Success at a glance: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy 2024 progress report

September 2024

Message from the Minister

Our government began work on Sustainable Growth: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy over 5 years ago. This milestone is a chance to share what we’ve accomplished so far and point to the opportunities that lie ahead.

This report explains how our government is working to increase wood use, create jobs and build strong communities, while enhancing Ontario’s reputation as a world leader in sustainable forest management.

Our successes depend on collaboration with partners in the forest industry, Indigenous communities, academia, sectoral associations and municipalities. These groups helped us develop the Forest Sector Strategy and they continue to help us put it into action.

Together, we are taking vital steps to grow the forest sector, which generated $22.8 billion in revenue in 2022 and provided more than 137,000 jobs in 2023.

The Forest Sector Strategy’s goals are all the more urgent as forest sector businesses continue to adapt to the evolving markets. Our government is committed to the workers, families and communities that depend on the forest sector—and determined to realize our roadmap for forest sector success.

Our accomplishments in this report demonstrate our dedication to forest sector productivity, innovation, and sustainability. That commitment informs our investments through the Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation—and it inspired the launch of our Forest Biomass Program to support new and emerging uses of underutilized wood and mill by-products.

We are building forest sector resiliency and continuing our responsible stewardship of Ontario’s forests. The Forest Sector Strategy has guided our progress and it offers a trusted roadmap for the future.

I look forward to future collaboration and to establishing new partnerships that will unleash the potential of our forests—and our forest sector.

The Honourable Kevin Holland  
Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products

Overview

Ontario is recognized as a world leader in the production and distribution of material from its renewable, sustainable and responsibly managed forests. Sustainable Growth: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy is our long-term (10-year) strategy to support modernization, burden reduction and sustainability in the forest sector.

Now in its fourth year, the strategy will continue to build upon the sector’s world-class reputation. The implementation of the strategy is creating opportunities for greater economic prosperity, increased wood utilization and good-paying jobs, while supporting Indigenous, Northern and rural communities that depend on this sector.

This is the third progress update, following updates of September 2022 and September 2023.

Ontario’s forest industry and the economy

Ontario’s managed forests are the main source of raw materials required by the primary sector. The forest industry provided $5.5 billion to Ontario’s overall (GDP) in 2022 with total revenues of $22.8 billion. Ontario’s forest and wood products sector is unique in terms of having a large secondary and value-added sector, and high level of integration and dependency between mills.

Annual stats

• $5.5 billion contribution to the provincial GDP (2022 data)
• $22.8 billion total revenue of the forest sector (2022 data)
• $7.9 billion forest sector exports including $708 million wood furniture exports (2023 data)
• Over 137,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs (2023 data)

Forest Sector Strategy Committee

The Forest Sector Strategy Committee is a group with active interests and experience in the forest sector to provide input and support the implementation of Sustainable Growth: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy.

Looking ahead, the committee will be dedicated to monitoring implementation of the strategy and ensuring measurable progress is made toward achieving the goals outlined in the 4 pillars of the strategy.

Achievements

This document highlights actions achieved in the strategy and groups them under the following 6 themes:

1. Increasing wood utilization
2. Burden reduction
3. Cost competitiveness
4. Indigenous partnerships and capacity building
5. Workforce development
6. Growing markets

Increasing wood utilization

We are laying the foundation for the forest industry to increase wood utilization and close the gap between actual and available harvest, while keeping sustainability at the forefront of forest management decisions.

Ontario's Crown Forest (average annual) growth compared to available and actual harvest

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Increasing wood utilization will help the province’s mills, forest operators and the communities that rely on them. Ontario has taken action to increase wood utilization by:

