These Northern Ontario industries are primed for growth: Sault policy conference showcases industry, tourism sectors that could make a big impact.

• Date: 01 November 2019
• Author: Ross, Ian

Revisions to Canadian building codes, allowing wood-framed structures to go skyward, bode well for Northern Ontario's forest industry.

The design possibilities, aesthetic elements and green values behind the mass-timber construction movement have architects, engineers and builders in Canada's largest housing market increasingly warming up to wood, according to Christine Leduc, public affairs director for EACOM Timber.

"Timber is making a comeback, and it's coming to Toronto."

Leduc was one of the three speakers selected for a panel on future regional growth industries at the Northern Policy Institute's State of the North conference in Sault Ste. Marie on Sept. 26.

The Montreal-based sawmilling giant has six operations in Northern Ontario, including its engineered I-joist mill in the Sault.

With lumber prices crashing and producers being severely impacted by U.S. softwood lumber tariffs, mass-timber construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area represent an exciting prospect for companies like EACOM.

Mass-timber construction uses glued lumber to form panels, beams and columns that can be used for tall wood structures like high-rises.

The Ontario government's unveiling of a new provincial building code in 2015, allowing wood-framed buildings to go from four to six...