Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) Program

Mass timber construction projects.

Funding opportunity coming in winter 2026

In January 2026, the Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) program will open a call for proposals for multi-unit residential building projects from for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including housing developers and providers.

About the program

Created in 2017, the Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) program encourages the adoption of advanced wood-based building products, systems, and technologies—such as modular and prefabricated structural components. To support the Government of Canada’s efforts to address the housing crisis, the program funds projects that demonstrate scalable and replicable solutions to accelerate housing construction and mainstream wood in design and construction. GCWood also supports projects that showcase applications for innovative wood-based products in community infrastructure and other non-traditional wood structures, including industrial and commercial buildings.

GCWood invests in wood construction projects that generate many benefits, including:

  • Accelerating the adoption of innovative building technologies and systems
  • Supporting building code updates to enable taller, larger wood buildings with more occupancies
  • Increasing the speed and capacity of housing construction through Mmodern Mmethods of Cconstruction using wood-based products and systems.
  • Expanding the use of domestic forest products
  • Reducing GHG emissions by leveraging renewable and sustainable resources that help decarbonize the built environment

Demonstration projects

As part of its 2026 renewal, GCWood will reorient a portion of its demonstration funding to projects that directly support the government’s commitment of doubling Canada's current rate of residential construction over the next decade. This includes funding for demonstration projects that deploy modern methods of construction using innovative wood-based products, building systems, and technologies in the design and construction of multi-unit residential buildings. The primary objective of the refocused GCWood program is to increase the supply of multi-unit residential buildings across Canada that use domestically manufactured wood-based building products and are cost-effective, quick to construct, and replicable.

The program will prioritize project proposals with the following features:

  • Offers a high volume of residential units
  • Deploys modern methods of construction resulting in quicker and more cost-effective construction
  • Uses building designs that can be scaled or replicated by the developer builder or owner and their design teams
  • Includes Canadian-sourced and manufactured wood-based products and building technologies

Construction projects related to market-rate rental housing, student housing, northern and remote housing, transitional and social housing, and mixed-use buildings with residential components will be considered for funding.

The GCWood program provides non-repayable contributions of up to 100% of a project’s eligible annual costs, for a maximum of $5 million.

Eligibility

GCWood funding is open to the following applicants:

  1. Legal entities validly incorporated or registered in Canada, including:
    • for-profit and not-for-profit organizations such as companies, developers, and providers
    • Indigenous organizations and groups
  2. Provincial, territorial, regional, and municipal governments and their departments and agencies, where applicable

Contact us

Email gcwood-cvbois@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca for more information or to join our mailing list to receive program updates, webinar dates, and registration details.

For more information on other measures available to support the forestry sector and its workers or for guidance in navigating the multiple funding opportunities, please contact us at: forestsectorsupport-soutiensecteurforestier@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

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Photo credits
  • First photo in banner: Ontario Ministry of Transportation
  • Second photo in banner: Michael Elkan
  • Third photo in banner: KK Law
 
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