Province launches new fund to support education and career growth in construction
Prince George Citizen
Publisher: Cameron Stolz
Editor: Kennedy Gordon
Build the North: Conference takes measure of construction industry
The Build the North conference took over the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre on April 9 and 10, bringing together key players in northern BC’s construction industry.
The theme of the event — What’s in Your Toolkit? — emphasized the importance of equipping professionals with a broad range of skills and knowledge. Nicole Bryant, CEO of the Northern Regional Construction Association (NRCA), said the conference aimed to offer a holistic view of the supports available within the industry.
Sessions covered topics ranging from requests for proposals (RFPs) and contracts to procurement processes and public projects. Bryant said she was confident attendees would leave with insights relevant to a variety of roles within the sector.
“Whether it’s firming up ideas about the upcoming election, integrating artificial intelligence into business operations, or implementing stress management programs, there’s something for everyone,” she said.
Bryant also highlighted the importance of the accompanying trade show, which featured organizations such as the BC Construction Association (BCCA) and showcased initiatives to strengthen workforce development.
Local leadership and housing developments
Prince George Mayor Simon Yu delivered the opening remarks, underscoring the construction industry’s critical role in the region’s economic growth. Drawing on his background as an engineer, Yu shared that the city completed construction on 530 homes in the past year — a 170-unit increase from 2023. Looking ahead, the city aims to build 1,800 additional homes over the next five years.
“Construction is a cornerstone of our economy here in Prince George and in Canada,” Yu said, stressing the industry’s foundational role in community development.
Addressing industry challenges
The conference featured a diverse lineup of speakers and sessions focused on current challenges and opportunities in the construction field. Industry practices consultant Katy Fairly led a session on common pitfalls in RFPs, offering strategies for navigating complex procurement processes.
Tim Codwell, president and CEO of Énska Advisors, delivered the opening keynote, sharing insights into broader economic trends and their implications for the construction sector.
A gala dinner provided networking opportunities and a chance to recognize industry achievements. Attendees connected with peers, shared experiences and explored ways to collaborate on advancing construction in northern BC Innovation and industry support
A key feature of the conference was the trade show, which highlighted advances in construction technology and practices. Exhibitors showcased tools and solutions aimed at improving safety and efficiency in the field. One standout attraction was a Bobcat driving simulator, allowing participants to experience equipment operation in a safe environment.
Among the exhibitors was Tailgate Toolkit, a program aimed at expanding access to harm-reduction services for construction workers. Emille Wells, Northern Harm Reduction Project coordinator, spoke about the program’s work to address the overrepresentation of trades workers in the toxic drug crisis.
Through on-site toolbox talks, the program provides education on mental health, addiction, substance use and pain management, while connecting workers to support resources.
“We offer education and resources to try and address that over-representation,”
Wells said, emphasizing the program’s commitment to supporting the well-being of industry professionals.
Economic outlook and regional significance
Day two of the conference featured Rodrigue Gilbert, president of the Canadian Construction Association, who offered an economic outlook on the industry.
BCCA president Chris Atchison also spoke, emphasizing the importance of
northern BC in the province’s construction landscape. He shared that an estimated $331 billion in projects are either underway or planned in BC, with $150 billion — about 45 per cent — allocated to the northern region.
“The region represented by the NRCA is the largest in Canada served by a local construction association,” Atchison said, pointing to the area’s increasing significance. He expressed optimism about continued development, population growth and the emergence of new industries in communities like Prince George and beyond.
Advocacy for payment reform
Atchison also addressed a pressing concern for construction companies across BC: delayed payments. Citing a 2025 industry survey, he said 91 per cent of companies reported receiving late payments, and 69 per cent said they were not paid at all. He advocated for payment-certainty legislation to ensure contractors and subcontractors receive timely compensation, describing such reform as essential to a healthier construction ecosystem.
“I think this problem has always existed,” Atchison said. “But now people are becoming more comfortable speaking out and acknowledging that this has been allowed to continue in BC — at the expense of those who can least afford it, yet are still expected to deliver the projects they’re building.”
Citizen Staff
CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER
Chris Atchison, the president of the BC Construction Association, speaks to the crowd at the 2025 Build the North Conference. Thursday, April 10, 2025 In Prince George BC
Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. posted a strong start to 2025, reporting first-quarter cash flows from operating activities of US$46.1 million, up from US$37.4 million in the same quarter last year.
One of the company’s major projects is Cariboo Gold southeast of Prince George. The company earned 19,014 gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) during the quarter, compared with 22,259 GEOs in Q1 2024. Revenues from royalties and streams rose to US$54.9 million, an increase from US$45.0 million year-overyear.
Osisko reported net earnings of US$25.6 million or US$0.14 per basic share, nearly double the US$11.2 million or US$0.06
per share recorded a year earlier. Adjusted earnings totalled US$29.5 million or US$0.16 per share, up from US$22.0 million or US$0.12 per share in Q1 2024. The company’s cash margin stood at US$53.3 million or 97.1 per cent. Osisko also repaid US$19.6 million under its revolving credit facility, ending the quarter with a cash balance of US$63.1 million and debt totalling US$74.3 million. During the quarter, Osisko acquired a 1.5 per cent net smelter return (NSR) royalty from Japan Gold Corp. for US$5 million. A quarterly dividend of C$0.065 per common share was paid on April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 31.
Since the quarter’s end, the company has repaid an additional US$30 million on its
Cariboo Gold owner Osisko reports strong Q1
credit facility, received its first payment from Talisker Resources Ltd. under the Bralorne 1.7 per cent NSR royalty, and acquired a package of royalties in British Columbia from Sable Resources Ltd. for C$3.8 million. Osisko also published the fifth edition of its sustainability report, Growing Responsibly.
The company declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.055 per common share, representing a 20 per cent increase over the previous payout. The dividend is payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on June 30.
President and CEO Jason Attew said the first quarter “represented a good start for the Company in 2025,” and reaffirmed Osisko’s full-year guidance of
80,000 to 88,000 GEOs. He highlighted upcoming developments including Osisko Development’s project financing efforts for the Cariboo gold project, a new mine plan at Alamos Gold’s Island Gold District, and the anticipated scheme of arrangement between Spartan Resources and Ramelius Resources, which could accelerate first production at Dalgaranga to late 2025. Board chair Norman MacDonald also paid tribute to outgoing director Joanne Ferstman, who is stepping down after years of service. “Her attention to detail and dedication to realizing the Company’s strategic vision, amongst her many other skills, will be missed,” MacDonald said.
Western business leaders press Parliament to focus on private sector growth, economic renewal
A coalition of business groups from Western Canada is urging the newly formed federal Parliament to make economic competitiveness and private sector growth top priorities as MPs return to Ottawa.
In an open letter sent to all Members of Parliament on Monday, the Western Business Coalition — which includes the Business Council of British Columbia, Business Council of Alberta, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce and Business Council of Manitoba — warns of “urgent economic challenges” and calls for swift action on emissions policy, tax reform and regulatory streamlining.
“On a per-capita basis, the country has been in a recession for over two years,” said Laura Jones, president and CEO of the Business Council of B.C. “To reverse this trend, we must adopt policies that attract investment and support rising living standards for Canadians.”
The coalition points to near-zero growth in GDP per capita over the past decade, unsustainable expansion of the public sector, and sluggish private sector performance as signs of a weakening economic foundation. It argues Canada risks falling further behind without immediate intervention.
Among its key recommendations, the
coalition is calling on Parliament to:
• Abandon a proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector, warning it could harm exports, jobs and reconciliation efforts with Indigenous communities;
• Improve tax competitiveness by enhancing capital investment depreciation and reforming personal income taxes to attract talent;
• Streamline regulatory processes to reduce delays and make “regulatory excellence” a competitive advantage.
Members of the coalition are scheduled to visit Ottawa next week to press their case directly with federal officials.
“Standing for public office is an
immense responsibility and we thank all who serve,” said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta. “We’re asking Parliamentarians to take bold action to ensure Canada remains a place where people and businesses can succeed.” The coalition’s appeal comes amid rising food bank use, more than two years of inflation-adjusted economic contraction, and long-standing weakness in business investment. It also highlights growing concerns over U.S. protectionist measures, which it says could further threaten Canada’s export-dependent industries.
Citizen Staff
OSISKO GOLD PHOTO
The Cariboo Gold mine project is located southeast of Prince George near Barkerville.
Citizen Staff
East Fraser Fibre to receive $400K for wildfire-risk reduction region
A $400,000 investment is heading to East Fraser Fibre in BC’s Omineca region as part of a larger effort to reduce wildfire risks, improve forest health, and better utilize wood waste across British Columbia.
The funding, distributed through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), is part of a $19.8-million provincial initiative that will support 64 projects in all eight of BC’s natural resource regions. These projects are designed to make forests more resilient, support rural economies, and redirect wood fibre that would otherwise be burned in slash piles into the hands of mills and energy producers.
