Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be here.
My name is Catherine Cobden. I am the executive vice-president of the Forest Products Association of Canada.
To begin, I'd like to remind you that Canada enjoys one of the largest and best-managed fibre baskets in the world. We have a significant manufacturing presence and 235,000 Canadians who have great jobs in the rural economy.
The drop in the price of oil has been a benefit to our industry in the short term. We've had some lower manufacturing costs, and we see a favourable exchange rate that certainly helps us with our main market in the U.S.
Our prospects look better than a year ago. The recovery of the U.S. economy is taking hold. For example, U.S. housing starts have now hit the important one-million mark. The recovery is still slower than we had anticipated and hoped.
Our exports have grown by roughly 10% over the last year, and we also foresee in the longer term significant growth potential for most of our forest products, such as pulp, lumber, tissue, bio-products, etc.
I have to remind you of the difficult times we faced in the last decade. It translated into half of our global market being lost. I don't need to remind you of the story. You all know the story. We've been before this committee many times to describe it.
While our exports are inching up and we are pleased to see some of this progress, we still have work to do to capture the lost ground, and frankly, to capture our rightful place in supplying the growing global demand that's out there. I hope it's Canada that supplies it and not, for example, the Brazilians.
The sector is busy transforming and innovating, and we have done so, significantly, in partnership with governments. We've been retooling our operations, and we boast the best productivity levels in the country. We've been expanding our marketplace. We are very proud to be Canada's largest exporter to China. We've been deepening our world-leading environmental performances, and we are so pleased that global polling of our customers recently demonstrated that Canadian forest practices are viewed as the very best out there. As I think this committee is well aware, we've been investing in new technologies and products to add more value to the Canadian forest product offerings.
As we move forward, however, we really feel we must not take anything for granted. We must remember that the benefit of low oil prices is only temporary. We must recognize that exchange rates all over the world are devaluing against the U.S. dollar, and some of our major competing environments are experiencing favourable rates, much better than our own. I brought a little prop—which I will make sure I leave with the committee—on the currency of our competing jurisdictions and how it relates to the Canadian dollar.
Of course, I talked about global growth, and I see there are major investments going on in our competing jurisdictions, such as Brazil, Finland, and Sweden. They are readying to capture that growth, so we need to respond.
How do we respond? Well, I suggest we double down and keep doing what we've been doing. We have been focusing on transformation and innovation, and we've been building a strong partnership. We have great strengths: our world-leading environmental credentials, world-class fibre quality, trade agreements, and innovation expertise. We have an innovation system like no other country in the forest industry. We must build on these advantages and recognize that we are in a global race with competing nations and not just competing industries.
The drop in oil pricing and the dollar does not give us room for complacency. I would remind the committee about our past discussions of the need to continue our partnership on innovation, market activities, trade agreements, and transformational support that will propel the sector forward. It's a challenge we can take on together. We will reach our potential; we will create great jobs, and we will prosper.
Thank you.