Thank you, and we certainly appreciate this opportunity to present to the standing committee regarding forest renewal.
I'm going to focus on three main points, more in line with strategic innovation: the recent mid-rise opportunity, tall wood buildings, and innovative wood products that result from these. I had put together a presentation. I don't know if any of you have a copy, but I think it was sent to you by email and that is more or less what I'll be following.
Effective January 1, Ontario changed its building codes to allow six-storey wood-frame construction. This is something we have been asking for since 2009 when B.C. passed such a change. When we look at urban densification plans and urban sprawl, there will be fewer single-family homes. This opportunity falls nicely into plans for the GTA and Golden Horseshoe.
From what we see currently happening in B.C., we will have two to three times the construction, so we're expecting in two to three years that roughly 500 of these buildings will be under construction. Ontario Wood WORKS! does a lot of education and promotion, providing technical support to the users out there, and there has been a huge uptake. We do a lot of educational events and anything right now is in huge demand. We've been doing B.C. tours and workshops, and we've published guides. We've also been working with the Ontario municipal associations and the FCM, which strongly supports it.
Changes to the national building codes have recently been announced and will take effect by the end of the year. I know you've heard about mid-rise before, and it's been happening in B.C., but Ontario has 40% of the construction market in Canada, so this is going to be a huge opportunity.
Concurrently, there are also the demonstration tall wood buildings. There's one in Quebec City that was recently announced, and right here in Ottawa, the Windmill Group is proposing a roughly 12-storey office building. As well, there will be a 16-storey or 17-storey residence on the UBC campus.
I'm highlighting both these opportunities because I know you're looking at what kinds of new innovative products will happen. The biggest thing will be systemized construction or panellized wood systems. We've done tours in B.C., and they are still doing some stick-frame building because they already can't keep up with panellized systems. This will be cheaper construction and quicker construction, so there's a huge opportunity for industry to look at these types of systems. They can go up really quickly, as fast as one storey a week.
There is also cross laminated timber, or mass timber when you look at the tall buildings, and we've already seen several in Ontario and across the country. There is the Wayne Gretzky centre, and in Ottawa there is Playvalue. Again, that's an innovative product that we can do a lot with, that can compete. There's laminated strand lumber, manufactured in Kenora, Ontario, right now. Companies are filling in the gaps and looking at different forms of mass timber.
Also we'll be seeing more hybrid technology, wood in different forms, with concrete and steel, in different combinations and buildings. Unfortunately I can't show you the pictures. Actually we do have some awards books. I have a copy for each of you here, right behind me, so please pick one up. A lot of these projects have already happened at the UBC campus and different demonstration buildings. They're showing the advancement and what we can do.
I have one ask for the committee. We've been working for several years with the federal government, trying to look at procurement policy and getting more wood and these types of systems, and we see advancement in technology and code changes. Why can't we get the federal government buildings to be built with wood? We're asking for support in changing that and making that possible.
Thank you.