Canada’s softwood industry and Thursday’s support package, by the numbers

OTTAWA – The federal government announced a support package Thursday worth $867 million to help the lumber industry cope with and adjust to the impact of U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood. That package, and the industry more broadly, by the numbers:

$605 million: Total value of loans and loan guarantees, announced Thursday, that will be made available from the Export Development Bank of Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada

$260 million: Value of three-year funding plan for programs to diversify markets and invest in technology and innovation in the forestry sector.

$22 billion: GDP contribution from Canada’s forest industry in 2016

201,645: Number of people working in forest industry in 2015

$1.7 billion: Estimated annual cost of U.S. duties on Canadian softwood imports.

171: Number of Canadian communities where forestry represents at least 20 per cent of all direct income

7: Percentage of total Canadian exports that come from the forest industry

$8.6 billion: Value of all softwood exports in 2015

$5.9 billion: Value of softwood exports to U.S. in 2015

$1.1 billion: in Value of softwood exports to China in 2015

31: Percentage of softwood used in U.S. which came from Canada in 2015