VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources announced over $1.5 million in federal support for three projects focusing on the advancement of prefabricated wood construction in the province of British Columbia. These investments are aimed at promoting construction using Canadian wood and driving sustainable innovation in the forestry and construction sectors.

The following projects are receiving support through Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) program:

• $995,000 to the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) to build the two-storey Robert Bosa Carpentry Pavillion, a “wood first” mass timber building featuring glulam columns and beams and cross-laminated timber floor, roof and wall panels. This zero-carbon, passive house, LEED Gold and Rick Hansen– certified building will serve as an educational hub at BCIT, offering specialized programs in mass timber and hybrid construction, and will contribute to British Columbia’s climate plan.
• $300,000 to Prefab Buildings Initiative to create energy-efficient mass timber designs for various types of buildings to help address Canada’s housing shortage and make construction faster and more affordable. This project aims to conduct a design workshop to finalize each building prototype, enabling rapid development of prefabricated buildings across Canada. It will stimulate collaboration between manufacturers on the mass production of multi-unit housing models (hotels, apartment retrofits, seniors’ residences, etc.), which will help address a broad range of housing needs.
• $219,870 to Scius Advisory to create an online directory of companies across Canada that specialize in building prefabricated parts, which can be assembled off-site and transported to construction sites. This project will develop an interactive map to help builders and policymakers better understand the availability of green construction materials and technologies across the country.

These investments will help drive down construction costs, speed up building timelines and increase the availability of affordable and sustainable housing. By advancing the use of state-of-the-art Canadian wood products, the federal government is helping to build a better future, creating jobs and supporting the construction industry’s transition toward the innovative green building practices that drive the demand for Canadian forestry products and forestry expertise.

“Developing new markets for Canadian timber not only supports forestry workers and creates jobs but also helps us achieve other goals, including more housing and lower emissions," said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. "By promoting the use of low-carbon Canadian wood in construction, the Government of Canada is strengthening communities and local economies in British Columbia — without cutting corners on the environment.”