• Launching a new Forest Biomass Program in June 2023 to help develop new and emerging uses of forest biomass, consisting of underutilized forest resources and mill by-products.
  • To date, the Forest Biomass Program has committed over $19.4 million to 41 research, innovation and modernization initiatives developing the untapped potential of forest biomass.
  • The Forest Biomass Program will invest an additional $60 million over the next 3 years in projects that will harvest more Crown wood, create forest sector jobs and regional economic growth and find new uses for wood in collaboration with stakeholders, industry and Indigenous communities.
• Producing several reports under the Forest Biomass Action Plan (FBAP) to benefit existing and new users of forest biomass. The reports cover a variety of topics that focus on commercial and technical readiness of bioproducts, market pathways for forest biomass, a scan of selected countries to learn what they are doing to help their respective bioeconomy, a socio-economic impact assessment of Ontario’s forest biomass and a forthcoming toolkit to assist Indigenous communities in building forest biomass utilization capacity.
• Releasing a draft Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan for public input. The plan will create forest sector opportunity by positioning Ontario to use more wood in the construction of mid-rise and tall multi-family residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
• Conducting the Ontario Southern Region Residual Survey under the FBAP to identify the types and volume of wood residues generated at sawmills and secondary wood manufacturing facilities in southern Ontario. Data analysis on the survey result is also completed.
• Investing $525,000 in 2023-24 through FPInnovations for research projects to make Ontario’s forest industry more competitive and increase the use of wood.
• Revising the Forest Management Planning Manual (FMPM) to ensure enhanced emphasis on wood supply during the planning process.
• Collecting more than 400,000 km² of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for Ontario’s managed forests since the program began in 2018. This data will support the production of light detection and ranging enhanced forest resource inventories, which will inform the development of forest management plans (FMP) that will be implemented between 2028 and 2037. The goal is to begin producing light detection and ranging-enhanced inventories by 2024 in accordance with the forest management planning schedule.
• Completing the first Ontario Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment, a multi-sector assessment of current and future climate change impacts across regions, which was released on August 25, 2023.
• Establishing the Wildfire Solutions Forum with forest industry and provincial wildfire leadership to improve the forest industry’s resilience. The forum promotes dialogue and collaboration by developing solutions to improve wildfire response, prevention, mitigation and forest industry business practices.
• Supporting the protection of boreal caribou and their habitat through the commitment of $29 million in funding over four years to support habitat restoration, protection and other conservation activities, including monitoring, science and research.
• Implementing a sustainable, multi-year insect pest management program to prevent and manage spruce budworm infestations in Northeastern Ontario. Since 2021, the ministry has treated over 500,000 hectares with a biological insecticide, including 160,000 hectares treated in 2023. These efforts will protect strategic wood supply and reduce fire hazard risk for community safety and wildlife habitat.

Burden reduction

We are amending and improving key operational and administrative processes. This will allow the industry to save time and money, bringing products to market with greater efficiency while maintaining high standards of sustainability. Ontario has reduced red tape and regulatory burden in the forest sector by:

• Revising the Forest Management Planning Manual, Forest Information Manual and Scaling Manual to modernize and streamline the forest management planning and wood measurement processes, facilitating the use of modern tools and technology and improving access to forest management planning information.
• Revising the Forest Management Planning Manual to provide a process for First Nation communities in Ontario’s far North to prepare and implement small-scale community-based FMPs to support economic development opportunities.
• Continuing with revisions to the Forest Management Guide for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales that would simplify direction around the classification of bird nests, lake and stream sensitivity and wildlife tree retention.
• Updating the Boreal Simulated Ranges of Natural Variation in support of the implementation and review of the Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes.
• Reviewing and updating the Professional Foresters Act based on changes proposed by the Ontario Professional Foresters Association to clarify the scope of practice in support of improved governance.
• Preparing for the development of strategic direction for managing forest pests in Ontario incorporating risk-based approaches to enhance responsiveness to outbreaks, help protect forest health and improve the resiliency of Ontario’s forests while raising awareness of forest pests and minimizing their socioeconomic impact.
• Developing a Wood Measurement Modernization Plan laying out actions that Ontario will undertake to modernize wood measurement.
• Modernizing delivery of the self-study portion of the Provincial Scaling Course by developing online learning modules for the Learning Compass (MNR’s virtual external-facing learning platform).
• Completing regulatory amendments to reduce burdens on forest industry in the authorization of personal use harvest by the public.
• Continuing to implement and improve the Natural Resources Information Portal, including service delivery modernization for forest management planning, aggregate resource management services and other natural resource approvals. The new portal:
  • Makes it easier and faster to exchange mandatory information with the forest and aggregate sectors, reduces costs and risks associated with outdated software, eliminates complex and confusing paper forms, and provides more effective online public engagement and access to natural resource management information.
  • Provides a digital-first approach and will be the central data repository to store submitted information, which will enable more efficient and cost-effective approval processes for forestry, aggregates and other resource approvals.

