441-01842 (Environment)

Canada’s forests provide a wealth of environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits to Canadians. The forestry sector in Canada is governed by provincial legislation, regulations and policies. Through careful monitoring and planning, Canada’s forest sector manages the long-term health of its forests, both safeguarding these benefits in the face of challenges and finding new opportunities in a changing world.

Finding solutions also means working with Indigenous communities and leaders so that forest management and conservation practices are informed by Indigenous knowledge systems. Through the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is providing financial support to Indigenous-led projects and Indigenous-identified priorities in the forest sector. The IFI was recently renewed until 2024-2025 with a $10M contributions budget and a new $3M grants stream. During the renewal process, IFI heard communities’ call for change to support broader priorities in the sector and to support projects that accelerate Indigenous awareness, influence, inclusion, and leadership. With the new grants stream, Indigenous communities can access financial support to prepare for and participate in engagement and consultation activities, such as sustainable forest management planning with industry and government. Other eligible projects that support the sustainability of Canada’s forest industry include gathering, developing, using, and protecting Indigenous knowledge and science, Indigenous leadership and participation in forest stewardship and economic development opportunities. Since 2017, the program has supported 133 Indigenous-led, forest-based economic development projects, invested almost $17M in capital, and helped to create more than 625 jobs and 54 new or expanded businesses.

British Columbia’s iconic old growth forests have deep-rooted cultural significance to Indigenous communities and are important to all British Columbians. They are also critical habitats for dozens of species at risk and migratory birds and are important natural stores of carbon.

The British Columbia Old Growth Nature Fund established by the Departments of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and NRCan commits $50 million to advance shared objectives regarding urgent protection of vital ecosystems, wildlife habitats and species at risk while also protecting carbon stores in old growth forests. The Old Growth Nature Fund has been established in collaboration with the Province of British Columbia, non-governmental organizations, and Indigenous and local communities.

This collaborative work to protect communities and diverse natural habitats, including by advancing Indigenous-led conservation efforts, is also crucial to securing a cleaner, healthier, and greener future for Canadians. The Old Growth Nature Fund further complements the Enhanced Nature Legacy announced in 2021, and the Natural Climate Solutions Fund announced in 2020.

Canada boasts the most forest area certified by internationally recognized, third-party systems as being managed in a sustainable way, respecting ecological values and Indigenous rights. Three quarters of Canada’s managed public forests are certified to one or more of three sustainable forest management certification systems: the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Council, and the Canadian Standards Association. As with all forest industries in Canada, the wood pellet industry is governed by provincial legislation, regulations and policies that are the basis for sustainable forest management and include protections for old growth forests. Strict monitoring and enforcement measures ensure that Canada’s forests are harvested legally and sustainably.

Canadian wood pellets are primarily made from sawmill residues that are by-products of wood product manufacturing. The industry also uses branches and treetops from harvest operations, logs damaged by natural disturbances, or trees that are cut to manage long-term ecological values in the forest. If not used, these additional sources of wood fibre are typically left to decompose into the atmosphere or may be burned onsite.

Supporting markets for all material harvested, as part of a sustainable forest management plan, ensures that no part of the harvested tree is wasted, and delivers economic benefits to Canadians.

Finally, as part of Budget 2023, Canada announced $368.4 million over three years, starting in 2023-2024 to NRCan to renew and update forest sector support, including for Indigenous leadership in the sector.

Canada is home to ecosystems that are globally significant in their capacity to absorb carbon, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and protect biodiversity. This includes 24% of the world’s wetlands, 25% of temperate rainforest areas and 28% of remaining boreal forests. In this context, the Government of Canada understands that the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are connected and need to be tackled together.

That said, conservation and protection of Canada’s forests, including old growth forests and ecosystems, is a shared responsibility. The vast majority of Canada's forests are located on provincial and territorial Crown lands. In British Columbia (B.C.), approximately 96% of forests are on provincial Crown land, where, under the Constitution Act, 1867, forest management is the jurisdiction of the provincial government. As such, forest management on those lands is within the jurisdiction of the B.C. government. At the same time, there is an important federal role to conserve migratory bird habitat, protect critical habitat of federally listed species at risk, and mitigate climate change.

With this in mind, the mandate letters of the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and Natural Resources include a commitment to help protect old growth forests, notably in B.C., by reaching a Nature Agreement with B.C., establishing a $50 million B.C. Old Growth Nature Fund, and ensuring First Nations, local communities and workers are partners in shaping the path forward for nature protection. This $50 million investment was made through Budget 2022, and a contribution agreement was signed with B.C. in March 2023.

The Old Growth Nature Fund will deliver on the Ministers’ mandate letters by providing $50 million to the Government of B.C., to be matched by B.C., to permanently protect and conserve old growth forests in the province. The Fund focuses on protecting at-risk high productivity old growth forests that are of prime biodiversity value identified as important for species at risk, migratory birds, climate mitigation and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Specifically, federal funding supports planning and collaboration with B.C. and Indigenous communities, and provides incentives for third-party funders to permanently protect and conserve large areas of at-risk old growth forests in the province. For example, the 58,000-hectare Incomappleux Valley Conservancy in the B.C. interior was created, in-part, thanks to investments under the Old Growth Nature Fund.

