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In the face of President Trump’s tariff threats and rising countervailing duties on lumber, Jean-François Samray, CEO of the QFIC (Quebec Forestry Industry Council), argues that Quebec is ripe for a national construction strategy. We agree with him but believe we should go even further.
We need to make our industry more resilient. To achieve this, we support the idea of increasing the use of wood in building construction and giving greater consideration to the carbon footprint of buildings when issuing permits. We also support the proposal to amend the Quebec Building Code to facilitate the use of solid wood and engineered wood in high-rise buildings.
Churchill is reported to have said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” We should take advantage of our current crisis to go further. This situation is an opportunity to immediately invest in adapting our manufacturing strategy and securing the future of our industry.
We believe that the creation of a national construction strategy is an example of an action that could serve as an incubator for the large-scale development of a new niche industry that would put the revival of Quebec forestry on a more sustainable footing and benefit regions that rely on forestry.
Investment in the manufacture of a new generation of modular components and construction systems would strengthen our capacity for innovation in a high value-added sector. This model already exists, we just need to expand it. Regional workers are available and capable of doing so much more than just sending raw materials to construction sites in the big cities.
We have long recognized the structuring potential of diversifying the activities of forestry companies into secondary and tertiary processing markets, but we’ve never given ourselves the means to match our ambitions. The time has come to do just that.
But we need to think beyond the example of a national construction strategy. We cannot settle for piecemeal solutions. We need to develop and implement a global strategy of industrial innovation now. We need to develop new market segments by increasing our focus on added value. We need to take advantage of the millions of cubic metres of wood left behind in the forest under the current industry structure. We want a carefully considered strategy and strong action on the part of governments and industry.
This industrial transformation must be supported by a reform of forest management so that the new industry can count on a sustainable and predictable supply based, notably, on diversified and rigorous silvicultural strategies backed by a substantial financial framework.
Finally, to ensure sustainability and predictability, the forestry sector must be respectful of the support capacity of ecosystems as well as of biodiversity, while cultivating social peace in our woods and forests. Predictability and access to all the markets we seek to conquer depend on this.
These are some of the options we are considering in order to build a bright future for workers. Our unions have joined forces to organize a forest industry summit in the spring that will bring together all forestry sector stakeholders who wish to contribute to the advancement of these ideas.
Do we need to react to the tariff crisis? Yes! But we have to do so while following a well-thought-out plan that serves the long-term interests of forest communities. Let’s hope the Minister hears our message.
Signatories:
Daniel Cloutier, Unifor Quebec Director
Dominic Lemieux, United Steelworkers Quebec Director
Dominic Tourigny, Vice-President, Fédération de l’industrie manufacturière (FIM-CSN)
Luc Vachon, President, Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD)