East Fraser Fibre’s project focuses on woodwaste utilization — harvesting leftover or flammable materials from logging operations that would otherwise go to waste. This initiative is the sole recipient of funding in the Omineca region and will contribute to the removal of thousands of tonnes of potential wildfire fuel from forested areas.
“The projects I am announcing today will remove almost 11,000 truckloads of flammable waste fibre from our forests,” Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said in a statement. “We all have a role to play in reducing wildfire risk in BC. This fibre that once would have been burned in slash piles will instead support workers and help keep communities safe.”
In total, 31 of the 64 projects are being led by First Nations, with another 14 featuring First Nations as active partners. This represents a strong focus on Indigenous leadership and collaboration in wildfire-risk reduction and forest management efforts.
“We received so many excellent applications from interested parties across the province looking to invest in the future of BC’s forests,” said Jason Fisher, executive director of FESBC. “After careful review, we are pleased to be able to support a portfolio of projects that will make forests more resilient and communities safer, while unlocking the value of wood waste generated through forest-management activities.”
The investments are part of a broader strategy to support BC’s forestry sector, which has faced increasing challenges in recent years — from devastating wildfire seasons to international trade disputes such as ongoing softwood lumber tariffs imposed by the U.S.
As part of its 2024 budget, the province committed an additional $60 million over three years to FESBC to continue its work on community-based wildfire-risk reduction, fuel management, and improved utilization of biomass from harvested timber. Since its founding in 2016, FESBC has invested $79.6 million into 201 wildfire risk-reduction projects across the province.
“Many rural British Columbians know the risk of wildfires well, and many have been in frightening situations,” said Steve Morissette, parliamentary secretary for rural development. “This funding will help support forestry projects in rural, remote and First Nations communities with a focus on sustainability and fire prevention.”
The BC Wildfire Service is also ramping up its efforts for the 2025-26 season, with plans to treat 9,600 hectares of land, in addition to over 2,100 hectares covered by FESBCsupported projects.
In addition to East Fraser Fibre in the Omineca region, funding is being distributed to projects in the ThompsonOkanagan, Cariboo, Kootenay-Boundary, Skeena, South and West Coast, and Northeast regions. Projects range from wildfire-risk mitigation around communities to fibre-recovery and woodwaste utilization ventures.
Among the recipients are community forests, First Nations forestry companies, municipalities, and private industry, all working toward a common goal: creating healthier forests and more resilient communities in the face of climate-driven wildfire threats.
For a full list of funded projects and more information on the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, visit fesbc.ca.
Citizen Staff
Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
When it comes to reforesting areas made bare by natural causes, it’s the Ministry of Forests’ job to oversee the progress.
“Wildfire...really is the biggest thing we’re focusing on,” said Shelley Barlow, the ministry’s regional silviculture specialist for the Cariboo.
As forestry companies are obligated to reforest the areas they harvest, the ministry need only focus on areas which are naturally denuded, that is, areas stripped of their trees as a result of natural occurrences such as wildfire, pests, diseases or strong winds. It’s also the ministry’s responsibility to reforest areas which continue to be denuded from a time when harvesters were not obligated to replant what they cut. Few of these sites remain, in fact, Barlow said there are none left in the Cariboo.
In the Cariboo, the impact of wildfires, especially as of late, has been the biggest concern when it comes to the natural loss of trees.
According to a February 2018 report by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, 80 per cent of the area affected by the 2017 wildfires in B.C. was in the Cariboo. About one million hectares of forests were burnt in the region, and 609,000 of those hectares were part of the Cariboo’s timber harvesting land base. Prior to 2017, the ministry was planting up to two million trees per year in the Williams Lake forestry district. Since then, Barlow said this number has at least tripled. By January 2019, rehabilitation had already been completed for 26 sites in the Cariboo region, including in response to the Kleena Kleene fire which burned 25,558 hectares. Human intervention is not always necessary, however – wildfires are, after all, a natural process. In fact, Barlow said planting programs are just a small part of ecosystem
recovery.
“We leave room to make sure nature can regenerate itself,” she said, explaining the ministry only replants trees if regeneration is unlikely or unsuccessful over time. Forest stands mostly occupied by young trees, as well as stands which have been severely burned, are less likely to regenerate on their own. And when natural threats to forests become increasingly unpredictable and their frequency is extreme, it’s important to help forests regrow so ecosystems and wildlife habitats can recover, and to secure a future supply of timber. When the ministry does look at reforesting an area, it first considers how it can be most successful.
“We do a very detailed ecosystem assessment to identify what’s possible,” Barlow explained.
Models are used to determine the best approach to reforestation, helping the ministry select tree species best suited for an area according to what conditions are likely to be like in the future. Some factors to consider are the potential for wildfires, pest outbreaks and whether the climate is expected to be dry or moist.
“The science is getting better and better every day...(but) the kicker on all of this is that it’s often the extremes that we have to manage for,” Barlow said. While models usually predict more of an average of future conditions, foresters often have to think outside of the models to account for a tree’s suitability in extreme conditions.
The chosen species to plant will vary from one ecosystem to another as well as with the threats posed by climate change, Barlow said, but one tree which is more commonly seen in replanting today is Douglas fir.
“We’re putting in the extra effort to establish them,” Barlow said, explaining Douglas firs can be difficult to establish, but the challenge is worth it due to their resilience to pests and wildfires.
Helping forests regrow in B.C.’s Cariboo
FOREST ENHANCEMENT SOCIETY OF BC PHOTO
A forestry crew monitors the controlled burn of forested land in the Cariboo Fire Centre near Williams Lake in July 2017. Wildfires remain a threat to the Cariboo.
Partnerships are also essential to reforestation practices, and Barlow said work with First Nation communities has grown over the last few years into strong partnerships.
The majority of the ministry’s reforestation projects are funded by the Forest Investment Program (FIP) which contributes about $95 million annually to maintaining healthy and resilient forests in B.C. Since the program’s creation in 2021, over 40 million trees have been planted every year in B.C. In the last three years, the ministry has funded just under $19 million in reforestation projects through FIP.
Among those who have received funding from FIP to help reforest the Cariboo is Cariboo Carbon Solutions, which from 2018 to 2022 conducted reforestation in the Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House forest districts following the 2017 wildfires. It entered another agreement with FIP in 2022 for reforestation projects in the Quesnel and Williams Lake Districts, and has worked with partners such as the Forest Enhancement Society and the Yunesit’in Government.
This article originally appeared in the Williams Lake Tribune.
LET’S WORK TO BUILD OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NORTH TO THRIVE AND PROSPER
Prince George-Mackenzie
What happened in Vanderhoof after the sawmill closed
When forestry contractor Mike Egli heard the sawmill in Vanderhoof was closing, he was expecting the worst. Egli co-owns logging contractor Dalchako Transport with his brothers.
As with many local forestry companies, Dalchako’s livelihood was tied to the Plateau sawmill, Vanderhoof’s largest employer. With more than 200 workers, the sawmill was integral to the local economy. It closed at the end of December 2024.
Egli has found other contracts to keep working since December, but the mill’s closure has caused a massive upheaval.
“We lost all that work there,” he said. Vanderhoof is the latest northern BC forestry town hit by a decades-long wave of mill closures.
When the sawmills closed in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John at the end of last year, hundreds of jobs were lost. The closures underscore a long downturn in logging jobs as climate change, invasive beetles and high U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber continue to push major forestry employers out of northern BC
Now, Vanderhoof’s forestry workers are reaching a crossroads faced by hundreds in the past decade as the province pivots to face the turmoil of U.S. tariffs. Some workers took advantage of
government programs and retired. Others are retraining to use their skills in heavy construction, mining and other local industries.
Contractors like Egli are finding what work is left in the local forestry industry.
“It’s going to be a tough couple of years here. There’s just no doubt about that,” Vanderhoof Mayor Kevin Moutray said. “But we’re a very entrepreneurial community. We will find a way out of it, and we’ll come out stronger on the other side.”
‘It was never a shock to Vanderhoof’ British Columbia has lost thousands of forestry jobs since the turn of the century.
Near Vanderhoof, invasive mountain pine beetles have ravaged the local timber supply while U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber have made it increasingly difficult for big mills to turn a profit.
So Vanderhoof Coun. Brian Frenkel said it wasn’t a surprise to hear Canfor was shuttering its own mill about 175 kilometres to the east.
“It was never a shock to Vanderhoof that this could happen one day,” he said, adding the town has been preparing to help workers manage the closure for years.
Some were able to retire with support from the BC government’s Bridging to
Retirement program, which aimed to support forestry workers older than 55 who were affected by forestry sector challenges.
The BC government closed the program in February, saying in a press release it is now “fully subscribed” after supporting nearly 2,200 workers since 2019.
