truckloads, and the changes will allow the B.C. Timber Sales agency to auction off contracts for forestry thinning, wildfire risk reduction and damaged timber salvage.
A statement from the ministry says these “fibre-generating activities” will be available to forestry contractors and value-added mills.
It says the new amendments to the Forest Act and Forest and Range Practices Act will create more opportunities for loggers and contractors while strengthening partnerships with First Nations.
B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar is in Ottawa pushing the federal government to prioritize a softwood lumber deal with the U.S. That’s as a U.S. lumber lobby group praises the Trump administration for reducing ‘harmful’ Canadian imports with the use of tariffs.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the changes will matter for mill workers who will see a “steady stream of timber,” and local companies and communities that depend on the province’s forestry sector.
B.C.’s forestry industry has been facing a shortage of fibre as the Wood Pellet Association of Canada said in 2025 that the fibre supply has fallen more than 40 per cent since 2018, leaving B.C. operating at roughly 60 per cent of the sustainable harvest level set by the province’s independent chief forester.
The industry has taken major hits over the last few years, as escalating U.S. duties on softwood lumber imports have piled atop challenges like a major beetle infestation and wildfires, leading to thousands of jobs lost.
Kurt Niquidet with the B.C. Council of Forest Industries said in 2024 that local and global demand for wood products to build more affordable housing is growing, but the forestry industry is also facing a “critical shortage” of timber for B.C. mills.
Jeff Bromley, wood council chair with the United Steelworkers, said the changes are a positive step in helping the union’s membership and the industry weather the crisis.
“We can’t control Trump and the U.S. tariffs and we can’t control the economy but the minister’s announcement will improve the availability of fibre for our operations, especially at the coast and in the Prince George region,” Bromley said in the ministry’s statement.
After U.S. President Donald Trump imposed punishing tariffs on imported lumber, B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the country can no longer be the principal export destination for the province’s lumber sector. He says the province is setting up a forest trade office in the U.K. to diversify its exports in the region.