The Old Growth Nature Fund will be a key component of the Tripartite Framework Agreement on Nature Conservation, which was signed on November 3, 2023, in Vancouver between Canada, B.C and the First Nations Leadership Council. The Framework Agreement presents a unique opportunity to collaboratively advance nature conservation, species at risk and climate mitigation objectives in collaboration with provincial and Indigenous partners. With regard to old growth specifically, work together under the Framework Agreement will include efforts to protect the habitat of old growth-associated species such as Marbled Murrelet. In so doing, the Agreement will build on recent announcements from the Government of B.C. concerning moratoria on old growth forest harvesting, and to launch a provincial Conservation Finance Mechanism to protect ecosystems including forests.

The Government of Canada appreciates that, in addition to their habitat functions, forests are key to the health of the climate, influencing rainfall, temperature, and other metrics. Temperate old growth forests, like those in B.C., also function as important carbon reservoirs.

Appreciating the significance of forests to biodiversity conservation and climate, the federal government has contributed to protecting nearly 400,000 hectares of forest habitat in B.C. This includes conservation projects under programs such as the Target 1 Challenge, Natural Heritage Conservation Program, Ecological Gifts Program, and others.

Alongside this work, the federal government has made forests a central part of Canada’s plan to tackle climate change. The Old Growth Nature Fund in particular is expected to contribute directly to the Government of Canada's commitments to achieve Canada’s 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal and net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. The old growth temperate rainforests of B.C. are among the largest natural carbon sinks in the world (on a per hectare basis) and are among the most efficient ecosystems at capturing carbon in Canada.

Complementing this effort on a broader scale, the Government of Canada has also announced a series of funding initiatives of significance to forest ecosystems and forestry in Canada:

• Natural Climate Solutions is investing more than $5 billion over ten years to restore, better manage, and conserve Canada’s natural and managed ecosystems. This initiative includes three complementary programs:
  • 2 Billion Trees program, led by Natural Resources Canada;
  • Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF), led by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC); and
  • The Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, led by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
• The NSCSF is a $1.4 billion, 10-year (2021-2031) fund to reduce 5-7 megatons of GHG emissions annually. Up to $36.9 million in funding has been allocated to support Indigenous communities to deliver projects that build capacity and advance Indigenous-led efforts on natural climate solutions, with a focus on improved management, conservation, and restoration of wetlands, grasslands and forests that result in reduced and captured GHG emissions.
• Enhanced Nature Legacy provides $2.3 billion in new funding over five years (2021-2026) that will further contribute to the implementation of conservation measures for Canada’s land and freshwater ecosystems and wildlife. This includes the establishment of new federal, provincial and territorial protected areas, other effective area-based conservation measures, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and additional habitat restoration. It also included the announcement of further investments through the Low Carbon Economy Fund, a $2 billion fund that could, amongst other things, incent provinces to leave timber standing (for example, by creating other revenue streams for forests).

The broader significance of Canada’s forests is also recognized in the Pan-Canadian Approach to Transforming Species at Risk Conservation in Canada where forests are identified as a priority sector. Development of a conservation action plan for species at risk is currently underway in collaboration with forest sector partners and stakeholders to advance the protection and recovery of species at risk and enhance sector sustainability.

With respect to support for Indigenous community involvement in ecosystem protection and climate action, including in forests and more broadly, it should be noted that under the NSCSF, described above, an Indigenous Partnership (NSCSF-IP) stream was established to provide targeted funding to enable Indigenous peoples to play a meaningful leadership role in natural climate solutions as part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to Reconciliation. Through the NSCSF-IP, ECCC supports Indigenous organizations and communities to undertake Indigenous-led capacity building activities and on-the-ground projects for ecological restoration, improved land management, and conservation of wetlands, grasslands, agricultural lands and forests that result in reduced GHG emissions, and that maximize co-benefits for biodiversity, climate resiliency, and human well-being.

Beyond this, ECCC has also funded approximately 115 First Nations, Inuit and Métis Guardians initiatives since 2017 with investments totaling over $46 million. Indigenous Guardians initiatives support Indigenous rights and responsibilities in protecting and conserving ecosystems including old-growth forests, developing and maintaining sustainable economies, and continuing the profound connections between the Canadian landscape and Indigenous culture. Indigenous Guardians are Indigenous peoples exercising their cultural responsibilities through on-the-ground stewardship of traditional lands, waters, air, and ice. They act as the “eyes and ears on the ground”. Indigenous Guardians funding supports on-the-ground activities such as ecological and cultural resource monitoring, restoration, and visitor experience activities, contribution to cultural continuity (e.g., intergenerational knowledge transmission) and implementation of Indigenous conservation practices and Indigenous knowledge.

Forests provide a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits for people and communities across Canada. They are a major source of income and employment for 300 communities across the country, directly employing 205,000 workers, including over 11,500 Indigenous workers. Canada is committed to Indigenous reconciliation and recognize the importance of natural resources to Indigenous Peoples.

With respect to the proposal to ban the export of raw logs, logs are integral to the domestic manufacturing industry for a wide range of forest products including softwood lumber and other products like high value finished veneer panels. Domestic and international trade in logs is important for log harvesters and Canadian trade. The policy and process governing the export of logs harvested in British Columbia contained in Global Affairs Canada’s Notice to Exporters No. 102 form an important part of the Government’s efforts to ensure the right balance between log exports and domestic policy objectives.

The Government regularly reviews policies to ensure that Canada’s domestic policy objectives and trade opportunities are maximized and welcomes all ideas and proposals related to its policies, including those associated with the export of raw logs. The Government is committed to continuing to work and collaborate closely with Indigenous Peoples and all stakeholders and partners on this issue to achieve the best possible results for Canada.