The program’s end highlights a provincial government’s shift in attention away from forestry workers. In 2022, the province budgeted $185 million over three years to support communities through forestry’s challenges.
As that funding term comes to an end, the province’s fiscal plan does not renew that funding.
BC Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said in an email he is still committed to supporting BC forestry workers.
He said while some of the forestryspecific support programs have reached their scheduled end, the province still plans to offer supports for forestry workers as the embattled industry faces the new threat of massive tariffs and duties.
“As we pivot to face the greatest threat to BC’s economy in generations, our supports are pivoting, too,” Parmar said.
“As the tariff threat extends to all of BC’s economy, our response will include both specific programs and broad initiatives.”
He added the provincial government still
runs its Employer Training Grant, which gives employers funding to offer skills training programs.
“I want BC forestry workers to know I have their backs,” he said.
Retraining workers for new industries
Moutray said that while it’s not clear exactly how the province will support the town, the forests minister has been working with the district.
Meanwhile, workers in Vanderhoof are looking to other industries to make a living. It’s a shift many northern BC workers have had to make before.
Jeff Gorham, training administrator for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115, said the union trains about 2,000 people a year to work in skilled trades. That includes dozens of northern BC forestry workers affected by mill closures in the past decade.
“They’re already experienced construction workers,” he said. “It’s just retraining them for a different industry — like working on equipment that they’ve never worked before.”
He recalls the union running one such program in 2019, after the Vavenby mill in BC’s southern Interior shut down.
The International Union of Operating Engineers retrained a dozen forestry workers in the Interior to work on Trans Mountain pipeline construction. The program ran for four weeks and got
Isaac Phan Nay Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
CITIZEN FILE PHOTO
“ opportunities,” he said. “We knew the mills were shutting down in these particular areas and we had a shortage of people to put to work on these projects.”
We’re educating and getting that information out to as many individuals as we can so that they can say, ‘I want to live in Vanderhoof still, and I can still work in a different industry
90 per cent of the workers employed on major infrastructure projects near their homes, according to Gorham. It was funded through provincial and federal grants.
In 2020, the International Union of Operating Engineers ran a similar program to train forestry workers to work in asphalt paving and heavy construction. It ran another program after a major paper mill closure in Powell River.
“The timing was really good for us, because we had a lot of work
But Gorham said the retraining program hasn’t run in a few years.
“There has to be jobs for it,” he said, adding that work on the pipeline is now mostly finished. He said the union is waiting for another major infrastructure project to need work before it reaches out to train more forestry workers.
“When further projects open up and there’s going to be huge labour demands, that’s when those opportunities arise for us to be able to run [a program],” he said.
For those who stay, no silver-bullet solutions
Not all workers are leaving the industry.
Mayor Moutray said local forestry contractors are commuting 200 kilometres to Quesnel, BC, for work, or flying into remote work camps to stay in forestry.
“They’re going out and making it happen,” he said. “But that’s a huge difference to those workers, and if you’re not used to being in camp, it’s a real big
difference to being home every night.”
Back at Dalchako Transport, Egli said he’s pivoted to hauling logs to other mills in northern BC, namely one in Prince George. He said while the forest industry is contracting, he doesn’t see it ever disappearing from northern BC
“The forestry industry is going to stick around,” Egli said. “These trees regrow, and if managed correctly, the forest industry can stay operating forever.”
But as workers ready themselves for mill closures, Egli said he’s had a tough time finding skilled labour.
He says he’s watched workers leave Dalchako Transport to work in heavy construction.
“[The province] had this grant in place for the last couple years where they were paying people to get out of the forest industry, and I lost a couple drivers who took advantage of it,” he said. “I can’t blame them, but I’m not really a fan of the government paying my employees to quit.”
But back in Vanderhoof, Frenkel said mill workers who have been laid off are turning to mining and agriculture. He said the district’s council has been
working with businesses in both sectors to help match workers with new jobs.
“We’re educating and getting that information out to as many individuals as we can so that they can say, ‘I want to live in Vanderhoof still, and I can still work in a different industry,’” he said.
Frenkel said he’s not seeing a jump in “for sale” signs in the district, and elementary school classes aren’t seeing a drop in the number of students — both indicators that people are staying in town instead of leaving to find work. Meanwhile, Moutray said most of the former mill workers actively looking for jobs are finding them at a smaller pine mill that is still operating in the district, or in mining development and exploration.
“It’s not a silver bullet by any means, but we’ve definitely been working on that pathway from a job in a mill to a job in a mine,” he said.
“There might be a bit more pain in a couple of months, but we’re finding that people are tending to find jobs as they look for them.”
This article originally appeared in The Tyee
Isaac Phan Nay
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
For Sarah Walker of electrical contractor Bryant Electric, late payments are a regular part of doing business.
Walker, the company’s chief financial officer, said that while most of the Prince George-based electrical company’s contracts have a 60-day payment term, she is frequently having to track payments down. She estimates that about 40 per cent of all payments to the electrical contractor come in 30 to 60 days late.
“It sucks having to be on top of [project owners] all the time, just constantly having to put calls in,” she said. “It seems like it’s like the norm for construction, and we’re just supposed to accept that.”
The late payments sometimes cause cash flow issues, Walker said. To pay its suppliers on time, the company takes out loans and uses a line of credit, adding costly interest charges to its expenses.
Bryant Electric is not alone. A recent survey by the BC Construction Association, or BCCA, found the majority of construction businesses in BC have experienced late or missed payments, leading to high costs and instability for owners and employees at small construction businesses.
BC Attorney General Niki Sharma told The Tyee that after hearing concerns from the industry, her ministry is looking into legislation that would mandate timely payment for
construction workers.
Industry leaders say the laws will speed up construction and bring stability to small companies.
“If it’s going to be the new norm to get paid sooner, that would be a huge help,” Walker said.
According to the BCCA, the province is home to more than 28,000 construction companies.
Thousands are struggling with late payments. The BCCA’s annual industry survey, released earlier this month, found 91 per cent of construction employer respondents said they had experienced late payments, and 69 per cent reported experiencing not being paid at all.
“That’s a very fragile system,” BCCA president Chris Atchison said. “Employers shouldn’t be put in that position.”
The survey polled 1,342 respondents in the construction industry. About 65 per cent of respondents said they were employers and 26 per cent said they were labourers.
The poll found that businesses with fewer than 100 employees were most likely to be concerned about late or missed payments.
Data from the provincial government shows 76 per cent of the province’s construction businesses are small — which it defines as employing fewer than 50 people.
While BCCA members make it a priority to pay staff, Atchison said, late payments cause these businesses and their workers “tremendous uncertainty.”
NDP to introduce prompt-payment legislation for construction
“If an employer is constantly late in getting its payment, they’re going into debt at an alarming and unfair rate,” Atchison said. “When they ultimately do fail, it is their employees who will need to move on to other jobs.”
When project owners miss payments completely, Atchison said, contractors need to head to court to get paid, incurring legal fees.
“
If it’s going to be the new norm to get paid sooner, that would be a huge help
Prompt-payment legislation shifts in BC could help ease that burden.
Similar laws have already been implemented for the construction industry in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. They set deadlines by which owners must pay contractors for their work and offer a way to resolve payment disputes.
In Ontario, for example, an owner must pay a contractor within 28 days of receiving an invoice, and contractors must pay subcontractors within seven
days of receiving payment. The province also created an authority responsible for adjudicating payment disputes.
This has helped speed up payments to contractors, Sharma said.
Sharma added the dispute resolution process means contractors missing money aren’t forced to hire lawyers and pay legal fees while tracking down payments. She said she hopes promptpayment legislation will ensure workers are paid reliably and consistently.
“It is the labourer that’s the most impacted if their people are not paid on time,” Sharma said.
She added that many labourers choose to move on to the next job instead of chasing down payment.
“That is a real injustice,” she said. Sharma said she hopes the policy is finished within the next two sessions of parliament.
Back at Bryant Electric, vice-president Jason Weaver said he’s optimistic about the NDP’s plans.
“Hopefully if it’s written in law that owners have to pay us sooner, managing cash flow and our business finances will be easier,” he said.
Weaver said any laws that speed up payment would be a “positive move” for the industry.
“We shouldn’t be having to fight for the money on the job that we’ve already done,” Weaver said. “We hold up our end of the deal, so we hope owners hold up their end.”
This article originally appeared in The Tyee
CITIZEN FILE PHOTO
The province is introducing new legislation that will speed up the payment process for construction contractors.
Citizen Staff
Like many other industries, construction has been and may continue to be negatively impacted by the ongoing trade war with the United States.
While U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to tariffs affecting Canada has fluctuated, there has been a 25 per cent duty on Canadian steel and aluminum.
BC Premier David Eby recently stated that Canada should be “prepared and stand on our own two feet” and that American contracts should be cancelled “wherever viable.”
