On August 5, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $1.25 billion aid package to support the softwood lumber sector as it faces increasingly challenging operational constraints. This package is also intended to retool and pivot to new markets. It includes:
- $700 million in loan guarantees to help companies confront immediate pressures facing the softwood lumber sector, which will give the sector needed liquidity to maintain and restructure, if necessary, their operations. This will be delivered through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and will be accessible via firms’ existing financial institutions.
- $500 million to supercharge product and market diversification and make the industry more competitive globally, delivered through Natural Resources Canada’s suite of forest industry transformation programs starting in the 2026–2027 fiscal year. These programs include the Forest Innovation Program, Investments in Forest Industry Transformation, Green Construction Through Wood, the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, the Global Forest Leadership Program and its precursor Expanding Market Opportunities program, and the Forest Systems Information and Technology Enhancement program.
- Prioritizing the adoption of Canadian materials—including mass timber and softwood lumber—in construction and changing federal procurement processes to require companies contracting with the federal government to source Canadian lumber.
- $50 million over three years, led by Employment and Social Development Canada, to help reskill and support more than 6,000 affected forest workers through Labour Market Development Agreements. The Supports will be provided by:
- Encouraging employers to use Employment Insurance (EI) Work-Sharing to avoid layoffs and to access training for participating workers;
- Proactively contracting EI recipients from the forest sector to offer tailored training opportunities; and
- Supporting access to retrain employed workers or those at risk of unemployment, enabling retention within their current firm or transition to other in-demand jobs, such as those in the skilled trades.
The BDC website contains additional information on the Softwood Lumber Guarantee Program. Links to support for product and market diversification funding and worker support will be shared on this page as soon as they become available.
News releases
- 2025-11-26: Prime Minister Carney announces new measures to protect and transform Canada’s steel and lumber industries
- 2025-11-10: Prime Minister Carney outlines Budget 2025 measures to Buy Canadian
- 2025-09-14: Prime Minister Carney launches Build Canada Homes to supercharge homebuilding across the country
- 2025-09-05: Prime Minister Carney launches new measures to protect, build, and transform Canadian strategic industries
- 2025-08-05: Prime Minister Carney announces new measures to transform Canada’s softwood lumber industry
Contact us
For more information on the various federal measures available to support the forestry sector and its workers, please contact us at: forestsectorsupport-soutiensecteurforestier@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca.