Forestry

Although there is a limited amount of logging going on in the Central Alberta region (in the eastern parts of the region), the region did account for 5.7% of all the wood fiber processed in the province.  As a result, one of the region’s largest manufacturing sector is wood products (mainly lumber).    

Of the 1.2 million cubic metres of logs consumed by these two manufacturing sectors in the Central Alberta region in 2009, 88% was used to produce lumber and 12% to produce panelboard.  Lumber production fell by 6% between 2005 and 2009 and panelboard production by 52%. 

In 2009, forestry accounted for an estimated 7,000 jobs (direct plus indirect and induced jobs) in the region, down from 9,500 jobs in 2005.  About 3,000 of these jobs are direct jobs (processing jobs), a decline of one-third from 2005.   

Over the past four years, the value of shipments by Alberta’s wood products sector fell by one-half, mainly because of the precipitous decline of the U.S. housing market.  Between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2009, U.S. housing starts fell from more than two million starts (on an annual basis) to fewer than 600,000 starts.  During the past 18 months starts have remained in the 500,000 to 600,000 range.  Canadian housing starts fell by one-half between mid-2008 and mid-2009, but have recovered most of their losses since then.  Alberta housing starts also peaked in 2006, and fell by more than one-half between 2006 and 2009.  Since then they have recovered strongly, but are not expected to return to 2006 levels over the near future.

The value of shipments by the Central Alberta region’s wood products sector totaled about $700 million in 2009, a 21% decrease from 2005.

The global economic and U.S. housing crises have had a profound impact on forest product prices.  Prices for lumber had dropped by more than one-half between early 2006 and the early of 2009.  However, these prices have increased sharply by about one-third since then. 

Date Updated:
RDP-2431