The effects of U.S. tariffs were discussed during Day 2 of the 2025 Build the North Conference in Prince George.
Sajjid Lakhani, director of government relations and strategy at Impact Public Affairs, gave a presentation on this issue.
“Of course, tariffs are top of mind,” said Lakhani. ”BC’s response to tariffs has been quite robust in terms of influence in the media and working with stakeholders. The premier has assigned Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, to lead the tariff war room. it’s interesting to note, most war rooms of this capacity would be led by the Finance Minister. It shows that this government is very committed to the housing aspect, which is better for the construction industry to have someone like that lead the tariff
Tough talk on tariffs at Build the North
boardroom and to be top of mind on these issues.”
Lakhani wasn’t the only one with tariffs on his mind during the conference, as Chris Atchison, president of the BC Construction Association, also weighed in on the issue.
“Initially, it’s not going to have a huge impact on the construction industry,” said Atchison. “We’re not major exporters in construction to the U.S. What’s going to have the major impact on the construction industry is when retaliatory tariffs come into play and Canada responds. That’s going to make it more expensive to build. It’s going to take more time to establish other supply chains, and the supply chains we remain dependent on in the U.S. will mean material costs are going to increase for projects in British Columbia.”
In an interview with The Citizen, Lakhani discussed key ways the industry can navigate the uncertainty caused by the constant changes of the ongoing trade war.
“It’s a tough business because both will have lasting impacts,” said Lakhani. “Whether they stay or go, the impacts are already there. It seems the president is just trying to announce so many policies and so many changes that the media and the courts can’t keep up. So
in terms of navigating that uncertainty, it’s going to be really important to have very in-sync communication because you can’t predict the future. As I said, it’s like flipping a switch every day. So it’s going to be important to hope for the best but expect the worst.”
“It’s really tough to have that pressure from the top down, and when you’re looking at unaffordability, it’s at a peak right now — interest rates, mortgages, you name it. It’s just a very economically uncertain time right now
Lakhani noted that smaller construction businesses may be among the most affected during these uncertain times. He outlined a few ways they can mitigate the effects of tariffs and their consequences.
“For the mom-and-pop businesses, I really feel for them,” said Lakhani. “It’s really tough to have that pressure from the top down, and when you’re looking at unaffordability, it’s at a peak right now — interest rates, mortgages, you name it. It’s just a very economically uncertain time right now. What I would suggest is listening to the supportive stakeholders, being part of the regional construction association, being part of the team that the Northern Regional Construction Association (NRCA) provides, for example, or the BC Construction Association. Rely on them to communicate the current issues of the day as well as the actions and insights the industry has taken.” Lakhani also said he hopes people in the industry will get more involved in the fight against U.S. tariffs.
“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the table. So what I’d love for them to take away from my presentation is to get involved — join the NRCA. If they’re from other parts of BC join their local regional construction association and just get involved. Speak to your local MLA, your MPs. Just put yourself out there, because we’re facing one of the largest existential crises we have as a country, and it’s going to be important for the business community to be represented in that.”
MATTHEW HILLIER PHOTO
Sajjid Lakhani speaks to the crowd at the 2025 Build the North Conference. Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Prince George, BC.
Waste not, profit much: toxic tailings could ‘re-mined’ for billions
of
dollars in critical minerals
Darius Snieckus
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Toxic tailings discarded at some 10,000 abandoned mines together with those currently being produced by 200 others in operation across Canada could hide a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity as demand for critical minerals explodes globally in the coming decades, a new study has concluded.
Tailings — a byproduct of largescale mining operations — could be changed “from a liability into asset” by monetizing recovered minerals and metals from current waste for use in renewable energy technologies, data centres, and defence applications, said the report from Action Canada, a leader development programme. There would also be a win-win beyond the financial in “re-mining” this huge network of decommissioned and operational mines. Removing tailings, which can pollute soil and water tables, would have a positive environmental impact, and redevelopment would aid in reconciliation efforts with Indigenous populations whose land neighbours much of Canada’s mining
heartlands.
“Re-mining these tailings would be multiple birds with one stone,” said Lisa Mah, one of the authors of the study, produced with the Public Policy Forum, an Ottawa-based thinktank.
“For energy security, national sovereignty, for the green transition, now the AI race, it’s all coming down to access to critical minerals.”
Canada currently generates some 650 million tonnes of geological waste each year from its mines — 70 per cent of which report substantial environmental risk from collected tailings. The sector has more than $10 billion in liability costs linked to treatment of tailings, according to number crunching from Mirarco, a research arm of Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. However, Mirarco also figures that billions of dollars in critical minerals were being left untapped. It calculated, as an example, some $8-10 billion in nickel from mines in the Sudbury area had been left in tailings piles.
Miner Rio Tinto recently set up a collaboration called Regeneration, with Resolve, an engineering consultancy,
to explore re-mining and reprocessing of nickel tailings, waste rock and water to extract critical minerals.
The re-mining numbers might be even more tantalizing for Canada’s copper, a commodity metal that is often found in deposits that also contain key critical minerals such as tellurium, rhenium, cobalt, and indium. In 2023, almost 510,000 tonnes was mined from 39 active facilities.
But there are almost 1,000 so-called orphaned and abandoned mines where copper was the main raw resource extracted — and other metals discarded instead of being extracted and refined.
The Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia puts the global market for precious, critical and strategic metals in tailings at over US$3.4 trillion. The value is only set to rise as market pressures grow – not least due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s targeting of Canada, and Greenland and the Ukraine - for critical minerals reserves, in order to help divert U.S. economic and defence supply chains away from Chinese primacy.
Though the operational costs of remining are expected to be significantly lower than greenfield projects, given there is no mine to build, no rock crushing, no milling involved, the concept remains “undeveloped,”
said Mah. “Domestic initiatives are limited and the adoption of innovative technologies is lagging.
“There are some pilots in Northern Ontario, in the Ring of Fire, that are starting to look at monetizing this, but it is all early-stage.”
No mineralogy or mine infrastructure
The Canadian government has built up a database listing the orphaned and abandoned mines and identified associated tailings sites. But there is nothing in these files on the mineralogy of these tailings, nor about mine infrastructure that may or may not exist today.
“This would of course be crucial to any re-mining initiatives’ insight into profitability, sustainability or regulatory compliance,” said Mah.
B.C. is the first province in Canada to have such an inventory. GeoscienceBC, a consultancy, recently published a searchable digital platform to
UNBC PHOTO Researchers set up sites along the Quesnel River to monitor sediment levels after the tailings pond spill at the Mount Polley mine in 2014.
“Technology can improve the economics in two key ways: enhancing the ability to analyze tailings composition and developing more costeffective recovery methods
catalogue mineral deposits and mine tailings using information sourced from the Abandoned Mines branch of the B.C Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals.
“If every province did this it would absolutely accelerate the market opportunity,” said Mah. “Right now, how can anyone even do a basic profit-or-loss [analysis] on a re-mining project?”
Ontario has emerged as a market spearhead, last November introducing new regulation under the Mining Act to streamline recovery of residual metals and minerals from mine waste at both abandoned and active mine sites.
Time to build the ‘midstream’ Marilyn Spinks, director of operations at the Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance, an industry
body, believes Canada must start by “building the midstream” — the processing and manufacturing part of the mining supply chain — and identifying main critical mineral buyers, while determining where the richest tailings are to be found.
“You must start with the demand. There is such a spectrum of critical minerals — batteries alone can need a range of rare earth elements, for instance — so you have to know where your real demand will be and who your future customers are, before you can move forward,” she said.
“But you don’t need a mine to develop the midstream. If we do critical mineral mining right, from clean-sheet projects to re-mining of old tailings, it will rise because it will be based on a ‘demand-pull’ market.”
Spinks added that re-mining was an opportunity for Canada to move beyond its commodity metals history.
“The commodity supply chain-based push has served Canada quite well to this point, but the energy transition markets don’t work that way. We must keep a high-value manufacturing lens on this.
“Mining is a ‘brown’ [carbon-intensive] industry,” she added, “But we can make it green, or at least ‘less brown’ with innovation.”
Technological advancements will be fundamental to Canada capitalizing on this overlooked critical minerals resource for several reasons, said Liam Hilder, minerals stream lead at the University of British Columbia’s Creative Destruction Lab.
“Technology can improve the economics in two key ways: enhancing the ability to analyze tailings composition and developing more cost-effective recovery methods,” he said, noting that innovations in sensor
systems could soon be helping the mining industry measure tailings’ mineral content at scale in real time. Technology boosts economics “This would certainly help in strengthening the economic case for treating tailings as valuable assets rather than waste,” he said. Additionally, progress in processing techniques such as biomining — also known as bioleaching, the extraction of metals from a low-grade ore using microorganisms — could increase recovery rates while lowering costs and “further improve the feasibility of tailings reprocessing”
Mah underlines that the value of re-mining to Canada’s reconciliation process should not be underestimated.
