Ontario Construction News staff writer
A new working group set up by the provincial government will guide the rollout of the Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan, a strategy aimed at expanding the use of modular, prefabricated and mass timber systems while supporting forestry jobs and reducing construction timelines.
The action plan, released earlier this year, is intended to boost the use of Ontario-made wood products in housing and commercial construction and strengthen the province’s forest sector as it faces continued U.S. tariffs.
“Our government has assembled leaders and experts from a variety of sectors into a working group that will seize the potential of advanced wood construction and revolutionize how we build Ontario,” Associate Natural Resources Minister Graydon Holland said.
The group will promote wood-based building across sectors, identify business opportunities and help attract investment to grow domestic supply chains. Members will also act as sector champions for the plan.
“Industrialized wood construction is one of the fastest ways to deliver the housing Ontario needs and to grow value-added manufacturing here at home,” Steven Street, executive director of the Canadian Wood Council’s WoodWorks Ontario program, said.
The province says advanced wood construction, including mass timber, can reduce overall timelines by up to 50 per cent and lower project costs by as much as 20 per cent. The materials can be used in mid-rise and tall housing, as well as commercial and industrial projects.
Ontario has already committed funding to support the sector. Investments include more than $16 million for Element5, the province’s first fully automated cross-laminated timber manufacturer; $10 million toward the future Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital, which will use un-encapsulated mass timber; and more than $1 million for Limberlost Place at George Brown College, the province’s first mass-timber, net-zero institutional building.
Support has also gone to the Canadian Wood Council for training and code development, FPInnovations for research and collaboration, and the University of Toronto’s mass-timber and steel hybrid academic tower.
Industry groups welcomed the new working group
“The Ontario Forest Industries Association looks forward to implementing made-in-Ontario building solutions using our advanced forest product sector,” OFIA president Ian Dunn said.
FPInnovations president Stéphane Renou said the action plan outlines objectives that will accelerate home construction and support the sector. Robert Jonkman, vice-president of codes and engineering at the Canadian Wood Council, said the province is showing leadership by aligning policy and investment.
The working group mandate supports objectives in its forest sector strategy and biomass action plan. Ontario’s forest sector generated $21.6 billion in revenue from manufactured goods and services in 2023 and supported 128,000 direct and indirect jobs last year.
