Canada was literally built with our forests and by workers such  as those behind me. Indigenous peoples relied on our forests for their communities, for their transportation, for their artistic expression. Early settlers built our economy on lumber, literally built our economy on lumber, supplying the British Empire before shifting exports to a growing market in the United States. Each summer, thousands of university and college students help pay their tuition by planting trees. The forest industry is a pillar of the Canadian economy. It supports 200,000 jobs  across the country, contributes more than $20 billion  directly to our GDP. It's the economic backbone of nearly 300 rural , Indigenous and  northern communities, many of them right here in British Columbia.

Today, Canada is the second-largest producer of softwood lumber in the world. We supply 85% of U.S. imports and represent around a quarter of the U.S. market, despite decades of trade threats from the other side of the border.

Over the course of the last four decades, the United States has alternated between confrontation and collaboration, frequently applying unfounded countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Canadian softwood, and then signing formal agreements that benefited businesses, workers and  homeowners on both sides of the border. Let's be clear, Canada does not dump lumber into the United States, and we will continue to make the case that these current and proposed duties are unjustified. Canada is a vital supplier to our southern neighbour, we represent around a quarter of the U.S. market and we help keep down costs of American homes while improving their quality. 
But we're in a situation now where the disputes around softwood lumber are part of a bigger picture. American trade pressures have intensified and broadened, and the U.S. is in the process of fundamentally changing all of its trading relationship . In a series of recent agreements, America is in effect charging for access to its economy through a combination of higher baseline tariffs, unilateral trade liberalization by its partners, and new commitments to invest in the United States. We understand that.
Overall, Canada is in a strong position. Despite our size, Canada is already the second-largest foreign investor in the United States. Many of our companies are essential to the complex supply chains that drive American competitiveness, and the commitment of the United States to the core of CUSMA, reaffirmed again last week, means that the average U.S. tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest, and over 85% of Canada-U.S. trade continues to be tariff free in both directions.

To be clear, Canada remains committed to CUSMA for the stability and the prosperity it provides on both side of the border, and we’ll continue to engage in constructive trade negotiations with the United States in the pursuit of the best deal for both sides. And I'll be speaking more about how we can reinforce these commitments in short order. 
But despite our advantages, certain of our major Canadian industries are being severely impacted by U.S. trade. These strategic sectors include autos, steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and, of course, softwood lumber. So, while we'll continue to work with the United States on the many mutually beneficial opportunities that we share in trade and investment, it is clear that we cannot count or fully rely on what has been our most valued trading relationship for our prosperity. 

And that's why we're increasingly focused on building our strength at home and finding new opportunities for Canadian companies and workers abroad. Our government's new comprehensive industrial strategy will help our companies retool and reinvest to protect Canadian jobs, to build Canadian competitiveness, and to meet growing demands in Canada while developing international opportunities wherever free trade is a commitment, not a condition. 

Two weeks ago, I announced the first of the elements of that new strategy with a series of measures to support the transition in the Canadian steel industry. And of course, today, here, I'm going to focus on how we can help transform our softwood lumber industry to compete in this tough new environment. And it starts from recognizing that two thirds of Canadian lumber production and nearly 90% of Canadian lumber exports currently go to the United States, leaving us disproportionately exposed to their trade actions. This dependence creates costly uncertainty. It weakens our industry's ability to weather downturns. It makes lumber more expensive for builders here at home, and it forgoes enormous opportunities in fast growing  markets around the world. 

So, to turn challenge into opportunity, with Minister Hodgson, Secretary of State Fuhr, today I'm announcing a series of new measures to help the softwood lumber industry pivot to a growing Canadian market, and to the markets of reliable trading partners around the world.

Today I am announcing a series of new measures to help the softwood lumber industry pivot to the growing Canadian market and to new, reliable trading partners around the world.

The first pillar is to give our companies that need liquidity, that liquidity in order to address immediate pressures. To do so, we’ll provide up to $700 million  in loan guarantees. This will ensure that forestry companies of all sizes have the competitive financing they need to maintain and restructure, if necessary, their operations during a period of profound transformation. 

