An Industry that Feeds the Regions

In Québec, the forest industry is a major economic lever. One of its unique aspects is that it is established in almost every region of Québec, and is a core element in the economies of more than 140 forest-based and urban municipalities. There are more than 3,000 mills and plants of all kinds, producing a broad range of products. They include:

• nearly 40 pulp, paper and board mills, shipping most of their products to markets outside Québec;
• slightly over 250 sawmills specialized in primary processed products;
• roughly 10 mills specialized in the production of medium and high-density wood-based panels including oriented strand board, particle board, plywood and laminated veneer lumber, etc.;
• and more than 1,500 secondary and tertiary processing mills manufacturing structural wood products (joists, roof trusses, truss beams, prefabricated walls and buildings, etc.) and appearance products (floors, cladding, doors, mouldings, furniture, cupboards, etc.). Québec is Canada’s leader in this sector.

The industry also has unrivalled expertise in the processing of small timber, which serves to manufacture many remarkable engineered products used to build bridges, sports centres, hockey rinks and multi-storey buildings. Québec has always been a net exporter of forest products. It holds a predominant share of the high value-added (secondary and tertiary processing) market, and is ranked first in Canada for the number of jobs created in this highly innovative sector, which creates unusual products designed to meet emerging needs. The forests provide many jobs in the logging, silvicultural and timber processing sectors. These jobs hold the regional fabric together and vitalize the communities. The forest sector provides roughly 60,000 direct jobs for Québecers, and an equivalent number of indirect and induced jobs.