The proposed $86m initiative in New Brunswick aims to improve wood fibre tracking, supply certainty and operational efficiency across the forest products industry.
Canada plans to invest up to $50m in a new digital forestry centre in New Brunswick as part of efforts to modernise the country’s forest products industry and strengthen its competitiveness.
The proposed Strategic Innovation Centre in Digital Forestry will be led by the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute in collaboration with ResearchNB. The $86m project aims to improve how wood resources are identified, tracked and allocated across the supply chain.
The federal investment, announced by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, is conditional on project approval and the completion of due diligence.
New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister John Herron said the province was well placed to host the centre, citing its forestry expertise.
“Forestry is New Brunswick’s leading economic driver and an industry that impacts and connects every region of our province,” he said.
Gaetan Pelletier, executive director of the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute, said an independent analysis by international consultancy AFRY in 2024 had identified digitalisation across the sector as essential to its transformation and resilience.
“The New Brunswick forest sector, while at the leading edge of modern forest management, still faces many internal and external challenges,” he said.
Digitalisation to strengthen supply chains
Canada’s forest sector faces mounting pressures from US tariffs, climate change, wildfires, pests and shifting global demand. The industry supports nearly 200,000 jobs, underpins 300 rural, remote and Indigenous communities, and contributed $23.5bn to the country’s gross domestic product in 2024.
A key challenge is maintaining a reliable supply of wood fibre for manufacturing products such as lumber, paper and packaging. The proposed centre will pilot digital technologies to help businesses better assess available resources and match fibre supplies to individual mills’ manufacturing requirements.
The initiative is expected to improve supply certainty, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency. It could also provide a model for other regions, attract investment and strengthen the sector’s long-term resilience.
Hodgson said the forthcoming national forest sector strategy would support projects that “modernise the industry, strengthen competitiveness and position Canada’s forest sector for long-term success”.
The federal government plans to provide further details of the strategy in Budget 2026. It will build on recommendations from the Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force, whose report was released in Jun 2026, and consultations with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous partners and industry stakeholders.
