The Government of Canada is investing over $4.4 million in 10 projects in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, and Natural Resources Canada said the projects will advance manufacturing and processing, diversify forest products and export markets, and support First Nation and Métis groups and forestry businesses, Natural Resources Canada announced.

Western Archrib Enterprises Ltd. is receiving $2,311,494 through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program to commission a 160,000-square-foot mass timber plant in Sturgeon County, Alberta. The facility represents a total capital investment of over $80 million and will move the company from manual processing to a fully automated manufacturing line, increasing production capacity from 12 million to 30-35 million board feet annually.

Under the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, FML #1 Consortium Inc. is receiving $597,970 to support a consortium of four First Nations, Black River First Nation, Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Hollow Water First Nation, and Sagkeeng First Nation, in reactivating a Forest Development Agreement, Forest Management Licence #1, in Manitoba. The Manitoba Métis Federation is receiving $305,000 to establish a Red River Métis-led seed collection and exchange network in Manitoba.

Other Indigenous Forestry Initiative projects include $200,000 for Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement for Paddle Prairie Carbon, $51,750 for Nisokapawino Forestry Management Corporation for Indigenous youth surveys and forest renewal data collection, and $50,500 for Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation to complete a feasibility study, business plan, and a Twenty-Year Forest Management Plan for its logging operation, including community mapping of areas of cultural significance. Additional funding includes $50,000 for MNA Zone 5 Economic Development Corporation to develop consensus on silvicultural best practices with Region 5 Métis citizens and industry, and $47,200 for Beaver First Nation to conduct a feasibility study and business plan for timber harvesting on its traditional territory.

Under the Green Construction through Wood program, the University of Alberta is receiving $450,000 for the Canadian Wood Construction Research Network, Next Generation Wood Construction Project, to co-ordinate wood construction research across Canadian universities and generate technical information to support updates to building codes and standards. Athabasca University is receiving $393,150 for Holistic Building Strategies for Low-Embodied Carbon to create online educational modules on embodied carbon, life-cycle assessment, and the use of forest-based biomaterials, with materials to be made available online and tailored to rural and regional communities.

Natural Resources Canada said it is accepting applications under national Calls for Proposals for renewed forest sector transformation programs, including Investments in Forest Industry Transformation, Green Construction through Wood, the Indigenous Forestry Initiative, and the Global Forest Leadership Program, supported by a $500-million commitment to help companies innovate and diversify, expand the use of Canadian wood in construction, support Indigenous participation, and open new domestic and international markets.

The release said Canada's forest sector supports nearly 200,000 workers, including over 11,000 Indigenous people, and contributes more than $20 billion to GDP, while across the Prairies the sector supports almost 28,000 jobs and provides more than $3.9 billion to real GDP. It also said the government has introduced over $2 billion in measures since August 2025, including financing, liquidity supports, worker protections, and a single-window pathfinding service to help forest sector businesses and employees navigate federal programs.