Province moves to establish new forest harvesting models

The Ontario government intends to introduce legislation later this year that would modernize the forest tenure and pricing system.

The proposed system would establish two governance models for managing and harvesting Crown wood.

One is being called Local Forest Management Corporations, which are government agencies that would manage Crown forests and oversee the competitive sale of timber in a given area.

The other is the Enhanced Shareholder Sustainable Forest Licence which would consist of a group of mills or harvesters that collectively form a new company to manage Crown forests under the Sustainable Forest Licence that is issued to them.

The announcement was supported by the Ontario Forest Industries Association and president Jamie Lim.

“The proposed path forward is a positive development and provides much needed certainty for operating mills, while creating opportunities for new investment in the sector.”