“There should be a heavy emphasis if we are working out the economics of extracting critical minerals from mines’ tailing on the reconciliation and land reclamation side too.”
She points to the 600 Indigenous communities living within 100 kilometres of large mines’ tailings pits:
“This has to be a key consideration in looking at the potential of this market. Converting liabilities to assets, for
financial gain but also the greater good.”
In a bid to ramp up mining of critical minerals, Ottawa in 2022 announced $3.8 billion in federal funding to finance geoscience and exploration, mineral processing, manufacturing and recycling applications, as well as research and development.
And last year, Canada’s critical minerals list was updated with three new materials, bringing the total to 34.
“It goes far beyond making critical minerals from tailings a complementary way to meet demand,” said Mah, highlighting Action Canada’s chief recommendation in its report, to build a National Tailings Inventory.
“No one can know how much [critical minerals from tailings] can contribute until we have a clearer idea of where the biggest reserves are and what it will cost us to get it processed and to market,” she said.
“No data, no decisions. Despite what is clearly a massive economic opportunity here, without better data there are no ‘next steps’.”
This story originally appeared in Canada’s National Observer
Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals
Jagrup Brar recently visited Fort St. James and Milligan Mine to tour the facility and highlight its role in BC’s economic and environmental strategy.
Following the tour, Brar spoke with The Citizen and expressed his admiration for the operation and the support it provides to local communities. A highlight for him was meeting workers and witnessing the impact the mine has on their lives.
“I was very pleased to meet an Indigenous worker there,” Brar said. “Her name is Sarah, she works there full time and has a very good, family-supporting job. Sarah is a success story. About 19 per cent of the people who work at the mine are from Indigenous communities, and about 70 per cent of the workforce comes from local communities. They are supporting the local economy and helping local towns. I was very pleased to see that, because mining in this area is a major
Minerals minister tours Milligan Mine
contributor to the local economy and supports economic development.”
Brar also noted that, in addition to providing 40,000 jobs across B.C., the mining sector has grown in importance to the provincial economy in recent years. “Since 2017, total employment has increased by 10 per cent. Private sector investment in mineral resource development has more than doubled, and mineral exports, which are crucial right now, have increased in value by 41 per cent, reaching $17 billion in 2023. Mining exports are also predominantly going to Asia — over 90 per cent — so we’re not reliant on the U.S. for exports from the mining sector.”
Regarding the impact of potential tariffs on mining, Brar acknowledged some minor effects but remains confident in the province’s connections to Asian markets.
“Tariffs will have some impact, but it will be very minor,” Brar said. “Mining uses a lot of machinery, including trucks, loaders, and other equipment that come from the U.S. If we enter a tariff war, it could affect the sector in that respect. However, when it comes to mining exports, we are in a strong position. We have customers in Asia, particularly in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.”
Brar also spoke about the North’s growing role in BC’s mining development and the opportunities it presents for economic prosperity.
“The North has a huge role to play and a huge opportunity,” Brar said. “Last time I was here, I visited Blackwater, a new gold mine. It’s a massive operation and is creating hundreds of jobs for the local community. We’ve also issued a permit to Caribou Gold, which will
begin construction soon, creating more local jobs and opportunities for small businesses. During this visit, I met with the leadership of FPX, which is currently in the exploration stage for a new proposed mine. There is significant potential for mining in the North.”
In addition to advancing the mining industry, Brar emphasized the importance of working with Indigenous communities to bring stability to the sector.
“It’s important that we advance reconciliation to ensure stability in the mining sector,” Brar said. “Without reconciliation, it will be difficult to achieve stability. First Nations play a significant role in that respect. We also need to share the prosperity of the industry with them, which is the essence of reconciliation.”
Finally, Brar outlined his recent commitments to funding and improving efficiency in the North’s mining sector. “Premier Eby is committed to addressing the infrastructure needs of the northwest region,” Brar said. “As part of that commitment, we recently announced $195 million in joint funding with the federal government through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund to support upgrades to Highways 37 and 51. These upgrades are crucial for the mining sector’s future. We’re also working to streamline the permitting process without compromising our world-class environmental standards or reconciliation efforts. For example, we now run a joint application process, conducting environmental assessments and mining technical reviews simultaneously, which reduces the process by 30-35 per cent.”
Citizen Staff
CHUCK NISBETT PHOTO
Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals Jagrup Brar speaks at the BC Resource Ministers’ Breakfast at the Prince George Civic Centre Thursday January 16.
heads over softwood lumber for decades.
Forestry workers brace for impact of U.S. tariffs
It’s been hard to keep up with the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff trade war on Canada.
Punishing tariffs have been levied on steel, aluminum and automobiles and — critically for BC — softwood lumber.
“Tariffs are the top election issue for workers,” Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske said. “This uncertainty really has people very, very stressed out about the future of their jobs.”
U.S. duties on softwood lumber from Canada have been a sore point between the two countries for more than 40 years. The United States argues Canadian producers have an unfair advantage because they’re subsidized by governments that sell them trees on Crown land at below market prices.
There is currently a 14.5 per cent tariff on lumber from Canada.
But as part of the tariff war, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its plans to more than double the rate to 34.5 per cent by this September.
“This is an attack on forest workers and British Columbians,” Premier David Eby said in a press release. “I know that during hard times it is often the workers who pay the price.”
The change will make Canadian lumber more expensive and could result in lost sales, mill closures and layoffs.
Labour advocates and unions are calling for the federal government to support workers affected by tariffs.
And the major parties have unveiled campaign promises aimed at addressing the crisis.
A decades-old conflict
The United States and Canada have butted
Since 2016, the two countries have been involved in litigation in proceedings called “Lumber V,” because it is the fifth iteration of the dispute.
According to Global Affairs Canada, the U.S. lumber industry alleges Canadian lumber is unfairly subsidized and “dumped” south of the border.
The BC government says on its website it is working with the federal government to respond to the litigation and seeking recourse from the U.S. Court of International Trade, from the World Trade Organization and under the CanadaUnited States-Mexico Agreement.
About 65 per cent of BC’s softwood lumber production is sold to U.S. buyers, according to the BC Lumber Trade Council.
Tariff threats earlier this year played a role in job losses across BC, industry experts told The Tyee. They expect higher rates to put more jobs in jeopardy.
The United Steelworkers union represents about 14,000 forestry workers across Canada. Wood Council chair Jeff Bromley said it’s still not clear what the tariffs will mean for members.
He said a strong Canadian dollar and high demand for lumber could help the industry absorb the cost of duties. But markets have been volatile as U.S. trade policy changes quickly.
“There very well could be a recession in the works,” Bromley said. “If that does happen, and housing starts to decline and the demand for the [lumber] falls, that will have a massive detrimental effect on membership in the industry.”
Bromley said the federal government can support forest workers by enhancing employment insurance and funding
training support for workers who need to find work in other industries.
But Bromley said the ultimate solution is a new softwood agreement.
“Getting a new softwood lumber deal can provide certainty to the industry and to my members,” he said. “They need to make it a massive priority across the country.”
He added that can only happen if the United States is also willing to co-operate.
Bruske of the Canadian Labour Congress wants the federal parties to commit to more support for workers in the face of
REFUELING TANKS
economic uncertainty.
“Workers want to know that our social safety net, which has some gaping holes in it, is being stitched up,” she said.
Bruske said workers need investment into social programs including health care, mental health supports and pharmacare. Tax cuts benefit only a small portion of the population, she said.
“The right approach to take is to shore up those services that workers and their families depend on.”
This article originally appeared in The Tyee
FUEL TANK PUMP LOADING RAMPS
PILOT CAR SIGNS
RACKS & RAILS
TOOL BOXES
Isaac Phan Nay Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
One of British Columbia’s government agencies is poised to get a lot more power.
Premier David Eby’s NDP government has just introduced legislation to give
new responsibilities to the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), which oversees the province’s growing oil and gas sector and other energy projects.
The changes will put the regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — in charge of fast-tracking
The BC agency overseeing oil and gas
is about to get more powerful.
Here’s why you should care
renewable energy projects like wind and solar, along with the $3-billion North Coast transmission line that will power liquefied natural gas (LNG), mining and other industrial projects.
Through a suite of agreements with various BC ministries, the regulator has long had special powers to make decisions related to ecosystem health, wildlife, cultural heritage sites, climate, Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and more.
Regulator officials can issue tickets, fines and warnings, and order companies to stop working if they are breaking the law.
like BC Hydro and BC Transit. It answers to the BC Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions, headed by Adrian Dix.
When the regulator was formed in the 1990s, it was called the BC Oil and Gas Commission.
“The original purpose of the BC Energy Regulator was very much to facilitate the development of the oil and gas industry in the province,” Deborah Curran, executive director of the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria, previously told The Narwhal.
