The provincial government is pitching in some funding towards forestry training for 24 students enrolled at a program at the College of the Rockies. Roughly $700,000 was funnelled into the Community and Employer Partnerships program, which will give the students both classroom and field experience in the forestry sector. The students will learn about tree…
Innovation in the forest industry is the focus of a conference at the University of Northern British Columbia this week. It includes the participation of researchers, industry, and government leaders. “The goal is to get the conversations going between industry and research and government to some extent about where can we take forest research to…
Scientists are warning that intense wildfires in the northernmost areas of North America are changing the composition of the tundra ecosystem, degrading permafrost and contributing to a northward migration of trees, all of which have serious implications for the future of the climate. Warming air masses resulting from climate change create the conditions for intense…
While drones are often associated with government and military, several industries recognise the benefits of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology and are turning to drones for a competitive advantage. Thus, since the summer of 2014 a team of FPInnovations researchers has been conducting tests across Canada to study the potential uses of drones and validate those…
A broad-cross section of Canadian businesses – from cattle ranchers and grain exporters to small-scale manufacturers – applauded Canada’s signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a monumental trade deal that will open up new export opportunities in a number of fast-growing markets along the Pacific Rim. The deal – signed Monday following negotiations that stretched…
British Columbia focused Canfor Pulp Products Inc. has come to our attention because a number of key insiders have been buying. Canfor Pulp Products is 50.5-per-cent owned by Canfor Corp. Between July 29 and Sept. 24, director Peter Bentley acquired 40,000 common shares at an average price of $12.23. Mr. Bentley is the largest individual…
The Nova Scotia government is making its final $13.7-million disbursement to Northern Pulp under a provincial funding program that no longer exists. In April 2013, the previous NDP government granted the Pictou County pulp and paper mill loans and incentives worth $21.7 million under the now defunct Nova Scotia Jobs Fund. According to the current Liberal government, the money was…
One of our Kootenay communities recently received a massive blow, affecting not just the Village of Canal Flats, but also workers throughout the area. The closure of the mill, the community’s biggest employer, will be devastating. There has been a mill in Canal Flats for more than 100 years, using wood from the forests that…
The recently strengthened provincial climate change regulation (Specified Gas Emitter’s Regulation) has raised some eyebrows and questions as to how these targets will affect Alberta’s economic outlook. We took a close look at the bioenergy sector and found some surprising results, and even more encouraging promise. Most Albertans would be hard-pressed to describe what bioenergy is,…
Stella-Jones Inc. today announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of the shares of Ram Forest Group Inc. and Ramfor Lumber Inc. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Ram Forest Products Inc. and Trent Timber Treating Ltd., Ram Forest Group manufactures and sells pressure treated wood products and accessories to the retail building materials industry….