Cost competitiveness

We are reducing the cost to access wood supply and investing in innovative technologies to modernize and strengthen our forest sector. Ontario has improved forest sector competitiveness by:

• Approving 19 projects for close to $53 million in support under the Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program (FSIIP), creating 331 new jobs, retaining 2,900 existing jobs and leveraging $310 million in new investment. Examples include:
  • CHAR Technologies was approved for up to $6.4 million in funding to support a $28.6 million investment in Thorold, Ontario to commercialize a renewable natural gas (RNG) and biocarbon manufacturing facility—creating the largest facility of its kind in Canada and the only RNG facility in the country to exclusively use woody biomass as feedstock.
  • Distinctive Wood Products Incorporated was approved for $1 million in funding support for the $4.1 million investment into state-of-the-art automated sanding and painting equipment which will increase production by 40%, boost United States export sales by 289% and create 9 new jobs.
• Investing $52 million through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to create and retain forestry jobs by providing financial support for equipment, expansion and productivity across more than 240 projects. Examples include:
  • Northwind Transport Limited received $400,000 in funding support to increase capacity by investing in additional equipment, trailers, loader and freightliners.
  • KBM Forestry Consultants Incorporated received $400,000 in funding support for expansion of light detection and ranging equipment and aircrafts to stay competitive in the market.
  • Pineland Contracting Limited received $400,000 in funding support to expand existing operations to increase the in-house harvesting capacity from 150,000 m³ to 250,000 m³ to meet the needs of existing contracts.
  • Lecours Lumber Co. Limited received $400,000 in funding support for their sawmill expansion and sorting capacity improvements to improve efficiency. The new push type system will allow for higher sorting capacity from 95 pieces per minute to a potential 145 pieces per minute.
  • W. Lafrance Logging Limited received $371,000 in funding support to acquire machinery and equipment to control harvesting costs, ensure fibre delivery for harvest contracts and seek additional harvest contracts.
• Providing $53.2 million in funding in 2023-24 through the Provincial Forest Access Roads Funding Program to reimburse the forest industry for the government’s proportional fair share of the costs to build and maintain infrastructure to enable access to Crown forests for the forest industry and all other resource and recreational users. For 2024-25, the annual allocation for the Provincial Forest Access Roads Funding Program has been increased from $53.2 million to $59.2 million.
• Exploring transportation efficiencies, including the use of new productive trailer configurations developed through the FPInnovations forest operations program.
• Working with the Ministry of Transportation to consider the broad opportunities and impacts associated with connected and automated vehicles, particularly for the forest sector.
• Researching the use of light detection and ranging technology to assess the growth performance of regenerating stands. A canopy height model-based performance analysis tool is being developed that will enable forest managers to confirm regeneration growth assumptions while minimizing field survey requirements. This tool will ensure planning teams have accurate and timely information to evaluate yield expectations and inform the implementation of silviculture policy direction.
• Providing opportunities for biomass-fired electricity generating stations to negotiate new contracts for 5-year terms with the Independent Electricity System Operator. These contracts aim to balance benefits to the forestry sector and regional economies with the value for electricity ratepayers.
  • A contract for Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper Incorporated’s cogeneration facility expired in September 2023 and a new 5-year agreement has been executed.
• Extending gasoline and fuel tax rate cuts until December 31, 2024, to help keep business costs down for the forest industry.
• Implementing then extending Ontario’s Emissions Performance Standards program, replacing the more costly federal Output-Based Pricing System that was in place in Ontario from 2019 to 2021.
  • The program helps Ontario achieve emission reductions at a lower cost to industry than the federal program, while providing industry with the certainty it needs to continue to remain competitive.
• Launching the Emissions Performance Program in June 2024, a program that reinvests the compliance payments collected through the Emissions Performance Standards program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at eligible industrial facilities.
• Promoting a favourable business environment to attract investment, including acquisitions by the Paper Excellence Group, GreenFirst Forest Products Incorporated, First Quality, Atlas Holdings, LP Building Solutions and Interfor, maintaining permanent jobs in Northern Ontario and producing high-value forest products.
• Investing to keep facilities that use low-grade logs and sawmill residues open, as well as investing in the commercialization of new uses and users of forest biomass, including through:
  • Ontario’s Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program, which invests $10 million a year to help forestry companies develop and implement innovative technology and encourage innovation in products, services and processes to improve the competitiveness of the forest industry.
  • Ontario’s Forest Biomass Program, which has invested close to $20 million in forest sector success and will invest a further $60 million in the next 3 years in projects that use forest biomass.

