Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much.
I appreciate the opportunity to present to the committee today. Staff have already received our pre-budget submission and they have a copy of the more extensive remarks, so I'll try to keep my comments brief in the interest of time.
The forest industry in Canada remains an important part of our economy from coast to coast. There are some 200 rural communities across the country that depend on the forest industry as their primary employer. The forest industry in these communities has faced significant challenges and headwinds in the last number of years, but the Forest Products Association recognized that we couldn't sustain business as usual, and we launched on a path of transformation and renewal.
I'm pleased to report to the committee today that we've made considerable progress on that journey, so I'd like to talk today about some of that momentum and how we can work with our partners to continue.
Earlier this year, the Forest Products Association of Canada launched what we refer to as “Vision 2020”. It focuses on ambitious goals for our products, our performance, and our people. By 2020, we want to have $20 billion of new economic activity; we want to have a 35% increase in our success in improving our environmental footprint; and we want to have an additional 60,000 new recruits, including women, aboriginals, and new Canadians, in those communities in which we work.
Vision 2020 is built on some of our recent successes already: we've improved our productivity, we've diversified our markets, we are making technological breakthroughs and producing innovative products with wood fibre, and we've established world-class environmental standards on behalf of the forestry sector.
The government and all of our partners have been instrumental in supporting these changes. Embassies and trade officials have been very helpful in our trade and marketing efforts. NRCan created the successful pulp and paper green transformation program. There has been critical support from industry, government, and the academic community for FPInnovations which, for those of you who are not familiar, is one of the world's largest forest research centres, located here in Canada. It's unlocking some world firsts for the commercialization of something called nanocrystalline cellulose. It's an amazing product that comes from wood and can be used for everything from bullet-proof vests to lipstick—and I'll leave you to fill in the humour there. A $100 million investment in the forest industry transformation fund, or IFIT, has been very helpful, but it's been oversubscribed by fivefold. That simply indicates the amount of enthusiasm for commercializing these new products that exist in our industry.
While we're very proud of the progress we've made, FPAC and our member companies certainly understand the current fiscal challenges faced by the government and by our economy, and the need for controlling our deficit.
We would strongly recommend that where the government does continue to spend, such spending should be aimed at supporting industry renewal and focusing on enhancing our ability to compete globally and create jobs and prosperity for the long run. The forest sector is one of those opportunities, I would put to you. We're green and we're a renewable resource.
We encourage the government to continue to support the bioeconomy for forestry and agriculture as well. Last year my predecessor at this committee mentioned the potential for the next generation biofuels fund, administered currently at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, and we'd like to see the government continue to look at opportunities to invest in the bioeconomy and to enhance the IFIT program.
By working together with government, the academic community, and our environmental partners, we've already accomplished a lot. We need to continue work with all of our partners to continue to help the forest sector and forest-dependent communities that we serve to meet the goals of Vision 2020.
Let me make a couple of specific suggestions for the committee today.
We need to continue to support research and innovation to make sure some of the groundbreaking products I alluded to are not only developed but also commercialized and taken to the global marketplace.
We'd like to see the government improve its strategic procurement programs to increase the purchase of next-generation forest products, ranging from building materials to biofuels to medical supplies.
We have a challenge with rail services. If we're going to get our product to market, we can't leave it at our loading docks. We need some help with rail service reform.
As my colleagues have already alluded to, we have some challenges with skilled labour shortages, so we need to focus on labour for the next generation coming along in the forest sector.
Madam Chairman, by working together with the government, we can help to create new opportunities for new jobs and new growth in rural and small-town Canada.
By working with all our partners to implement Vision 2020, we'll ensure Canada has a world-class green and renewable forest product sector well into the future.
Thank you.