QUEBEC CITY, May 8, 2017 /CNW/ - Developing new products and expanding our markets will strengthen Canada's forest sector, create new jobs and benefit the communities that rely on the forest industry.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Carr, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, attended the capping ceremony for project Origine, a tall wood construction project in Quebec City's Pointe-aux-Lièvres eco-district.
The tallest wood-constructed condominium in North America, project Origine includes a 12-storey wood structure on top of a one-storey concrete podium, and stores 2,065 tonnes of carbon in its wood. The 41-metre tall condominium uses cross-laminated timber as its primary building material, a technology that greatly increases the technical limits for tall wood construction.
Through Natural Resources Canada's Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative, over $1.2 million in funding was provided to this project, undertaken by the project developers, the NEB Consortium. The initiative is part of the Government of Canada's strategy to help expand the North American market for Canadian wood products by encouraging the use of wood in construction in mid- and high-rise buildings, helping Canada's forest industry to sustain hundreds of thousands of good, middle-class jobs in communities across our country.
In this year's budget, an additional $40 million was dedicated to increasing wood use in Canada. These funds will lead to further tall wood demonstration projects, advanced training and education for practitioners designing wood buildings and continued support for code changes to ensure a level playing field for wood in high-rise construction. This will help to maintain Canada's global leadership in the development of innovative wood buildings and other infrastructure.
Natural Resources Canada developed the Tall Wood Buildings Demonstration Initiative in collaboration with the Canadian Wood Council to test and demonstrate the use of wood in larger and taller wood buildings.
The importance of these efforts was made clear again last month when the U.S. Department of Commerce announced unfair and punitive duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports. It is why Minister Duclos was in the U.K. and continental Europe last month as part of the Government of Canada's overarching strategy to target new markets around the globe in a concerted effort to enhance trade and market diversification for Canadian wood and wood products as part of the clean-growth economy.
Quick Facts
- The Tall Wood Demonstration Initiative has also provided $2.3 million to the University of British Columbia for the construction of its tall wood construction project, the Brock Commons Tallwood House student residence.
- A tall wood building is typically much lighter than the weight of a building using traditional materials, which reduces the cost of a building's foundations.
- Using wood products can help cities meet their urban density targets, while reducing their environmental footprint and mitigating the effects of climate change.
Quotes
"The Government of Canada will proudly continue to help Canada's forest sector create innovative products and technologies that will create new markets and will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry. That is why I recently visited the United Kingdom and continental Europe to promote Canadian wood and wood products, and Minister Carr will travel to China in June with forestry leaders to build on this momentum."
Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada
Contacts: Alexandre Deslongchamps, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Natural Resources, 343-292-6837; Media Relations, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, 343-292-6100
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