Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll do my presentation in French in order to accelerate this a little bit.
The Quebec Forest Industry Council, or QFIC for short, brings together softwood and hardwood sawmills, peeling mills, pulp, paper, cardboard and panel board companies, engineered wood manufacturers and wood-based building material manufacturers.
I'm speaking to you today from Distillerie du St. Laurent, in Rimouski. This building is a marvellous example of a company that wanted to use wood in the building's construction. If a company like this can do it, so can the federal government. Its customers love the wooden building, and so do the employees. What a wonderful way to reduce greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions, while making a building aesthetically pleasing.
The lumber industry is an important part of the economy. In Quebec, the forest sector creates direct jobs. In Canada, the sector employs over 230,000 Canadians across 600 communities. I should note that 12,000 of those workers belong to first nations communities. The sector generates more than $80 billion in revenue annually. In Quebec, the forest industry is responsible for more than 140,000 jobs and over $20 billion in sales.
Beyond its economic contribution, the forest is also a powerful tool in the fight against climate change and ecological recovery. Acting as an enormous carbon reservoir, the forest can help us fight global warming. We need to use and manage our forests as sustainably and effectively as possible to enhance their role in carbon capture and sequestration. How? By strengthening forest management and encouraging the use of wood to replace carbon-intensive building materials, thereby supporting long-term carbon storage. That's the case here, at Distillerie du St. Laurent.
That is fully aligned with the direction and priorities the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has set for the international community.
As far as the QFIC is concerned, the Government of Canada must lead by example by encouraging and requiring the use of less carbon-intensive products in its own procurement projects. Every tonne of cement or steel that is replaced by wood cuts GHG emissions by one tonne.
In co‑operation with the Canadian Wood Council, and with the financial support of the governments of Quebec and Canada, the QFIC has developed Gestimat, a tool that measures a building's carbon footprint.
The government should work with us to systematically incorporate the tool's use in retrofit and construction projects, in order to measure the impact associated with the federal government's projects and funding.
Investing in research and development partnerships would result in new wood-based building materials and encourage the use of those materials in construction projects in Canada. The benefit would be twofold: support the development of a strong circular economy and reduce Canada's environmental footprint. This measure could also be used to replace single-use plastics.
Lastly, the investments in forest industry transformation, IFIT, program is one of the funding tools available to our sector through the Department of Natural Resources. Although incredibly helpful, the program is underfunded, especially when compared with the amount of funding invested in decarbonization projects in other sectors. Carrying out transformation projects in the forestry sector is expensive, so government support is needed to speed up not just implementation but also GHG emission reductions. Take, for example, projects to convert newsprint mills into large biochemical plants.
In conclusion, the forest industry follows responsible and sustainable practices in Quebec and in the rest of Canada. The industry is made up of men and women who endeavour to do things better every single day, to leave future generations forests they can rely on and live in harmony with.
If we want forests to continue playing a key economic role and if we want to fight climate change, we need all hands on deck, especially the federal government's. The forest sector is ready to contribute to Canada's economic recovery and our ambitious environmental targets. We are here to work with you.
Thank you.
I would be happy to answer any questions you have.