Ontario launches forestry roadmap as Rick Dumas says it offers key support for Northwestern Ontario
THUNDER BAY – Ontario has unveiled a new 10-year plan to protect the province’s forest sector, as U.S. softwood lumber duties and tariffs continue to squeeze mills, jobs and resource communities across the North. The Roadmap to Protecting Ontario’s Forest Sector is being presented by the province as a long-term strategy to defend workers and businesses, modernize the industry and grow demand for Ontario wood products at home and abroad.
For Northwestern Ontario, the announcement lands at a critical moment. Forestry remains a backbone industry for many communities in the region, supporting mill jobs, contractors, trucking, harvesting, equipment suppliers and local businesses.
That local importance was reflected in comments from Rick Dumas, president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, who said the plan “provides an important foundation to drive growth, sustainability, and resilience in Northwestern Ontario’s forest industry.”
Province says the roadmap will defend, adapt and grow the sector
The province says the new strategy is built around three pillars: defending workers, communities and businesses from the impact of U.S. tariffs and duties; adapting the sector to remain competitive and sustainable; and growing long-term demand for Ontario forest products through innovation, commercialization and expanded wood use in construction.
Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products Kevin Holland said the government wants to connect Ontario’s forest-product supply chains to new sectors at home and emerging markets internationally. “Our roadmap will connect Ontario’s strong forest product supply chains to new sectors here at home and emerging markets around the world,” Holland said, adding that the province is trying to build “a future-ready industry, with the tools and talent to thrive.”
Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris said the plan is intended to protect jobs from “the harvesters and sawmills in the North to the manufacturers in the South,” while building a more resilient sector and reinforcing Ontario’s status as a major producer of wood products.
Dumas says roadmap matters for Northwestern Ontario
Rick Dumas’s comments place the regional stakes front and centre. “With strong leadership from Minister Harris and Associate Minister Holland, we are seeing a renewed focus on supporting the sector through innovation, workforce development, and responsible resource management,” Dumas said.
Dumas adds forestry remains “a cornerstone of our regional economy.”
Those comments are significant because Northwestern Ontario has long depended on forestry not only as an export industry, but as an anchor for many local economies. When mills curtail production or face uncertainty, the impact is felt quickly in communities across the region.
U.S. trade pressure is driving the urgency
Ontario says the forest sector generates close to $21 billion in revenue and supports more than 154,000 jobs across the province. But with 97 per cent of Ontario’s forest-product exports going to the United States, the sector remains highly vulnerable to trade action south of the border.
According to the province, softwood lumber duties were increased in 2025 from 14.4 per cent to 35.16 per cent, while additional tariffs of 10 per cent on lumber and 25 per cent on furniture and cabinetry pushed the combined rate on lumber exports to 45.16 per cent. Ontario says those measures are unjustified and pose an immediate threat to mills, workers and forest-dependent communities.
Industry and municipal leaders back the plan
Support for the roadmap also came from industry and other regional groups. Ian Dunn, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, called the roadmap “a critical framework for the long-term stability and growth” of the sector. He said OFIA wants to work with the province on issues including mill security, forest-road infrastructure, using more wood in public projects and attracting investment.
David Plourde, president of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, said recent curtailments show why the sector needs “the right tools in the toolbox,” and described the roadmap as a positive step toward competitiveness, innovation and stability for Northern communities that rely on forestry.
Steven Street of WoodWorks Ontario said the province’s structured approach to defending, adapting and growing the sector is essential in “these turbulent times,” while Scott Jackson of CRIBE said the roadmap creates “a clear pathway” for Ontario to lead in forest-based innovation, including biofuels and advanced wood products such as cross-laminated timber.
What happens next
Ontario says the roadmap builds on previous investments in advanced wood construction, biomass, forest-sector innovation and access roads. Since 2022, the province says it has invested more than $355 million through those programs, supporting close to 90 businesses, Indigenous communities and partners, and creating more than 320 new jobs.
The government says it will now work with industry, Indigenous communities and sector partners to develop performance indicators and report annually on progress.
For Northwestern Ontario, the real test will be whether the roadmap helps keep mills running, attracts investment and creates the kind of long-term stability Dumas and other regional leaders say the sector needs.