Indigenous partnerships and capacity building

We are engaging and consulting with Indigenous communities and their members—they are important contributors, economic participants and leaders in Ontario’s forest sector, with constitutionally-protected rights that are exercised in forests. In support of Indigenous communities, Ontario has built capacity and created meaningful partnerships by:

• Working with Indigenous communities and providing funding support to build forest economic development strategies, wood supply plans, business plans, fibre supply planning for biomass heating systems, worker training, forestry career pathways and Indigenous business capacity building. Nine Indigenous projects were funded in 2023-24 to a total of $190,000, leveraging a further $90,000.
• Supporting Indigenous inclusion and participation in governance of managed forests; currently 50% of management units include Indigenous community shareholders or board directors on their forest management companies.
• Sharing over $149 million in forestry resource revenues with 41 First Nation communities and 2 Métis organizations since 2018.
• The Temagami Forest Management Corporation, established in 2021 to manage the Temagami Forest, is now Ontario's second local forest management corporation with representation on the board of directors from both Temagami First Nation and Timiskaming First Nation.
• Supporting Indigenous businesses and communities to become more active participants in the forest sector and lead the development of a forest bioeconomy through the Indigenous Bioeconomy Partnerships stream of the Forest Biomass Program.
  • Under this stream funding was provided to 12 projects for more than $2.6 million which is leveraging an additional $568,500 from other government funding.
• Developing a forthcoming Indigenous capacity building and skills development toolkit that identifies available capacity building supports and the supports required for Indigenous communities to capitalize on forest biomass opportunities through the Forest Biomass Action Plan.
• Supporting the Sustainable Forestry Initiative in collaboration with forest industry and Indigenous partners to develop a case study that examines positive, mutually-beneficial relationships in the forest sector and how this can support innovation and make forestry careers more attractive to Indigenous youth.

Workforce development

We are supporting forestry education and encouraging careers in the forest sector to address labour shortages. This includes highlighting the vast array of career opportunities and building awareness that Ontario’s forests are managed sustainably and responsibly. Ontario has supported workforce development in the sector by:

• Continuing the Forestry Heavy Equipment Simulator Loan Program, which has introduced 1,000 students to the career opportunities available operating forestry heavy equipment. Based on this success, a second simulator has been added to expand the program, and has been utilized by school boards, at job fairs and with Indigenous educational groups.
• Advancing education and career promotion efforts to highlight the diversity of meaningful jobs in forestry and its downstream sectors by supporting or promoting:
  • interactive presentations and tours that reached thousands of students 
  • educator webinars, workshops, and events targeting over 1,000 teachers.
  • new experiential learning resources developed in collaboration with key forestry education partners.
  • wood measurement career opportunities and scaler licensing at 3 forestry-themed colleges.
• Releasing Bridging the Bridging the Gap Between Ontario’s Youth and the Provincial Forest Sector with funding provided by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The research co-led by Forests Ontario and the Ontario Forest Industries Association explores forestry sector recruitment, retention and training.
• Working collaboratively with other ministries to explore challenges and solutions related to recruiting and retaining log truck drivers, such as discussing licensing recognition for new entrants to Canada with the Ministry of Transportation.
• Providing more than $2 million through the NOHFC since December 2019 to support 65 forestry-related internships. In early 2021, NOHFC launched the new People and Talent Program designed to attract, retain and develop Northern Ontario’s workforce by offering internships through an Indigenous stream and a workforce development stream through business partnerships.

