iN NUMBERS: B.C. forestry snapshot shows a steady decline

Forestry is still one of B.C.’s biggest industries, but it’s on the decline. American tariffs on lumber are the latest challenge but mills have been closing and revenue has been shrinking for years.

Here are the numbers:

• 147: That’s how many mills are in the B.C. Interior, according to the latest timber processing report from the Ministry of Forests.
• 234: That’s how many mills are in B.C. in total.
• 24: Mills have closed in B.C. since 2020.
• 165: Jobs are going to be gone in 100 Mile House because of the recently announced West Fraser Timber closure.
• 13: Million cubic metres of lumber were exported by B.C. in 2024, that’s roughly half of what the province exported in 2015.
• 21: Per cent of B.C.’s total commodity export value in 2024 came from forestry products like lumber and pulp.
• 177: Million dollars of softwood lumber was exported to the U.S. by August this year.
• 265: Million dollars of softwood lumber was exported to the U.S.by August of last year.
• 45: Per cent is the U.S. tariff on softwood lumber, but if you have been following Trump’s trade policy you know that could change in five minutes.
• 6: Times since taking office, the Trump administration has reviewed the tariff on Canadian softwood lumber products.
• 1.2: Billion dollars is the value of the support package for the Canadian softwood lumber industry that was announced by the federal government over the summer.