Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd also like to thank all the committee members.
The forest sector is a key economic driver in Quebec's regions. In 2018, the forest sector generated $6.6 billion in output, accounting for 1.8% of Quebec's GDP, and it employed 58,000 workers, accounting for almost 1.4% of all employment. More than 160 communities in Quebec rely on this industry.
In past years, the forest sector has been hit hard. The commercial softwood lumber disputes, the collapse of the American housing market and the significant worldwide drop on demand in newsprint have had negative impacts.
At every step of the way, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, or CED, was there with temporary and targeted initiatives to support economic activity in the affected areas. Here are some examples.
Between 2009 and 2011, as part of the community adjustment fund, we entered into seven agreements with the Government of Quebec to provide short-term relief for the impacts of the economic downturn through silviculture projects and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use roads.
We invested $119 million in projects that helped and maintained 8,000 jobs, all while responding to the transition and adjustment challenges faced by communities. From 2010 to 2013, the temporary initiative for the strengthening of Quebec's forest economies, of the TISQFE, allowed us to support 210 diversification and growth projects with a total of $80.5 million in contributions.
Between 2014 and 2018, the strategic initiative to combat the spruce budworm outbreak in Quebec made it possible to implement intervention measures to control the spread of this parasite to maintain forest potential and protect jobs.
CED's mandate is to support the long-term economic development of businesses and regions. As such the value-added role that we play with the forest industry is tied to support for secondary and tertiary wood processing projects. This is at the heart of our interventions.
Our strategy is based on the approach set by key industry players in the province. It is centred on leveraging innovation, modernization and diversification for long-term sector development.
At CED, one of our focus areas is projects that promote innovation and green technologies, particularly those in the bioeconomy sector. We believe that this is a growth area because of the potential value of biomass—which is abundant in our forests—makes it possible to develop and offer, once processed, a wider range of products. This has significant economic potential on the global market. Let me give you a few examples.
We have supported college centres for technology transfer, or CCTT, that process biomass for commercial purposes and are very successful with their projects. These are great success stories for us. For example, CED has supported Agrinova, a CCTT in Mashteuiatsh in Lac St-Jean that is working to revalorize forest residues through the production of biochar.
We also supported the Damabois Group, a company specializing in the manufacturing of handling pallets that wanted and needed to diversify its activities. The Damabois Group now markets energy logs made from aspen bark, one of the wood by-products that the company generates during its operations. Our contribution helped the company acquire the technology needed to put the new product into production.
In conclusion, bioproduct transformation projects, such as those related to wood pellets, are still relatively few. However, CED is well positioned to support them in their initial marketing efforts on foreign markets. As a regional economic development agency, CED's role is to support the development and diversification of enterprises and regions. To do so, CED is committed to promoting innovation to create economic prosperity. That is what we want for the future of the forestry industry.
Thank you for allowing me to speak about the important work CED does to support the communities that depend on it.