LUMBER IN CANADA

Products that can be madeLumber can be used to make a large variety of items such as furniture, buildings and can even be used to make little things such as cases for phones. When making lumber there are leftover chips and bark sawdust that are made into wood pulp which can be made into paper and other products.

JobsForests cover approximately 397 hectares of Canada's territory which is more than twice the area of Quebec which shows the huge potential of logging and associated products. Some direct jobs are logging, trucking, sawing, splitting and grading. There are many indirect jobs created from this industry such as wood crafting, paper factory workers, transportation and construction workers. In 2013, this industry provided approximately 216,500 direct employment and 350,000 indirect employment which is HUGE.

Where is it found?The trees from which lumber is produced are classified as hardwoods or softwoods. These are located in forests and Canada has about one third of the world's boreal forests so we have a significantly large supply of wood for lumber. The logs are processed at sawmills where they are debarked and bucked or cut to a predetermined length. They then proceed to the bandsaw for further processing.

Companies that extract/process lumberThere are many companies that extract and process lumber but some of the biggest ones are USNR, Steinstosser, Ametek, Mustang and many more. A lot of the companies in the list have expanded to multiple parts in the world since the time they were founded which shows the potential and the success from this type of market.

ExportsLumber is mainly exported to the U.S. which is the most important market for Canada's forest sector even after the housing market collapse. Exports to China have increased exponentially since 2000. Japan is also an important customer for high value wood products and structural lumber for housing. Canada's forest product exports contribute $17.1 billion in net trade and a big chunk of this is directly from softwood lumber.

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Lumber.html

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Lumber.html

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/2011089/part-partie1-eng.htm

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/industry/13311

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/industry/13317

http://www.environmental-expert.com/companies/keyword-wood-processing-4422/location-canada/employees-over-1000