Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, thank you for welcoming me here today and giving me the opportunity to engage in this conversation about the potential of the forestry sector in Canada and, of course, in Quebec to further support a low-carbon Canadian economy.
I was intrigued by the original question and the committee's mandate today.
Before I do anything else, I will quickly introduce the Chantiers Chibougamau organization to you. Much like Mr. Kalesnikoff's business, we are a family forestry company founded in 1961. So, in just a few weeks, we will be celebrating our 60th anniversary.
Back then in Chibougamau, which is in northern Quebec, the company's mission was to manufacture large pieces of wood for the mines, which drove economic activity and helped develop the surrounding area. This was all new for Quebec at the time.
We have grown from five employees in 1961 to over 1,100 employees today, with 600 at the Chibougamau manufacturing complex, 200 at our Landrienne sawmill in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, more than 250 already at our Kraft pulp mill in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, which we are reopening at the moment, and more than 60 at our technical services and engineering office. That office is the construction partner in all of our solid wood projects right across North America, and even in an increasingly profitable foray into the European market.
So 1,100 people make a living from our efforts to tap the full potential of trees. Our organization alone is currently completing a 10-year investment phase of nearly half a billion dollars. We are injecting close to $500 million in investments of all kinds to increase our production capacity, diversify and reopen a co-product plant to make Kraft pulp for a low-carbon global economy. So, I appear before you this morning with all these perspective in mind.
The committee asked what can be done to secure economic recovery in the forestry sector. Let me put it another way. Is there a real need for recovery in the forestry sector, or does it have the potential to do more and be reoriented?
In terms of recovery, in very concrete terms for the Quebec industry to which we belong, our exports of wood construction products increased by 60% from August to September of this year. In spite of the unprecedented context of COVID-19 that we are experiencing, the forestry sector alone accounted for more than $4 billion in exports. That's not our contribution to GDP; it refers to exports from the Quebec forestry sector. That means our sector is one of the five most profitable and relevant sectors supporting the Quebec economy and, inevitably, the Canadian economy as a whole.
In light of this, and of the many initiatives to which I've had the opportunity and privilege of contributing over the past 15 years or so, we are constantly thinking about what more we can do from a political perspective, while being mindful of the regions and their forestry economies?
These issues, which are possibly policy-related, can now be taken to a whole new level of policy development. Forgive me for drawing on contemporary politics, but I'm going to paraphrase John F. Kennedy. Ask not what the House, the government and the country can do for the forestry sector. Using market-driven logic, let's turn the question around: ask what the forestry sector can do for the House, the government and the country.
When you turn the question around, you see that the forestry sector can do much more for this country than it does today. Canada aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It's no longer simply a subjective question of preferring one material over another. It's understood that we need to build with wood if we want to achieve a shared objective like that.
We always want more jobs, sustainable jobs, well-paying jobs and jobs that rely on knowledge and technology, on Industry 4.0, on artificial intelligence. The forestry sector has the potential to drive job creation of that kind.
We want construction sites that pollute less, leave a smaller carbon footprint and are quicker to set up. Above all, we want economical and competitive construction, and that is why wood is the natural choice.
We are always looking for ways to up our contribution to GDP, and better contribute to the trade balance. We also strive to ensure that Canada exports products that help the whole world meet the global challenge of climate change. Wood exports well; wood is the best material to meet that need.
So we are ready and the market is ready. Today, we are getting calls from developers in Colorado, California and New York State.