Northern communities lead the way to an Ontario wood culture.

In Ontario, forest products are a $14.2-billion industry and contribute $3.9 billion to the provincial balance of trade. This is second only to the automotive industry.

The forest products industry is also a major employer. Recent figures from the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) indicate the industry provides 88,400 direct jobs and more than 176,000 indirect jobs.

Clearly, wood is critically important to the health of the provincial economy. Yet in many parts of the province, its importance is under-appreciated, if not almost unknown.

"That is about to change," says Marianne Berube, Ontario Director of the Wood WORKS! project. Thanks to leadership shown by Northern Ontario communities, the rest of the province is beginning to realize just how important the industry is.

To date, more than 70 municipalities, municipal associations and First Nation councils, most in the North, have built the foundation for an Ontario wood culture by supporting a resolution that calls for a wood option in capital construction projects.

By making a commitment to request a wood option during the RFP (request for proposals) process, these councils help guarantee that wood will be given fair consideration alongside other materials. Once given fair consideration, wood is often selected as the best option because it is economical, energy efficient, and leaves the lightest environmental footprint.

These resolutions, the growing number of wood projects that have resulted from them, and the vocal support of northern leaders, have been the basis for expanding 'wood awareness' province-wide.

At the recent Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Toronto, Mayor Jamie Lim of Timmins and Mayor Jack Burrows of North Bay spoke in favour of a wood culture during a breakfast meeting sponsored by Wood WORKS! and encouraged their municipal colleagues to join them in their support.

Hundreds of municipal leaders from across the province in attendance at the breakfast paid close attention to the words of the keynote speaker, Jim Lopez, executive vice-president of forest resource management at Tembec Inc. Municipal leaders heard that the future of the forest economy is in the remanufacturing of our renewable wood resource to create value-added, engineered wood products.

AMO has already taken the next step by supporting a wood resolution with a provincewide vision. The "Ontario Builds a Wood Culture" policy initiative presented by the city of Timmins, and supported by AMO through the board of directors, calls for action from the provincial government that will make "Ontario Builds a Wood Culture" an economic development priority for the province.

The resolution calls on the province to establish policies that stimulate the optimal use of wood in provincially funded capital projects, foster development of an Ontario Wood Culture in government-supported, forest industry marketing initiatives, and establish industrial development strategies to encourage investment.