MONTREAL — The 11th edition of the Cecobois Conference, attended by more than 400 participants, recently concluded at Hotel Bonaventure.

The conference was held in conjunction with the 3rd edition of the Forum for Low Carbon and Bio-Based Construction, an event dedicated to reducing the embodied carbon content of buildings. Some 25 speakers presented various examples of large-scale projects built with wood and shared their expertise in sustainable and bio-based construction.

Jean-François Béland, Associate Deputy Minister of Quebec’s Natural Resources and Forests, announced the renewal of $3 million in funding over the next three years to support Cecobois' activities to promote and develop the use of wood in construction in Quebec.

"Prioritizing the use of wood helps strengthen jobs in our regions and reduce the impact of trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. in the forestry sector, while contributing to the decarbonization of the building sector," said Jean-François Simard, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and Minister Responsible for the Capitale-Nationale Region. "The Policy for the Use of Wood in Construction creates favorable conditions for the use of wood as a building material. Our partnership with Cecobois will help to better inform, support, and guide builders committed to this approach."

Claude Guay, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, spoke about Quebec’s Policy for the Use of Wood in Construction for public buildings. This recognition of wood as a strategic material will help stimulate local purchasing and reduce dependence on the U.S. market, where nearly 50% of Quebec's softwood lumber production is currently exported.

"The increased use of local wood promotes higher value-added processing, particularly through the development of secondary and tertiary processing products such as engineered wood, prefabricated panel walls, modular systems, and solid wood," added Louis Poliquin, director of Cecobois.