Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson and Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defence procurement, visited Castlegar on Nov. 10 to tour Kalesnikoff Lumber’s newest mass timber production facility and highlight the 2025 budget’s buy Canadian strategy.
The 100,000 sq.ft., $30 million modular facility opened in June and was supported by a $3-million investment through Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program.
Mass timber production turns lumber into value-added, low-carbon building components, including prefabricated wall and floor systems – and now, with Kalesnikoff’s new facility, entire modules with full modular construction capabilities. It utilizes glued-laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber. Mass timber can be used in everything from homes and apartment buildings to public buildings such as schools, libraries and recreational facilities.
The 2025 budget prioritizes 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.
Hodgson said the Liberal government’s Build Canada Homes plan will encourage the use of mass timber products. The plan calls for 500,000 housing starts a year in the next 10 years.
“The prime minister has been very clear that he wants the bulk of that new home development to be through manufactured homes because it drives down the cost. He wants those manufactured homes to use mass timber, because that again will drive down the cost, ” Hodgson told Castlegar News during his visit.
“When you look at a facility like this, you can see that the goal is attainable … This is the opportunity – we need to change the way we build. We are here because this is the future.”
The use of mass timber also reduces construction times and increases precision and predictability in the construction process.
The 2025 budget includes up to $700 million over two years in loan guarantees to help ensure companies have the financing and credit support they need to maintain and restructure their operations during this period of transformation.
It also includes $500 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to renew and expand Natural Resources Canada’s forest sector programs focused on market and product diversification, including new export initiatives.