The BC Council of Forest Industries\u2019 2026 COFI Convention kicked off today with a packed house at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver discussing the impact and value the sector brings to the City of Vancouver and the surrounding region.<\/p>\n
Day 1 of sessions at the 2026 COFI Convention began with an official welcome from Greg Stewart, Chair of the BC Council of Forest Industries Board of Directors; Lisa Dominato, City Councillor for the City of Vancouver; and Kim Haakstad, president and CEO of COFI; as well as an official Squamish Nation territorial\u00a0welcome offered by forestry specialist Brian George.<\/p>\n
Councillor Dominato discussed the importance of the forest products sector for the City of Vancouver and the surrounding region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe region is home to about 25 per cent of forestry related professionals supporting everything from innovation and engineering to finance and logistics. Vancouver alone hosts 560 forestry related companies and suppliers representing nearly $1 billion in annual industry spending,\u201d Dominato told the crowd. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to send a clear message to the province at this time that when red tape is reduced and policy enables the forest sector to compete, our tax base grows, strengthening our ability to sustain jobs as well as to find essential public services like healthcare and education.\u201d<\/p>\n
The forestry sector also represents a key solution to solving the housing challenges throughout the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cMetro Vancouver\u2019s population is expected to grow to 4.1 million people by 2050, driving significant demand for new homes,\u201d Dominato said.<\/p>\n
Vancouver recently approved its first city-wide official development plan. Over the next 30 years, the city will introduce walkable hubs with diverse housing types and essential services. This will offer significant opportunities for the forest products sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis plan opens up roughly 800 blocks to five- and six-storey wood frame construction, and we\u2019re already seeing progress in this area,\u201d Dominato said. \u201cIn 2025, Vancouver approved roughly 3,200 units in wood frame projects, representing about 25 per cent of all of our housing approvals across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city has also modernized its building regulations to assist in accelerating low-rise apartment construction and is continuing to scale mass timber.<\/p>\n
\u201cVancouver has increased allowable heights from six to 18 storeys with density incentives to make projects viable. Mass timber shortens construction timelines and helps control costs, both for builders and for residents,\u201d Dominato said.<\/p>\n
Dominato wrapped up by discussing how the forest products sector plays a role in helping the city meet its climate goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuildings are a major source of urban emissions. Vancouver is targeting a 40-per-cent reduction in building emissions by 2030 compared to 2018, levels,\u201d she said. \u201cWood construction helps us get better. It is lower-body carbon, strong energy performance and proven durability. And importantly, trees are a renewable resource, responsibly managed here in British Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n
*Stay tuned for more 2026 COFI Convention coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BC Council of Forest Industries\u2019 2026 COFI Convention kicked off today with a packed house at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-593054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}