On behalf of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), it is my pleasure to welcome you to today’s Mid-Sized Communities Luncheon during the Annual Convention of the Union of BC Municipalities.
Forest operations in BC really value the relationships they have with local governments and municipal associations as well as with individual Mayors, Councillors, and Staff.
We welcome the opportunity to be part of today’s luncheon and want to begin by recognizing that it is being held on the traditional territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations — and by thanking them for for hosting us.
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Many of you in this room know the forest industry well.
Many of your communities rely on the jobs and tax revenues that forestry brings to your communities.
We are a province covered in trees.
Which means that everyone who lives here also relies on the important environmental values and benefits provided by BC’s forests: like … clean air and clean water, habitat for wildlife and other ecosystems, recreation and respite.
Forestry has been a big part of BC’s history.
And as a renewable industry – making low carbon products that demand is growing for locally and globally — forestry in BC should have an equally big part to play in the province’s future.
- Because we can make products like manufactured wood for building more resilient, affordable, and beautiful homes and buildings.
- And we can make products from wood waste and other organic debris that can provide energy and biodegradable materials for everyday living.
COFI released a new study this week that looks at how forestry touches communities across the province and employs British Columbians in a wide array of jobs and services. Here are a few numbers from that study:
- In 2022, forest industry supply chains engaged some 10,000 suppliers and vendors across BC, resulting in $6.6 Billion in local expenditures on goods and services.
- Spending going to local Indigenous-affiliated vendors is one of the fastest growing components in BC’s forestry supply chain – up by 40% in 2022 over the previous two years – for a total of $326 Million.
And those numbers don’t include another $6B-plus in government revenues and 48,000 direct good paying jobs – of which Indigenous employment is similarly one of the fastest growing components.
Nor do they include $15 Billion in forest products exports — that account for 25% of all BC’s exports and are fundamental to the economic well-being that comes from the fact that as a province we export more than we import.
But enough with the numbers.
The point is … there is a strong case to be made that when BC’s forest industry is performing well, it benefits everyone who lives here.
However, I am willing to bet most of you know that the industry is not performing well right now.
Mills are closing — 10,000 jobs were lost last year, and more job losses are occurring this year.
And the people who are hardest hit by this downward trajectory are the workers, their families and the communities that are on the front line of changes now reshaping the sector.
What are some of factors driving those changes?
In a nutshell: high costs, low prices, regulatory complexity, uncertainty over harvest levels, changes to forest make-up and function due to climate and wildfires. And as if all of that weren’t enough we – plus … US tariffs on BC lumber that doubled last month and — if something isn’t done — are on track to double again by this time next year.
So, it is not surprizing that there is a lot of concern right now about what is happening in the BC forest sector.
Not only among forest companies, but also among workers, communities, First Nations, and governments at all levels – as well as across the supply chains, infrastructure, and technologies that are integral to the future of forestry and manufacturing in the province.
The pathway forward from here is one of the topics under discussion at this year’s UBCM. I counted more than a dozen resolutions on forestry related issues. I urge you to care about and lean into those discussions.
Because there are solutions on the table. We just need to get on with them while there is still time to chart our own course from here.
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On the topic of solutions, I want to leave you with this perspective.
I have had the opportunity in my career to work on forestry and conservation projects in Asia, Africa, the US, and Europe.
And I can assure you that, by any standard of measure, BC forestry has enormous potential for a strong and diversified future based on pathways we have already begun to forge in this province on conservation, sustainable forest management, Indigenous rights and reconciliation, and technological innovation.
Right now, we’re in a highly challenging and concerning time. But amidst the disruption it is important to not lose sight of the fact that we are also on the verge of a new era in BC forestry.
We are embracing Indigenous forestry and exploring innovative approaches and technologies for forest management and fibre utilization that can restore our forests’ capacity for resiliency to wildfires while diversifying the products that can be made from them.
These are opportunities that are not only exciting locally but are also groundbreaking globally.
BUT … we need a thriving forest sector in BC to go after them.
And we need you.
COFI and many other forest sector representatives are here at UBCM this year. We have a booth in the trade show with the First Nations Forestry Council that you are welcome to stop by. And we are hosting a reception tomorrow night, that you would also be welcome to stop by.
I encourage you to reach out to let us know what your communities see as solutions.
And I promise you that if we can stop the current decline and stabilize harvest levels, the forest sector in BC is up for change and moving forward.
And I am using the term forest sector in the broadest sense here – meaning industry but also workers, contractors, supply chains, Indigenous and local communities, universities and technical schools, and government agencies.
Because this is an all-hands-on-deck moment. If we can work together, forestry in BC has the skills, the capacity – and the motivation — to make new solutions happen on the ground.
Thank you.