VICTORY
The agency is also responsible for issuing permits for energy projects — everything from pumping water from a stream and laying a pipeline under a river to setting allowable levels of greenhouse gas emissions at natural gas wells.
In announcing the regulator’s new powers earlier this year, the BC government touted the agency’s transparency and its adeptness in working with First Nations and energy companies. A recent investigation by The Narwhal and Investigative Journalism Foundation found the regulator’s inspectors don’t always enforce laws and regulations designed to protect the environment and human health.
So what exactly is the BC Energy Regulator? Read on.
What is the BC Energy Regulator, or BCER?
The regulator is a Crown corporation,
At the time, the BC government was courting fossil fuel companies to set up shop in the province, and it established dedicated ministries — such as the Ministry of Natural Gas Development — to help the sector get up and running. To support oil and gas development, the regulator was given special powers that superseded decisions normally made by other ministries.
What kind of decisions can the regulator make?
The regulator has broad decision-making powers. For example, the regulator can make decisions and issue permits to clear an archaeological site or cut down oldgrowth forests to clear land for fossil fuel projects. The regulator also has primary responsibility for overseeing major projects like the controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline.
Former premier John Horgan’s NDP government renamed the commission in
Matt Simmons
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The LNG Canada plant in Kitimat is seen in this 2021 file photo. SUBMITTED PHOTO
“The investigation into the regulator’s sometimes secretive approach to monitoring the fossil fuel industry in BC found the agency often notes when companies are breaking regulations or laws in hidden records but does not issue any official citations. Instead,
it chooses to employ what it calls a ‘graduated enforcement model’
2023, and expanded its responsibilities to include hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and carbon storage projects.
In an emailed statement, the regulator said its role is to provide “sound regulatory oversight of the energy industry” and ensure companies comply with their permit conditions and BC’s laws. “We do not advocate for industry nor solicit economic development,” the regulator said.
Why will the regulator be overseeing more natural gas projects?
The majority of BC’s fossil fuel production is natural gas. Mostly composed of methane, the fuel, which is used for heating and energy generation, is a powerful greenhouse gas with 80 times more warming potential over a 20year period than carbon dioxide.
Companies have been extracting natural gas in BC for decades, but activity has ramped up over the past dozen or so years. It’s projected to reach record highs in the next few years as new LNG export projects come online. That means the regulator will be overseeing far more natural gas projects.
The majority of natural gas extraction in BC takes place through hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. Fracking involves drilling into shale rock formations and injecting a
mix of fresh water and chemicals to fracture the rock and release the gas. Canada’s first LNG exports will be shipped this year, when the first phase of LNG Canada’s facility in Kitimat, BC, starts operations. LNG Canada will receive gas from Coastal GasLink. The consortium of foreign-owned companies behind the project, including Shell, plans a second phase, doubling production, if it can secure investment.
More LNG developments are underway or proposed, and all fall under the purview of the energy regulator. Construction has started on Woodfibre LNG in Squamish, BC, and Cedar LNG in Kitimat. The government is expected to decide whether to greenlight the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG plant northwest of Terrace, BC, near the Alaska border, and its feeder pipeline, the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, sometime in the next few months. Do BCER inspectors always enforce regulations?
The BC Energy Regulator oversees all activity associated with fracking and LNG development, including construction of pipelines like the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) line. Yet the agency’s compliance and enforcement division includes just 17 inspectors, who report to seven supervisors.
The Narwhal, in collaboration with the Investigative Journalism Foundation, recently published five reports about the energy regulator’s compliance and enforcement department. In at least 1,000 instances, inspectors documented apparent environmental infractions but did not penalize the companies for breaking the rules.
The investigation into the regulator’s sometimes secretive approach to monitoring the fossil fuel industry in BC found the agency often notes when companies are breaking regulations or laws in hidden records but does not issue any official citations. Instead, it chooses to employ what it calls a “graduated enforcement model.” Critics call the method inadequate, suggesting the energy regulator has become “captured” by the industry it oversees.
The investigation also uncovered a regulator database of “serious leaks” at gas wells and an exemption granted to one of Canada’s biggest oil companies for more than 4,000 pipelines not
compliant with regulations. Thousands of records describing problems at wells and pipelines — including dangerous levels of leaking gases and chemical spills affecting wildlife and livestock — were brought to light.
During the five-year period when the Coastal GasLink pipeline was being built by Calgary-based TC Energy, the regulator levied just $3,680 against the pipeline company for infractions. Meanwhile, the Environmental Assessment Office — the agency’s regulatory counterpart in the Ministry of Environment — fined Coastal GasLink more than $1 million for causing impacts to land, fish and wildlife during construction.
Why should British Columbians care about the BC Energy Regulator?
As the BC Energy Regulator takes on new responsibilities, it will continue to be the primary government agency in charge of all fossil fuel infrastructure. Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for more than 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations.
Climate change will directly cause an additional 250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050, according to conservative predictions by the World Health Organization. It will disproportionately impact marginalized communities, meaning the brunt of it — including deaths — will be experienced by those least able to access support. Oil and gas development such as fracking, pipelines and LNG export facilities also impact ecosystems and present risks to public health and safety. Studies have found fracking is linked to earthquakes, reproductive issues and groundwater contamination.
In northeast BC, where most of the province’s natural gas comes from, Treaty 8 First Nations have witnessed the steady degradation of their lands for decades. In one instance a BC Supreme Court judge found the provincial government — including the regulator — guilty of infringing on Blueberry River First Nations’ treaty rights by permitting and encouraging so much resource development that community members were no longer able to hunt and fish. This article originally appeared in The Narwhal
BC backtracks on LNG ‘net-zero’ carbon pollution rules
By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The LNG Canada project in Kitimat, BC, (above) came online in April. Phase 2 of the project and other proposed liquified natural gas facilities won’t have to meet 2030 ‘netzero’ requirements if they can’t plug into the electrical grids.
Photo LNG Canada / media handout
News Value: 4Canada’s National Observer781 words 0 previous versions
The BC government’s quiet rollback of carbon pollution rules for proposed LNG projects undermines provincial net-zero promises, says a Green Party MLA.
Last month, Adrian Dix, minister of energy and climate solutions, made changes to the liquified natural gas (LNG) approval process, which were listed in a letter sent to the BC Environmental Assessment Office.
Previously, LNG projects moving through the approvals pipeline required a credible plan for net-zero emissions by 2030. However, now proposed LNG projects only have to “provide a credible plan” to reach net-zero if they aren’t plugged into BC’s electrical grid by that date, providing a loophole for them to pollute, said Jeremy Valeriote, Green MLA for West VancouverSea to Sky.
The change is a significant backtrack by the ministry because it lets companies off the hook if they claim electricity isn’t available, and allows them to generate emissions indefinitely, he said. The move also “defies
logic” if the province is actually committed to meeting its emissions targets.
The Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions did not respond to Canada’s National Observer questions about how BC can meet its climate targets, or reduce emissions at all, if LNG projects are permitted to generate huge amounts of carbon pollution indefinitely.
In an email, the ministry said Dix’s letter with the new instructions to the EAO, “is a clarification of existing policy, not a change.”
LNG proponents are still expected to reduce emissions unrelated to electrical power such as gas flaring or transportation.
“Net-zero by 2030 remains the standard for LNG facilities, but we recognize that access to clean electricity will take time,” the email said.
“Proponents will not be penalized for factors beyond their control.”
Valeriote sees it differently.
“It’s just pandering to industry,” Valeriote said. “If companies can’t meet those rules, that’s not the government or the public of British Columbia’s problem.”
It’s not up to taxpayers to pay for and provide electrical resources for the fossil fuel companies, Valeriote said — nor is it fair if the public must shoulder the burden of any resulting pollution if they don’t.
The coastal LNG export projects need access to clean electricity, instead of burning natural gas to eliminate the large volumes of carbon pollution created during
the energy-intensive liquefaction process, which sees natural gas chilled into a fluid for easy transport by ship to overseas markets.
It’s unlikely the province will have the electrical supply needed to power LNG plants with clean energy by 2030, said Matt Hulse, a lawyer with the legal charity Ecojustice.
Over the next decade, BC Hydro is spending $4.7 billion in public funds in Northern BC — expanding the grid to clean up carbon pollution from the natural gas Industry, LNG plants, mining and powering ports with clean energy.
One of the largest projects, the North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL) from Prince George to Terrace, is slated for completion in 2032.
The electrical gap means gas-powered LNG facilities can generate millions of tonnes of climate pollution beyond 2030, if power from the grid is not available, Hulse said. For example, the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project is expected to produce 1.8 million tonnes emissions yearly if not powered by electricity — not including the upstream and downstream emissions associated with the facility, he said. Close to 90 per cent of Ksi Lisims carbon pollution is generated from powering the plant.
