Using trees from Crown forests for commercial purposes
How to get a licence or supply agreement to use trees from Crown forests for commercial purposes.
The law
By law, to use trees from Crown forests for commercial purposes, you need to have either:
- a Sustainable Forest Licence;
- a Forest Resource Licence;
- a wood supply agreement from the Crown, or;
- an arrangement to buy trees from an existing licensed harvester
Source law
You can find a set of rules related to the use of trees from Crown forests in the:
- Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994
- Ontario Regulation 167/95
- Order in Council 993/95
- Declaration Order MNR-71
Sustainable Forest Licence
A Sustainable Forest Licence (SFL) allows you to harvest trees within a defined management area for a period of 20 years. SFLs cover large areas of land and come with a high degree of responsibility for forest management and forest management planning.
With a SFL, you:
- can harvest and use all Crown trees available on the licence area with the exception of volumes that may be reserved for other users
- are responsible for forest management activities on the licensed area, including:
- forest management planning
- forest renewal
- compliance monitoring of harvest and renewal activities
- must follow certain terms and conditions
- must conduct harvest operations that are consistent with an approved forest management plan
How to get a Sustainable Forest Licence
To get started, contact the:
Timber Allocation and Licensing Section
Suite 400, 70 Foster Drive
Sault Ste Marie ON P6A 6V5
Phone:
Forest Resource Licence
A Forest Resource licence (FRL) allows you to harvest trees, generally within a smaller area of land than a SFL for a period of up to 5 years.
With a FRL, you:
- can harvest and use all Crown trees available on the licence area with the exception of volumes that may be reserved for other users
- are not responsible for forest management activities other than harvesting and associated road construction
- must follow certain terms and conditions
- must conduct harvest operations that are consistent with an approved forest management plan
How to get a Forest Resource Licence
To get started, contact your local ministry work centre.
Wood supply agreement
A licensed facility (mill) can get trees through a supply agreement with the Crown.
A supply agreement:
- is a legal arrangement between the Crown and a mill where a specific amount (volume) of Crown owned trees, from specific forest management units, are made available for use for a specified time period
- provides access to a secure supply of wood to a mill
- requires harvest licence (SFL, FRL) holders to make the specified trees available to the supply agreement holder (mill) through a mutually beneficial business arrangement
- contains terms and conditions that must be met by the agreement holder
How to get a supply agreement
To get started, contact the:
Timber Allocation and Licensing Section
Suite 400, 70 Foster Drive
Sault Ste Marie ON P6A 6V5
Phone:
Buy trees
You can enter into business arrangements with existing licence (SFL or FRL) holders to obtain trees through direct purchase agreements or contracts (short or long term). In this circumstance, the Crown is not involved in the transaction.