Wood Products Manufacturing

• Structural lumber (SPF)
• Oriented strand board (OSB)
• Engineered wood products
• Wood pellets
• Prefabricated wood components

1. 1

   Accelerate mass timber and engineered wood product development

2. 2

   Diversify into Asian and European export markets for specialty wood products

3. 3

   Invest in forest management and reforestation to secure long-term fibre supply

4. 4

   Develop integrated biorefinery operations to extract value from residuals

5. 5

   Pursue WTO dispute resolution on softwood lumber countervailing duties

Softwood lumber remains outside CUSMA's duty-free framework due to the longstanding bilateral dispute over Canadian provincial stumpage pricing. Countervailing duties averaging 14.5% and anti-dumping duties of approximately 7% apply to most Canadian softwood lumber exports to the US. Each CUSMA review cycle risks further escalation of this multi-decade trade irritant.

British Columbia and Quebec sawmills are heavily dependent on US housing starts for demand. Mountain pine beetle damage has reduced BC timber supply, concentrating production risk. Transportation bottlenecks at Pacific ports and rail corridors create delivery reliability challenges for both domestic and export markets.

Canadian producers compete with US Pacific Northwest and Southern Yellow Pine producers, as well as European imports. Canada's mass timber innovation, particularly in cross-laminated timber (CLT), provides differentiation in commercial construction. Climate-driven forest management challenges are restructuring the competitive landscape across all producing regions.