Minister says Canadian forestry crisis goes beyond Trump tariffs | Fraser Valley Today

VICTORIA — Canada’s natural resources minister says the challenges facing forestry go beyond Trump-era tariffs and instead are structural, as he unveiled close to $130 million in funding for 56 projects across the country.

Tim Hodgson, who is in Langford B.C. to meet forest ministers from across Canada, also released a report suggesting homegrown problems including unstable access to fibre and lack of domestic demand are threatening the industry with an “existential crisis.”

He says the additional funding is on top of the various supports worth $2 billion, which the federal government has announced since August 2025 to help the sector remain competitive and resilient in the face of American tariffs.

But the minister also says the sector finds itself at a “turning point” and that despite federal support, more than a dozen sawmills employing 2,000 workers have closed since August.