Thank you, Chair and members of the committee.
As the president and CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries, I have the pleasure of representing forest products producers in B.C. Our membership includes companies big and small that make everything from lumber to pulp and paper, and from high-value engineered wood products to biofuels.
We appreciate the committee's interest in our sector. Forestry is an industry that will continue to play a major role in supporting good jobs and helping to fight climate change. These are both, as you know, dual imperatives at this critical time in history.
For those of you who may not be familiar with it, I want to say a few words about the role the forest sector plays in B.C., as well as in the rest of Canada's resource economy. While it obviously isn't as big an economic player as the energy sector, it has a presence at a landscape level that arguably elevates and extends its influence in rural communities and urban centres alike across Canada.
In B.C.'s case, the forest industry contributes $13 billion to B.C.'s GDP and even more in taxes and fees, and creates 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. The sector has an outsized impact on wages and government revenues in B.C., as well as on exports and trade balances that help support the standard of living both in B.C. and in the rest of Canada.
Today, forest products make up one-third of B.C.'s exports, with an exciting opportunity to grow our sector as customers around the world turn to low-carbon, renewable forest products as the building and packaging materials of choice.
Being part of a country with a small, open economy means that strong trade relations and diversified markets are critical to our industry's success. So, too, is our ability to demonstrate global leadership and innovation on sustainable forest practices and low-carbon forest products.
This brings me to the topic of your study. Which federal assistance measures for Canada's forest industry can make a difference? I have five points.
First, Canada needs to stand firm on the role that sustainable forest management and forest products—from lumber and food packaging to biofuels—can play as tools to fight climate change and pollution, while supporting local livelihoods. It is critical that Canadians and customers around the world know the facts about our regulatory regimes and systems for forest product certification and assurance. It is also critical that we show the world we're doing the work to continuously evolve and strengthen our forest management regimes to keep forests and biodiversity healthy and safe, and deal with the impacts of climate change and the disruption caused by forest fires, pests and more.
Second, we must backstop Canada's reputation for sustainable natural resources with policy, regulations and incentives that improve predictability and investment on the land base and enable product innovation and adoption. Among other things, this means taking a more integrated approach to everything we do. This includes maximizing climate-smart forestry and managing forests for all the different values they represent, including timber, carbon and other natural infrastructure.
This will require doubling down on important national initiatives aimed at addressing critical gaps in workforce and skills development, as well as delivering on other federal strategic priorities, such as the buy clean strategy, the national net-zero building strategy and the low-carbon building materials innovation hub. It it will require effective engagement at both the global and local levels on the development of emerging frameworks for regulation, the trading of carbon and biodiversity.
Third, as we look to the future, our industry has an incredible opportunity to help meet the growing global demand for climate-friendly products. This includes our biggest trading partner to the south of the border. It's why a team Canada approach to the softwood lumber dispute is critical.
For decades, and regardless of who is in government, Canadians have benefited from a unified voice on this issue that has extended across party lines and across different regions of the country. We appreciate that, like her predecessors, Minister Ng and the team at Global Affairs are continuing this approach, while driving discussions with the U.S.
Fourth, as we look to the future, we need to continue our efforts on both market and product diversification. Over the last two decades, in partnership with the provincial and federal governments, our industry has developed new overseas markets, particularly in Asia. Our partnership with NRCan on this program has been recognized globally as a leading example of private-public partnerships on delivering results.
However, developing new markets and products is not a short-term exercise. It takes years, product familiarity, codes, standards and market acceptance. That's why this partnership must continue. The point is we have a real opportunity to grow these programs and this opportunity.
Lastly, and equally critically, we need to continue to grow our relationship with indigenous nations as true partners in Canada's forest sector. B.C. became the first jurisdiction, as you know, to adopt and begin to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As Canada looks to implement its own legislation ensuring that first nations and indigenous peoples have the decision-making framework capacity and the resources they need to participate in our sector, this will be key.
In closing—