From Export Crisis to National Building Boom

From Export Crisis to National Building Boom: A Call for Canadian Vision

The recent analysis in Business in Vancouver [1] on the profound challenges facing British Columbia's lumber industry is both stark and illuminating. For years, we have sold over 90% of our softwood lumber exports to a single, increasingly protectionist market: the United States [1]. As global markets evolve and our primary customer erects tariffs, the industry is rightly urged to adapt by 'going metric' to compete in Europe and beyond [1].

However, this conversation focuses myopically on finding new customers abroad for the same commodity product. We are missing a transformative opportunity that is literally sitting in our own backyard. The call to 'go metric' shouldn't just be about surviving global trade—it should be the catalyst for a bold, national strategy: using our world-class timber resources to build a modern, resilient, and prosperous Canada from the ground up.

Seizing the Moment: A Three-Part Vision for Our Timber

The Canadian challenge—a housing crisis, the need for green infrastructure, and an industry at a crossroads—is actually a single, cohesive opportunity. Here is how we can leverage our lumber for our own national development.

1. Fuel the Domestic Prefab and Mass Timber Revolution
The most powerful outlet for our retooled timber is Canada's own burgeoning prefabricated and mass timber construction sector. Modern modular homes, multi-unit residential buildings, schools, and commercial properties are engineered with precision. By shifting our mills to metric production, we are not just preparing for Europe; we are optimizing our lumber for the exact specifications of our own advanced manufacturing processes.

This isn't about sawing 2x4s. As the article notes, this requires a sophisticated, 'European-style log merchandising system' using technology to sort and batch logs for specific, high-value products [1]. Those products should be cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, glue-laminated beams, and precision-engineered components for Canadian factories. We should use the $500 million in available federal funding not just to export smarter, but to create a closed-loop supply chain from our sustainable forests to our state-of-the-art housing factories and commercial construction sites [1].

2. Build the Homes and Communities Canada Needs
We have a historic shortage of homes. The solution is not just to build more, but to build better, faster, and more sustainably. By aligning our lumber production with our domestic construction needs, we can:

• Accelerate Construction: Provide a reliable, standardized supply of materials for the modular homes that can be built in weeks, not years.

• Improve Affordability: Achieve economies of scale by creating a stable, large-scale domestic market, reducing costs for developers and homebuyers.

• Lead on Sustainability: Build with wood, a renewable resource that stores carbon. Mass timber buildings are a cornerstone of green building policy and a point of national pride.

  • Create Diverse Housing: Our retooled industry can produce lumber optimized for everything from single-family homes and backyard suites to mid-rise apartments and large-scale community hubs.

3. Create a Resilient, Future-Proof Industry
Chasing volatile global commodity markets is a precarious business. Building a stable domestic market for high-value engineered wood products creates long-term certainty. This strategy future-proofs our forestry sector, transforming it from a bulk exporter of raw materials into a high-tech, value-added partner in national development. It creates skilled jobs in forestry technology, advanced manufacturing, engineering, and construction—right here at home.

A Call to Action for Policy Makers and Industry Leaders

The directive is clear. As we rightly consider helping our sawmills adapt to global competition, we must simultaneously and with greater urgency catalyze the domestic demand that will make that adaptation a roaring success.

• Federal and Provincial Governments: The housing and infrastructure funds, innovation grants (like the $500 million transformation fund), and green procurement policies must be explicitly tied to the use of domestically sourced, value-added wood products [1]. Create the demand, and the supply will innovate to meet it.

• Forestry Industry Leaders: Look beyond the next overseas shipment. Partner with prefab manufacturers, architects, and developers. Invest in the technology to produce not just lumber, but the building blocks of Canada's future cities and towns.

• Builders and Developers: Champion wood construction. Specify Canadian-made mass timber and engineered wood, and work with suppliers to streamline the pipeline from forest to finished building.

The path forward is not just about surviving a trade crisis. It is about choosing to thrive by building our own nation with our greatest natural resource. Let's not just go metric for the world. Let's retool, reimagine, and rebuild for Canada.

References

[1] Business in Vancouver. (2026, January 15). Why B.C.’s lumber industry may need to go metric to survive. Retrieved from https://www.biv.com/news/resources-agriculture/why-bcs-lumber-industry-may-need-to-go-metric-to-survive-11736393

[2] Prefab Solutions. (n.d.). The Modularity Blog. Retrieved from https://prefabsolutions.ca/prefab-home-resources-the-modularity-blog