British Columbia, Canada is a world leader in sustainable forestry and high-quality wood products.
BC’s forests
Canada and its westernmost province, British Columbia (BC), are well respected for responsible forest management, home to some of the world’s largest areas of certified forests. Together, they account for over 40 percent of the world’s certified forest area, ensuring wood products from BC and Canada are legally sourced and meet strict environmental, social, and economic standards.
Sustainability
61%
of BC is forested
95%
of BC’s forests are publicly owned
0.29%
of BC’s forests harvest annually
250M
seedlings planted each year
Third-party certification
BC’s forestry sector operates within a stringent regulatory framework. Additionally, BC has one of the highest rates of forests independently certified to international sustainability standards with many companies and forests certificated under more than one system.
Certification systems include:
Wood species
Spruce–Pine–Fir (S-P-F)
Comprised of white spruce, lodgepole pine, and subalpine fir, S-P-F is Canada’s most abundant softwood resource. It yields high-grade, distinctly white timber known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and good working properties. Widely used for framing in all construction types, such as prefabricated building systems, S-P-F is used due to its reliability and consistent quality.
Western red cedar
Western red cedar (WRC) is a highly resilient and versatile species grown in British Columbia. One of the most valuable conifers, it is prized for its unique colour, texture, and exceptional natural resistance to decay and insect damage, with fallen trees remaining sound for over 100 years. Its beauty and dimensional stability make it ideal for a wide variety of exterior and interior building applications.
Douglas-fir
Found in coastal and interior varieties across BC, Douglas-fir is one of the finest species for heavy structural purposes due to its exceptional strength, hardness, and resistance to abrasion. It is primarily used for construction, including structural components like glue-laminated timber (glulam) beams and roof trusses. The wood is well known for its excellent workability, rapid drying, and straight grain with a distinctive yellowish to reddish-brown colour.
Western hemlock
Western hemlock is the most plentiful tree species on the British Columbia (BC) coast and is typically marketed with amabilis fir as Hem-Fir. Valued for its strength and stiffness, this species is a preferred material for horizontal components, longer spans, and general construction, including roof decking and plywood. Hemlock’s excellent working properties, even density, and ability to take finishes well also make it the first choice for high-quality mouldings and interior woodworking like doors and floors.
Building with wood
Innovative wood construction methods are transforming how buildings are designed and assembled, offering low-carbon, high-performance alternatives to conventional materials.
British Columbia’s wood species provide an ideal solution for prefabricated construction, offering excellent strength-to-weight ratios and reliable performance for applications such as panelling and structural framing. Prefabricated components made from these woods reduce waste, shorten site timelines, and lock in carbon for the lifetime of the building.
Prefabricated wood systems use both conventional light-frame construction and mass timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam), which combine compressed layers of wood to create strong, lightweight structures that enhance efficiency and design flexibility.
naturally:wood
Developed by FII, naturally:wood is an information resource showcasing British Columbia as a global leader in wood construction and a supplier of quality, environmentally responsible wood products from sustainably managed forests.
BC Supplier Directory
The BC Supplier Directory connects buyers with over 350 suppliers of high-quality, eco-friendly wood products, from dimension lumber, engineered, mass timber and specialty products, to furniture, doors and windows, pulp, paper and pellets.
Building a better future
When you choose wood from British Columbia, you’re not just buying a product—you’re partnering with a region committed to sustainability, innovation, and long-term reliability.