Nova Scotia Report: How important is the forest industry to the Nova Scotia economy?
by Don Cameron, RPF

One of the most common topics discussed in the news, in workplaces and coffee shops, and along the streets over the past few months has been whether StoraEnso would be reopening their mills in Port Hawkesbury. It is a well-known fact that the forest products market is a difficult one in which to compete. The well-chronicled trade battles between the US and Canada have taken a large bite out of potential prosperity for many forest products companies, communities, provinces, and the country as a whole. The good news is that this long-simmering situation seems to be stabilizing somewhat, despite the variable support on both sides of the issue.

Closer to home, our sawmills and pulp and paper mills have been up against many challenges in recent years, including among others, high energy and production costs, the drastically increased Canadian dollar, markets flooded with products from western Canada, variable world demand for North American forest products, and new mill capacity coming on-stream from China and other developing countries where labour costs are relatively low.
At one time, not so many years ago, there were more than 300 sawmills scattered throughout our province. These local community operations employed many local people and supplied the necessary forest products for the population of the day. The forest harvesting and manufacturing industry formed the backbone of the provincial economy and was especially important and noticeable in rural areas.

Today, times have changed and so has the forestry industry. There are now fewer sawmills operating, but there are several large-scale, high-tech facilities. At one time the forest products industry was oriented toward producing timber for the pulp and paper mills, whereas the system today has changed such that most timber is harvested and transported directly to the sawmills. Any logs that cannot be used for lumber or veneer, due to size or quality, are chipped, along with parts of logs not used as lumber, to create wood chips that are consistent in terms of size and makeup. The chips are then trucked to pulp and paper mills.

What has not changed is that the forest products industry remains the backbone of the provincial economy, especially in the rural areas, as the following facts from the Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia (FPANS) indicate.

The FPANS is the largest organization of forest interests in the province. The organization, consisting of 900 members, represent all segments of the industry, including woodlot owners, pulp and paper companies, sawmills, silviculture and harvesting contractors, Christmas tree growers, and maple syrup producers

• Forestry is a $1.4 billion industry, providing 13,000 direct jobs and another 5,278 indirect jobs to the province. It is the largest provider of employment in rural Nova Scotia and communities depend on the forest industry.
• Forest-related products and newsprint account for nearly one-quarter of the provincial export base. The leading products shipped from the province include newsprint, woodpulp, lumber, and coated paper. Export growth in this sector has been one of the leading factors behind Nova Scotia’s past export surge.
• Forest product exports reached nearly $1 billion in 1999, double the value of the early 1990’s. These forest products are the most diverse of Nova Scotia’s exports. They serve more markets than any other product, having reached 54 different countries on 6 continents in 1998 as well as 48 of the 50 United States.
• According to an economic impact study released in early 2000, and updated in 2003 by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC), the forest industry is by far the largest generator of jobs in rural Nova Scotia. A job lost in a forestry-dependent community cannot easily be replaced since these regions are often plagued with relatively high unemployment rates.
• Nearly three-quarters of the province’s primary forest labour force resides in rural Nova Scotia.

When you stop to think how the forestry industry affects a community like Port Hawkesbury, it underlines the importance of maintaining healthy, sustainable forests that can support and maintain the economic backbone of many communities and our province. One might not realize how much urban communities, such as the Truro area, also rely on forestry. When the number of jobs in this region are calculated, including DNR staff, forest products companies, forest contractors and consultants, casual or seasonal labourers, truckers, suppliers of materials and services, and then all the spin-off jobs, it is not hard to imagine how many millions of dollars are generated and spent in the local and provincial economy to keep things chugging along at a healthy economic pace.

Let us do what we can to see that our forests and the forestry industry continue to play a vital and sustainable role in our future.