Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2025

[Daniel Cloutier]

First, once requirements are in place for calculating the embodied carbon value of a building and the obligation to reduce it or maintain it at the lowest possible level, wood will naturally become a very effective substitute for steel, aluminum and concrete used in construction.

In terms of residential construction in Quebec, homes are primarily made of wood, and this is likely the case across Canada. Bungalows and small apartment buildings contain a lot of wood. Now we have to make sure this requirement applies to large institutional, industrial and commercial construction projects. This will obviously create a market that companies will fill. We're sure of that. Taken together, these changes will increase resilience compared to what we're doing today.

Obviously, we agree with Mr. Verreault's comments about a market recovery. The timing of that recovery is uncertain, but there will certainly be a market recovery in the United States. In the meantime, if we develop these sectors ourselves, we'll be less dependent on U.S. residential construction needs in the future. This is actually something that should be done immediately, well before 2030. Provincial governments, including Quebec, should also draw inspiration from this proposal and adopt changes to their building codes to make this possible.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Cloutier.

Mr. Vincent, I'm from Sudbury, Ontario, which is near my colleague's riding, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Muskegowuk. I'm very familiar with the forestry industry and its impact on the economy. I even have family members who have worked in this sector.

Can you comment on how forest fires, which are increasing in frequency every year, are impacting your organization and its members?

[Daniel Cloutier]

Obviously, we have little control over forest fires. That's often up to Mother Nature. That said, it's important to boost our capacity to prevent and fight forest fires. We also need to speed up the process of recovering burned wood after a forest fire and getting it into the processing system more quickly. Burned wood can be very valuable in the production of products such as biofuels, but there's very little time to retrieve it. We need to increase our capacity to retrieve it quickly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Mr. Cloutier, I think the question was actually directed to Mr. Vincent.

I'll allow a little extra time for you, Mr. Vincent.

[Michel Vincent]

Forest fires burn hectares of forest, which has an impact on the calculation of forest potentials. Each hectare of burned forest reduces the forest potential by about one to two cubic metres, not for one year, but for 75 to 100 years. The millions of hectares of forest that have burned in recent years therefore represent a loss of millions of cubic metres of forest potential, that is, wood volume that will not be harvested in future years. That's huge.

In Quebec, where approximately 20 million cubic metres of wood are harvested each year, forest potential is down by about one million cubic metres. This means that 5% of the forest potential has gone up in smoke—no pun intended—for a long time to come.

In the past, provincial foresters, such as those in Quebec and British Columbia, did not factor in the effect of future forest fires when calculating forest potential. Today, they are required to take forest fires into account, knowing full well that, due to climate change, we don't know where fires will occur, but we do know they will occur and will have a negative impact on forest potential. Foresters predict this impact and reduce forest potential even before a fire occurs.

In short, repeated forest fires have a very significant impact on harvesting potential.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you, Mr. Vincent.

You have time for one quick question, Mr. St-Pierre.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Verreault, your company, Chantiers Chibougamau, is impressive. Could you talk briefly about the economic benefits it generates for Quebec communities?

[Frédéric Verreault]

Our company employs 1,700 men and women. Our payroll is between $150 million and $170 million. That many people with very high incomes means very attractive tax revenues for both levels of government. That's one way we contribute.

As Mr. Cloutier pointed out earlier, proximity to trees is key to our industrial model. That also means proximity to supplies. We spend more than half a billion dollars of our considerable revenue on goods and services in Quebec, in the local market. For over a year now, we've also been spending tens of millions of dollars on woodchips and other products from Ontario. We also spend smaller amounts elsewhere. Fellow industry members have business models with a similar supply structure. Very few industries generate as many economic spinoffs near their production activities as ours does.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for their excellent testimony today.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Mr. Chair, can I ask if the witnesses could send in submissions—

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

I was going to do that.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Again, thank you to our witnesses. I think you painted a picture of some very stark realities you're facing. I think you've heard concerns and some very good questions from all our colleagues. Thank you for your recommendations.

As Mr. Malette was referring to, we would welcome briefs or amplification on any of the points you've made today, and also specific recommendations. That would really help the committee with its considerations on moving forward and growing the sector.

Go ahead, Mr. Malette.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

I would like to put a question to one of the witnesses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Sure. Go ahead.

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Mr. Cloutier, many of these reports overlook the workers. Your union represents approximately 300,000 workers in 300 communities. Most of those communities and sawmills are located in remote areas.

We talked about the multiplier. Would you tell us more about that so it can be a significant part of our report? When a sawmill like the one in Ear Falls closes, how can it be reopened?

I invite you to send your written response to the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Mr. Cloutier, you'll take that under advisement, I'm sure. We look forward to a brief from you and others.

Colleagues, thank you for a great meeting.

We are adjourned.