Growing markets

We are maintaining and growing markets for Ontario-manufactured wood products, reaching new markets to maximize the use of available wood supply, promoting increased wood use in construction and raising awareness of Ontario’s sustainable forest management.

Ontario has expanded to new markets and helped grow the forest sector by:

• Managing potential new barriers to trade with the United States through early engagement and advocacy by:
  • increasing our efforts to identify potential new barriers before they become formalized into policy or law.
  • working with our partners to develop a more proactive stance, ensuring quick and effective engagement when and where it's needed.
• Continuing to work collaboratively with federal and provincial partners to help define key terms such as ‘forest degradation’ that currently do not have a standard and accepted definition and which can lead to confusion and misinterpretation in various trade-related legislation, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation.
• Addressing barriers to trade through ongoing participation in the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers’ Forest-in-Mind program to implement a Team Canada advocacy campaign with other provincial, federal and industry partners.
  • Ontario collaborated with fellow jurisdictions to update and develop new materials about sustainable forest management in Canada to support trade commissioners in their international engagement.
• Connecting small and medium-sized enterprises to growing global export markets by providing strategic advice, market intelligence and support for trade missions in diversified markets. Examples include:
  • an incoming bioeconomy-focused trade mission from Spain to foster new relationships and collaborate in the development of future opportunities.
  • an Ontario-led trade mission to India in 2023 has resulted in $200,000 in direct sales to date, with potential for an additional $2.7 million over the next year.
  • two incoming missions from Vietnam and India that helped highlight Ontario’s strength as a supplier of sustainable wood products.
• Creating awareness of wood and wood products grown and crafted in Ontario through the Ontario Wood program, which now has over 500 partners. This partnership program enables consumers and businesses in Ontario to recognize and identify Ontario-made products and supports the individuals and businesses that source and produce these goods as they bring them to market.
• Working collaboratively with Forests Ontario and industry partners on the #ItTakesAForest initiative to provide the public with fact-based information on Ontario’s forest sector. Provincial funding contributed to the creation of new forestry information sheets and social media campaigns, resulting in an increase in web traffic.
• Collaborating with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to remove regulatory barriers and support amendments to the Ontario Building Code allowing wood-based exit stair shafts.
• Providing support to multiple stakeholders such as the Canadian Wood Council, FPInnovations, Canadian Wood Construction Research Network, Mass Timber Institute, College of Carpenters and Allied Trades and others to support research, education and market acceptance and growth for mass timber and other wood-based building systems.
• Working with the Canadian Wood Council to develop and disseminate multiple technical resources such as the Guide to Encapsulated Mass Timber Construction in the Ontario Building Code and The Canadian Guide to Mid-Rise Wood Construction to support market acceptance and growth for wood-based building systems.
• Supporting engagement with fire services, municipal building officials, the insurance industry and other key building sector stakeholders to educate and disseminate resources related to wood and mass timber construction through tall wood building tours, webinars, industry association conferences and other venues to grow market share for Ontario’s value-added forest products.
• Working with the University of British Columbia to support the development of a lifecycle inventory for novel wood products to help with the lifecycle assessment of newer products and market segments like wood pellets and mass timber building components.
• Working with the steel industry to conduct a lifecycle assessment which would quantify the process carbon from wood required for steel production.
• Supporting the development and delivery of investment attraction tools to support investment in the mass timber and engineered wood products manufacturing sectors in Ontario, such as an ‘Opportunity Study of Hardwood-Based Engineered Wood Products’ and a ‘Business Case for Mass Timber Fabrication in Ontario’.
• Committing $444,000 in support of multiple wood construction research projects being undertaken through the Canadian Wood Construction Research Network, the Mass Timber Institute and the University of Toronto.