Natural Resources Investment

With British Columbia’s mining industry revenue increasing $1 billion CAD in just one year – its highest net revenue since 2012 -- mining industry experts are expressing cautious optimism about the future.

At the 2017 BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) Convention in April, David Emerson -- the former Canadian trade minister instrumental in ending the last softwood lumber conflict -- told a crowd of industry insiders that the softwood lumber dispute with the United States is like a “mutating form of bacteria that has become all but antibiotic resistant.” Essentially, the 30-year-old dispute is over the Americans claim that Canadians have an advantage for selling government subsidized-lumber into the U.S. marketplace.

The original Trans Mountain pipeline was approved by act of parliament in 1952. Construction of the nearly 1,200 kilometer pipeline linking Alberta oilfields to Vancouver’s Burrard inlet and the Pacific coast began.
Completed in 1953, and reaching full capacity in 1957, the pipeline has been safely pumping 250,000 barrels of oil a day over its entire length ever since.

British Columbia is North America’s largest softwood lumber producer. Traditionally, B.C.’s forest industry contributes about $12 billion CAD annually to the provincial gross domestic product. The majority of B.C.’s softwood lumber is exported abroad, with the U.S. leading the way as the largest importer, followed by China. According to BC Council for Forest Industries (COFI), the U.S. accounts for 48 percent of B.C.’s export market. China, meanwhile, now accounts for 29 percent, representing a meteoric growth of more than 20 times since 2003.