EAST HANTS, Nova Scotia — MTC Mass Timber Company is receiving $500,000 from the Canadian government to build a technology-driven manufacturing plant in Nova Scotia to use under-valued eastern spruce. An additional $10 million in federal support has been approved for subject to MTC meeting a variety of conditions.

Government officials are hailing the project as Canada’s first large-scale, clear-span timber manufacturing structure that would house a new industrial plant. Once constructed, MTC will be Canada's first vertically integrated mass timber manufacturer in Atlantic Canada, with a 2.5 million square feet of annual construction capacity. Up to 124 jobs are expected to be created.

MTC is in line to receive the additional $10 million in conditional funding, subject to the required due diligence measures, and the negotiation of a final agreement by both parties, to:

• Work with local forest sector partners and First Nations to integrate their operations into a high-specification manufacturing business.
• Use technology-driven manufacturing to open a facility that can use eastern spruce — currently undervalued in the lumber industry — to create high-value products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels and glue-laminated beams and columns.
• Diversify their product lines by maximizing the value of wood fiber products, which will contribute to the local economy by increasing income per unit and growing operations.

"Through our Green Construction through Wood and Investment in Forest Industry Transformation programs, we are continuing to support Canada's forest sector to implement innovative technologies that increase efficiency and capacity, lower emissions and create good, sustainable jobs,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. “Today's investments are excellent examples of how we can continue to reduce emissions while helping to ensure the long-term sustainability of the lumber industry in Nova Scotia."