Forestry & Logging

BC is endowed with a rich forest resource. Forests cover about two-thirds (60 million hectares) of the province's land mass, an area that's twice as big as all of the New England states and New York state combined. The province is home to Canada's wettest forests along the Pacific Coast, and to the nation's driest forests in the southern Interior.

Forestland includes 25 million hectares of old-growth forest-trees that are at least 250 years old. On the Pacific coast, where fires are rare, trees can live for as long as 1,000 years. In the Interior, where the climate is not as mild and wildfires are more common, trees typically have a shorter life span (120 to 140 years). Major species of trees harvested in the province include western red cedar, which grows in wet, mild climates, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine.

Since 95% of BC's land base is publicly owned, the management of the forest resource rests largely with the provincial government, which allocates the right to log crown land through the sale of stumpage fees and a regulated annual allowable cut.

Almost all of the wood produced in BC is softwood, used to make lumber, plywood, shakes, shingles, newsprint, and pulp and paper products. In fact, about half of the softwood produced in Canada comes from BC.

Forest products are the province's most important export commodity, historically accounting for more than half of BC's total exports. Although the forest sector has been pummeled by challenges such as lower prices for forest products and the softwood lumber dispute with the US (which resulted in punishing duties being imposed on BC exports of softwood lumber south of the border), the value of forest product exports has remained stable since the mid-1990s. However, exports of other commodities have increased substantially more, and forest products accounted for just 39% of the total value of exports in 2005. That's down from 60% or more twenty years ago.

Forest products [1] are BC's most important export commodity, but account for a dwindling share of total international shipments

British Columbia's logging and forest products sector has developed around harvesting and extracting this valuable renewable resource. This includes logging and forest services (such as firefighting) as well as wood and paper production.

What's included in this industry?

Wood and paper production are the dominant industries in manufacturing, and are discussed in more detail later in this segment. This section concentrates on forestry & logging: harvesting, managing and protecting the province's forest resource. That includes logging and reforestation services, as well as forest patrols and firefighting. It excludes sawmills, planing and pulp and paper mills, which are part of the manufacturing industry.

What's happened since 1990?

The forestry & logging industry is playing a smaller role in the BC economy

The relative importance of forestry and logging has declined since 1990. The industry currently employs about 1% of BC's workers, down from just under 2% at the beginning of the 1990s. Its share of total GDP has fallen from 4% to 3% during this period.

The number of jobs in logging and forestry is declining. In 2005, there were 21,600 people working in this industry, down 18% from 26,300 in 1990. The industry's GDP has also fallen, but made a bit of a comeback in 2004.

What are the most common occupations?

Six out of ten people working in this industry are in occupations unique to primary industries, such as operators of logging machinery, chainsaws and skidders. A significant number are silviculture and forestry workers (silviculture workers plant seedlings, do thinning, pruning and other maintenance of the forests).

Occupations in natural and applied sciences also account for a big share (14%) of total employment in the logging and forestry industry. Most of them are forestry technicians or professional foresters. Trades, transportation and equipment operators (13%) are mainly employed driving logging trucks and operating heavy equipment.

Workers in this industry are not all spending time falling trees or driving on logging roads. One in nine is employed in a business, finance and administration (8%), or management (3%) occupation.

Six out of ten workers in this industry are in occupations unique to primary industries

How many people work in forestry & logging, and how much do they earn?

Total employment in this industry was 21,600 in 2005. The average hourly wage rate was $23.6, more than 20% higher than the average for all industries. Although specific data on hours worked in forestry is not available, workers in forestry, fishing, mining oil and gas extraction spent an average of 44 hours on the job each week.

What are the characteristics of the work force?

Most (93%) of the people who work in forestry and logging are employed full-time, spending at least 30 hours a week on the job. Eight out of ten workers in the industry are male.

We don't have specific data on union coverage in forestry and logging, but 31% of the workers in forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas extraction have union coverage, about the same rate as the average for all industries (33%).

Twenty-one percent of the workers in this industry were self-employed in 2005, about the same as the average for all industries in the province. Contract logging (where bigger forest companies hire contractors to do some of their logging) is a fairly common practice in British Columbia.

We don't have data on employment by establishment size for logging and forestry. However, the industry is the biggest employer in forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas extraction. Thirty-eight percent of the people working in these industries have jobs at establishments with fewer than 20 people.

Three out of four people in forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas extraction work in establishments with fewer than 100 employees

Where are the jobs located?

Nearly a quarter of the workers in logging and other primary industries such as fishing or mining have jobs in the Vancouver Island/Coast region.

Primary industries such as logging are major employers on Vancouver Island, and in the Northern and Interior regions of the province

Another 22% are located in the Lower Mainland, and the industry is a major employer in the Cariboo and North Coast/Nechako regions of the province. The concentration of jobs in Northeast is likely related to mining, oil and gas extraction activities rather than forestry.

What's the outlook to 2014?

Figure 103 shows how employment and value added in forestry and logging are expected to change during the next few years. As you can see, it is expected that employment in forestry and logging will grow at about the same rate as the rest of the economy. However, the industry's share of total GDP is expected to drop from 3% to 2% during this period.

The industry's share of GDP and employment is expected to continue to decline

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[1] Forest product exports include logging products as well as wood and paper. The forestry & logging industry produces the raw materials used make wood and paper.