Annually, the pollution from that project is anticipated to be the equivalent to 10 per cent of BC’s total industrial emissions generated in 2023.
Aside from lacking the power supply for
LNG projects, the province doesn’t provide clear timelines for its availability, which undermines government claims of “clean LNG,” Hulse said.
“Even if LNG facilities are electrified, you can’t call them ‘net zero,’” he said.
“It’s still a fossil fuel, and you can’t just ignore the upstream fracking emissions and the downstream combustion that happens elsewhere.”
BC residents will continue to pay the price of burning LNG overseas in the form of disasters like floods, wildfires and drought even if the emissions aren’t included in the province’s tally sheet, he noted.
“We’ll still feel the climate impacts here — regardless of where the emissions are counted.”
Valeriote said BC emissions targets and CleanBC climate plan are largely “aspirational” and lack any measures that have demonstratively reduced carbon pollution to date.
The Greens are sitting down with the province to review and shape a more accountable, enforceable CleanBC strategy better aligned with the public’s interests, he said.
“We need to review the subsidies and the support we give to some of these industries,” he said.
“We should be spending public money on renewable energy rather than natural gas and methane.
This article originally appeared in Canada’s National Observer
The LNG Canada project in Kitimat, BC, (above) came online in April. Phase 2 of the project and other proposed liquified natural gas facilities won’t have to meet 2030 ‘netzero’ requirements if they can’t plug into the electrical grids.
PHOTO LNG CANADA / MEDIA HANDOUT
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar suggested that selective logging in old-growth forests and provincial parks could improve wildfire resilience — a position drawing criticism from environmental groups — during the recent BC Council of Forest Industries conference in Prince George.
“As B.C.’s minister of forests, I’ll tell you exactly where I stand. As far as I’m concerned, I have one job the premier has given me, and that is to champion our forestry workers and restore their — and the world’s — confidence in this sector,” Parmar said. “To start, all of us here need to find a path to a sustainable harvest of 45 million cubic metres. That’s the number in my mandate letter from the premier.”
Parmar spoke at the April 2-4 conference at the Civic Centre, outlining his new mandate to achieve a sustainable harvest of 45 million cubic metres of forest.
The minister’s remarks may signal a “timber grab,” according to a Prince George-based environmental advocacy organization.
“The minister was presenting industrial logging as a kind of solution to fires. The relationship between those things is not a clear one,” said Michelle Connolly of Conservation North. “He presented it as a necessity to improve resilience in old growth. That’s a real misuse of the concept of resilience. Natural ecosystems have their own resilience, and extracting from them doesn’t increase that.” Connolly added: “It was some strange language that he seems to have heard from people really embedded in the forest industry who want to do more logging of old growth. I believe he’s exploiting people’s fear of fire to get access to areas of old growth that people might not otherwise support opening to industry.”
Wildfires have increased in severity across BC’s Interior in recent years due to the effects of climate change. Conservation North argues that logging may further destabilize ecosystems and exacerbate wildfire risks. “Logging those old-growth forests is not going to improve the resilience of those forests,”
Connolly said. “Logging requires roads, which damage soil. It creates openings that increase wind speed and dry out the forest. You’re removing structure, which can make those places more vulnerable to fire.”
She also questioned the minister’s emphasis on rural old-growth areas, rather than focusing on fireproofing areas around communities. “When Minister Parmar was speaking, it was very confusing,” Connolly said. “You couldn’t tell whether he was talking about fire hardening around communities, or whether he was just talking about logging beyond that and using fire as an excuse. Part of me thinks maybe that was on purpose — to make people think logging out in the bush is going to help forest fire situations near communities. That’s not the case.”
Connolly pointed to U.S. research suggesting the most effective way to protect lives and property is to fire-harden directly around communities, rather than logging remote areas under the banner of fire resilience.
She also said there would likely be public opposition to logging in old-growth management areas or provincial parks if such plans moved forward.
“I think there’s a lot of public resistance to the idea of logging old-growth management areas and parks. I don’t think that’ll fly with most of the public,” Connolly said. “I don’t think we should put it past them to attempt to change public opinion, especially as we enter a period of economic difficulties.”
She added: “It’s clear why they’re announcing this: they want to be seen as doing something to help the economy. But we need to think about our region as well — about the values we need to keep on the landscape. It won’t serve anyone if we eliminate the rest of our old growth and damage our parks in the long term. If that happens, we’ll look back in 20 years and wonder what we were thinking.”
The Citizen asked Parmar for a response. The Ministry of Forests provided a written statement outlining its wildfire management and land stewardship goals.
“Selective thinning — using innovative silvicultural practices — is essential to
Parmar promotes forest thinning at Prince George conference
ensuring British Columbians can have a strong, sustainable forest sector for the next hundred years,” the statement said. “We did not create provincial parks to see them burn down. We did not take the important steps to protect our ancient forests to see them burn down.”
The ministry explained that “selective thinning” involves removing diseased and understory trees that can act as wildfire fuel, with the goal of improving long-term forest health and increasing resilience.
“This is about strategically removing single trees to protect the health of our forests and the safety of our communities, where appropriate,” the statement continued.
The ministry said active forest stewardship would help ensure BC’s parks and protected areas are more resilient in the face of climate change. It added that the Old Growth Strategic Review recommended silviculture as one of the tools available for managing forests and their multiple values.
“The Ministry of Forests, including BC Wildfire Service, works closely with B.C. Parks on wildfire risk reduction and will continue to do so,” the statement said. “This is part of the conversation that we are having with First Nations and the Ministry of Environment and Parks.”
Citizen Staff
CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar gives an address on forestry’s future at the COFI 2025 Conference Friday, April 4, 2025 at the PG Civic Centre.
Prince Rupert Port ramps up global trade connections and increases export activity
Radha Agarwal
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Recent expansions at the Port of Prince Rupert are solidifying its role in global trade, while export volumes across its six terminals are also beginning to pick up. Foreign cargo volumes rose from 5.99 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2024 to 6.35 million tonnes in the same period this year.
Last month, the Port became part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) Chinook service, which is their major regular transpacific route. Prince Rupert welcomed the inaugural visit of the MSC Aurora on March 17. MSC is one of the world’s largest shipping lines, renowned for its extensive routes and capacity.
“This will strengthen trade and connectivity between Vietnam, South Korea, China, Canada, and the rest of
North America,” said Olivia Mowatt, senior communications officer at the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA).
The Port of Prince Rupert also recently marked the inaugural call of the Gemini Cooperation. This is part of a new long-term operational collaboration between two major global shipping companies, A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Llyod AG. The cooperation offers a comprehensive network covering seven major trade routes, of which Prince Rupert has become a part.
The Port says that Gemini Cooperation will prioritize schedule reliability to increase on-time delivery of containers, reinforcing the Port of Prince Rupert’s reputation for providing speed, reach, and reliability for shippers.
“The expanded maritime reach these services and alliances represent supports the Port of Prince Rupert’s efforts to
diversify transpacific trade and develop greater supply chain resiliency,” said Mowatt.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority is working to build on intermodal trade by constructing two key facilities, CANXPORT and the South Kaien Import Logistics Park (SKILP). Intermodal trade is the movement of freight using multiple modes of transportation.
CANXPORT is a new trans-loading facility being constructed on southern Ridley Island. It’s designed to help move goods like crops, wood, and plastic resin products from trains into shipping containers for export. The company Ray-Mont Logistics will run it, and it will be able to handle up to 400,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units - a standard unit of measurement for cargo capacity on container ships, relative to a 20-foot shipping container) of annual capacity.
For comparison, DP World at the nearby Fairview Terminal handled about 739,000 TEUs in all of 2024. So, CANXPORT will be a major addition. It could also expand in the future to handle more types of goods.
SKILP is another new project being developed by PRPA in partnership with Metlakatla First Nation’s Development Corporation.
The main business tenant there will be LinX, a facility that helps organize and move goods. It will connect shipping from Asia to distribution hubs across North America. The first phase being built will feature a large, 100-door cross-dock loading area, giving shipping companies more flexibility in managing cargo.
This article originally appeared in The Northern View
PRPA PHOTO
The site of Prince Rupert’s grain terminal.
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Protecting old-growth forests in the BC interior could generate more than $43 billion over the next century — far more than logging the land, a report says.
Research by environmental consultancy ESSA Technologies determined that if all the old-growth forest in regions around the Okanagan and Prince George were fully protected, the carbon storage alone would keep 28 million tonnes of carbon emissions out of the atmosphere over the next 100 years. That’s roughly what would be generated by burning 63 million barrels of oil, and would be worth $43 billion — $33 billion for Prince George and $10 billion for the Okanagan. Even limited protection of only the most at-risk forests would yield $11 billion in benefits.