Second, to make the softwood lumber industry more competitive for the long term, we will provide an additional $500 million , largely in grants and contributions to supercharge new product development and new market diversification, products such as reinforced timber and low carbon  wood fiber -based insulation materials that are used in prefabricated and modular housing. These investments will increase domestic processing and value added, particularly as technology changes the way we build. This new funding will include initiatives to support Indigenous-led forestry business development and diversification, something that Gorman has stood behind for decades.
 
Third, we will be our own best customer by relying more on Canadian lumber, Canadian Softwood  for Canadian Projects . Canada's new government has a strong mandate to get big things built faster. That means millions of more homes, major new ports, new trade corridors, new energy projects. And as we build bigger and faster, we will build Canadian, prioritizing Canadian lumber, Canadian Steel , Canadian aluminum in Canadian construction. 

Canada's new government is working to double the pace of new home building to almost 500,000 new  units a year over the course of the next decade. That alone… that alone could double the use of Canadian softwood lumber in new residential construction, an increase of almost 2 billion  board feet and double the demand for structural panels – an increase of nearly 1 billion  square feet. To help realize that potential, this fall, we will launch Build Canada Homes. Build Canada Homes will start by getting the government back in the business of building deeply affordable homes, and in the process catalyze a new housing industry using Canadian technology, Canadian lumber and Canadian Workers . 

Core to Build Canada's Homes”  Mandate will be to provide up to $25 billion  in financing to innovative private sector homebuilders in Canada. For the deeply affordable homes that we finance and build, Build Canada Homes will catalyze bulk orders of offsite  construction of prefabricated and modular homes, specifying the use of Canadian technologies and resources. This combination will create enormous, sustained demand for Canadian lumber products. And it’s just one example of the possibilities. 

Just a few hours drive from here in Castlegar, Kalesnikoff Mass Timber recently opened their 10th-… or their, sorry, their 100,000 square  foot  mass timber prefabrication and modular facility, the first of its kind in North America. They're adding new products and services, including prefabricated wall panels, mass timber modules and  trusses designed and manufactured for construction efficiency.

And of course, the impact of Build Canada Homes can be and is being reinforced by provincial initiatives, including the modernization of building code regulations by British Columbia, Ontario and  Quebec. This creates significant additional demand (inaudible) going forward for Canadian softwood lumber. As an example, again, here in B.C., the increase in the size of buildings that can be constructed using encapsulated mass timber from 12 to 18 storeys .

There are considerable opportunities for the softwood lumber industry, and the investments we’re making today will help it to seize them in every way possible. As we build this country, we will change the federal government’s procurement process to require companies that have contracts with the federal government to use Canadian softwood lumber. 

The fourth pillar is to launch new initiatives to deepen and diversify international markets for Canada's sustainably sourced forest products. These will include a  reinvigorated federal programs to market innovative, sustainable, high-quality wood products, such as in recent years, programs such as Canada Wood which  achieved many successes, including promoting wood-based construction to new segments in Asia. 

To build on this space, we’ll promote the development of building codes in those countries and help to develop local building capacity with wood, combining them with sustained trade promotion for our product . In doing so, we'll emphasize that lumber is ecologically sound, and green building strategies can create transformative economic opportunities while addressing climate change. The prize is large. By the end of the decade, Canada could capture a significant share of up to $150 to $240 billion  in the global bioeconomy market. 

And finally, no matter how hard we support and how hard we work to support and transform our industry, we know that in times of great change, there's likely to be some workforce adjustment, and  that's why we're also launching major new reskilling programs to ensure that hard-working people in this sector have the chance to apply their skills to new opportunities, including in that entirely new housing industry that I spoke to a moment ago. For the forest products sector alone, we will be providing $50 million  in upskilling and reskilling investments, as well as support for over 6500 lumber  workers.

To conclude, at this hinge moment in history, Canada is starting to shift from reliance to resilience. Together, we're going to write our own story rather than let others dictate theirs to us. We're building one Canadian economy out of 13, we're embarking on a series of nation-building projects, we're launching unprecedented investments in home building, and we are diversifying our trade partners.

Throughout, we will build Canada strong with Canadian workers, Canadian technology, Canadian lumber and  Canadian values. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.