As BC’s forests fall silent, the provincial government is taking the fight south of the border. Premier David Eby announced a new advertising campaign targeting American consumers and policymakers, hoping to shift attitudes about Canadian lumber amid punishing tariffs that have pushed the province’s forestry sector to the brink.
The $3.5 million campaign comes at a critical moment. With over 1,000 mill workers recently laid off and nearly 40 facilities shuttered across British Columbia in the last five years, the industry is experiencing what many insiders describe as its worst crisis in decades.
“We’ve got a good story to tell about how our forest products are climate-friendly, how they’re sustainable,” Eby told reporters while unveiling the initiative. The premier emphasized that American consumers deserve to know that “when they’re paying more for wood because of these tariffs, they’re not supporting American jobs.”
BC’s forestry predicament is a complex tangle of trade disputes, environmental policies, and changing market dynamics. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently raised softwood lumber duties from 8.05% to 13.86%, delivering another blow to an industry already staggering under multiple pressures.
Susan Yurkovich, former president of the BC Council of Forest Industries, put it bluntly: “This is about American protectionism, plain and simple.”
Behind the trade dispute lies a fundamental disagreement about how Canadian timber is priced. U.S. producers have long alleged that Canada’s stumpage fees—what companies pay to harvest timber on Crown land—amount to an unfair subsidy since most American timber grows on private land subject to market rates.
This interpretation persists despite Canada winning numerous challenges through dispute resolution mechanisms. Since 1982, Canada has initiated and won at least four major legal challenges against these tariffs.
For communities like Crofton on Vancouver Island, these trade tensions have real-world consequences. Paper Excellence recently announced an indefinite curtailment of its paper operations there, affecting 70 employees. The company cited “combined challenges of fibre access constraints and market conditions” as primary factors.
“We’re in survival mode,” says Bob Matters, chair of the United Steelworkers Wood Council, which represents thousands of forestry workers across the province. “Our members are watching their communities hollow out while politicians debate policy.”
The industry’s struggles extend beyond tariffs. Timber supply has been significantly reduced through various conservation measures, including old-growth protections announced in 2020. Meanwhile, devastating mountain pine beetle infestations and increasingly severe wildfire seasons have further diminished available fibre.
BC’s Forests Minister Bruce Ralston acknowledges these compounding challenges: “We’re dealing with a perfect storm of pressures on our forest industry, from climate change impacts to trade disputes. But we remain committed to fighting for fair treatment for our producers.”
The province’s advertising campaign will target key American states with messages emphasizing the environmental benefits of Canadian wood products and highlighting the economic harm tariffs cause to American consumers and homebuilders.
According to industry statistics, the tariffs have added approximately $1,300 to the cost of building the average single-family home in the U.S.—a point BC officials plan to hammer home in their messaging.
Some industry observers question whether advertising alone can shift entrenched trade positions. “This is ultimately a political problem requiring a political solution,” says Harry Nelson, associate professor in forest resources management at the University of British Columbia. “Advertising might help build public pressure, but resolving this dispute will require high-level negotiations between Ottawa and Washington.”
The federal government has expressed support for BC’s initiative while continuing its own diplomatic efforts. International Trade Minister Mary Ng reiterated Canada’s position that the tariffs are “unfair and unwarranted” during recent discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
For mill communities across BC, these diplomatic efforts can’t bear fruit soon enough. Since 2019, mill curtailments and closures have eliminated approximately 4,500 direct jobs and affected tens of thousands more in supporting industries.
The irony, points out Stewart Muir of Resource Works, is that “American consumers end up paying more for lumber while Canadian communities lose jobs. Nobody wins except a handful of U.S. producers who initiated the complaints.”
As the province launches its ad campaign south of the border, the stakes couldn’t be higher for BC’s forestry-dependent communities. The industry that once defined British Columbia’s economy now fights for survival amid changing global markets, climate impacts, and trade barriers.
The question remains whether American consumers—facing their own affordability challenges in housing—will respond to BC’s message about unfair tariffs, or if deeper structural changes will be needed to ensure the long-term survival of the province’s forestry sector.
For the thousands of British Columbians whose livelihoods depend on the industry, the answer can’t come soon enough.