“The value of the forests of British Columbia are much, much, much broader and bigger than just timber, which we have, traditionally, always and only looked at,” said Rachel Holt, an ecologist who specializes in forest management policy in BC.
The report looked at two timber supply areas in the Okanagan, which include the territories of the Sylix, Secwepemc, and Nlaka’pamux Nations, and the Prince George region, which are mostly of the Carrier Sekani’s traditional territories.
Expanding BC interior forest management to include values beyond timber was long overdue as the region’s green expanses threaten to disappear, said Garry Merkel, a Tahltan forester from the Stikine River in northwest BC and director of the Centre for Indigenous Land Stewardship in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia.
“The clear-cuts are huge... if you stand in some of those valleys, you can’t even see the end of them. They’ve basically cleared the whole interior,” Merkel said.
In 2022, the total annual economic contribution of BC’s entire forestry sector, including logging, to the province’s GDP was $17.4 billion. Over the years, policy changes to prioritize conservation and the decline of postmountain pine beetle salvage logging have reduced allowable annual cuts in the Okanagan and Prince George timber supply areas.
Jens Wieting, senior policy and science advisor with Sierra Club BC, which co-funded the new report, said the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement provided a model for solutions focused on protecting forests, funding for conservation efforts and support for a conservation economy.
According to Wieting, the report is conservative. It undervalues the huge
SUBMITTED PHOTO In 2022,
potential of conservation and excludes broader benefits such as flood protection, drought mitigation and reduced risk of landslides — all of which are influenced by the health of forests and would likely add to the estimated value.
The report found ecotourism and recreation, driven by people seeking scenic hikes, photography and wellness retreats among towering trees, would inject $791 million into local economies.
Non-timber forest products such as wild mushrooms, floral greenery, medicinal plants, essential oils and materials for artisans would provide recurring income streams in these regions.
“How do we as a society continue to get the most out of our forests from an economic perspective, and translate a lot of these services into actual real dollars?”
Merkel said.
Many Indigenous communities across these areas have long advocated for stronger protections for old-growth forests, many of which are under economic pressure to accept logging revenue.
“This report is an important step in recognizing the true value of our lands and resources,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, in a release. “It affirms what First Nations have always known — that sustainable stewardship
and Indigenous knowledge are key to long-term prosperity.” Merkel co-chaired the old-growth review panel for the BC government that developed the Old Growth Strategic Review. Based on its recommendations, the province committed to stop logging in high-risk forests and move to a more sustainable value-based economy. But since then, over 31,800 hectares of land identified for protection have been logged.
Holt, who was involved in early stages of the report, said the added pressure of U.S. tariffs gives the government even more incentive to shift toward a community-based, local industry that focuses on producing regional products.
“As a friend of mine recently said, there is no economy without the eco,” said Holt. “We have to put stewardship first and build a completely different, resilient industry.”
The question now isn’t whether to act, it’s whether the province will move fast enough to preserve what’s left before it’s gone, said Wieting.
“We have waited a long time with these promises of a paradigm shift,” said Wieting. “We have to stop the bleeding and speed up solutions to protect at-risk old-growth forests.”
This article originally appeared in Canada’s National Observer
Sonal Gupta
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As the Cariboo’s largest forestry company marks 70 years in the industry, the need to adapt to an ever-changing world continues to be a reality for West Fraser.
With growing uncertainties in the wake of climate change and the current U.S. administration’s inconsistent and unreliable decision-making, West Fraser faces a multitude of challenges which require close monitoring and forward-thinking planning. “Sustainable forest management is core to our business,” the company wrote in a statement to Black Press Media. As science improves and awareness grows, the company’s approach to forestry has also evolved over time.
“Today, foresters work to monitor and manage many interconnected elements essential for healthy and resilient forests,” noted the statement.
Sam Ketcham, one of the three Ketcham brothers who founded West Fraser, in Williams Lake where West Fraser has been operating since 1957.
In accordance with government regulations, West Fraser submits forest management plans for approval prior to harvesting. Plans are intended to ensure operations can be done in a way which suit the affected area.
“Forests are complex ecosystems that require careful management for a range of environmental, social, economic and
cultural values,” said Chad Swanson, the company’s chief forester of B.C. operations.
According to West Fraser’s silviculture and reforestation webpage, the company harvests less than 0.5 per cent of the forests it manages per year. In western Canada, the company directly manages 8.2 million hectares (20.3 million acres) of forest.
“Most” of this harvesting is done in a way which reflects the natural loss of trees such as those caused by forest fires or insect infestations. This means West Fraser harvests in a way which leaves some trees standing. Cones are also left behind to allow for natural regrowth and the presence of larger debris contributes to the health of the area as it decomposes. When it comes to reforesting, West Fraser’s “rule of thumb” is to mirror the composition of trees planted to their composition prior to harvesting. It also aims to plant more trees than the amount cut, because not all seedlings will necessarily survive. Once planted, the company uses surveys to monitor the health of seedlings.
“When creating forest management plans, we consider future forest composition and rates of growth informed by climate change models to make sure we plant trees that will thrive now and in the future,” the company said in its statement.
In 2024, West Fraser planted over 24.5 million trees in its Cariboo divisions which
West Fraser adapts to uncertainty
SUBMITTED PHOTO
include Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House. Over the last three years it has planted more than 63 million trees in the region, amounting to an approximate investment of $50 million.
This includes replanting done in response to the 2017 wildfires in B.C. whose impact was most felt in the Cariboo.
“We are committed to maintaining healthy, productive forests for generations to come and are proud of the fact that the renewable building products we produce here in Williams Lake are used to build communities across North America,” West Fraser wrote.
Harvests in the Cariboo supply logs to three West Fraser-owned sawmills, two WestFraser-owned plywood plants, two pulp mills owned in whole or in part by West Fraser and the company’s medium-density fibreboard plant, all based in the Cariboo.
The company employs 500 full-time workers at the sawmill and plywood plant in Williams Lake, along with logging and hauling contractors, forestry consultants and business support-services.
In 2024, West Fraser’s company-wide sales amounted to $6.174 billion compared to a 2023 revenue of $6.454 billion. In its fourth quarter report for 2024, the company noted high mortgage rates as having an impact on the demand of its wood building products and pointed to the potential of U.S. tariffs as causing uncertainty.
“At this point we continue to monitor the situation closely and are working with our Federal and Provincial governments to support them in their effort,” said Joyce Wagenaar, the company’s director of communications, in response to Black Press’ inquiry on the impacts of U.S. tariffs.
West Fraser has also signed agreements with Williams Lake First Nation and the Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation over the last year.
“Recognizing the importance of the Indigenous Nations in leading the forest resource management in their traditional territory, and continuing our work of building new, meaningful partnerships with Indigenous Nations,” Swanson said of the agreements.
Swanson also said the company incorporates feedback from local first nation communities in its forest management plans.
In its statement to Black Press, West Fraser thanked those involved over the years for their contributions towards the company’s success.
“To all the employees and contractors, past and present, who have shaped West Fraser’s success — thank you. With this strong legacy, we look ahead to a bright future for generations to come.”
This article originally appeared in The Williams Lake Tribune
Andie Mollins
West Fraser employs 500 full-time workers at the sawmill and plywood plant in Williams Lake.
Province launches new fund to support education and career growth in construction
announced by July 30.
British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) has announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at strengthening the future of the province’s construction workforce. The Past Chair Legacy Fund is a targeted education fund created to support individuals pursuing careers in the skilled trades and other construction-related professions.
Designed to celebrate the contributions of industry leaders and foster workforce development, the fund will provide financial support to four successful applicants annually — one from each of BC’s major regions: the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Northern BC, and the Southern Interior.
“As an industry, we recognize that our most valuable asset is our people,” said BCCA president Chris Atchison. “By offering this educational fund, we are investing in the growth of individual workers and the strength of the entire construction sector.”
Applications for the inaugural year of the Past Chair Legacy Fund opened April 28 and will close on June 15. A selection committee will review submissions through mid-July, with recipients
The fund will support a range of training and educational opportunities aligned with construction career pathways, helping workers develop new skills, adapt to emerging technologies, and step into leadership roles.
“This initiative empowers workers to enhance their skills, adapt to evolving technologies, and take on leadership roles, ensuring our industry remains competitive and innovative,” added Atchison.
In addition to the fund, BCCA has promised more announcements in the coming week — part of its ongoing celebration of BC’s construction sector and the skilled trades workforce.
Interested applicants can find full eligibility details and submit applications online at bccassn.com/past-chair-legacy-fundapplication-page.
The BC Construction Association is a non-profit organization that advocates for the province’s construction sector. BCCA supports a productive and prosperous industry through resources, advocacy, and promotion of best practices. For more information, visit bccassn.com.
Citizen Staff
CITIZEN FILE PHOTO
A new provincial education fund will help boost jobs in the construction industry.
