September 08, 2010

Alberta’s value-added manufacturing wood products sector will benefit from FPInnovations’ technical knowledge to increase productivity and sales revenues while reducing operational expenses. A federal-provincial investment will enable FPInnovations to assist Alberta wood-product firms to advance industry development and forest operations.

“Our Government’s investment in this initiative will help enable wood manufacturers throughout Alberta to continue to grow and create jobs by adopting new practices and applications,” said Lee Richardson, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.

”The value-added wood products sector is a vital part of Alberta’s economy and a key to future growth and prosperity in our province,” said Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mel Knight. “Encouraging innovation and knowledge transfer in this sector is part of our commitment to ensuring that Alberta is competitive and continues to attract investment to support jobs in our forest economy.”

Over the next two years, FPInnovations will share its technical knowledge and manufacturing best practices with Alberta firms involved in the value-added wood manufacturing of products such as pre-fabricated buildings, engineered building components, cabinets, millwork, and furniture. Specific activities will include site visits, seminars and workshops, establishing a technical help-line, technical bulletins, and implementing demonstration projects. The primary goal of this project is to improve the sector’s business productivity and competitiveness in the national and international marketplace.

A combined federal-provincial investment of $1,264,000 is being provided under the Canada-Alberta Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA) for this project. The Government of Canada has committed $639,000 and the Province of Alberta, an additional $625,000. FPInnovations will contribute a further $351,000.

“The Alberta forestry and wood products sector is a vital part of the provincial economy,” said Roland Baumeister, FPInnovations’ manager of value added manufacturing for Western Canada. “Through this initiative, the resources of FPInnovations will support the province’s strategy in identifying market opportunities, diversifying its economy and increasing the value of its forest resource.”

A similar project is also being delivered by FPInnovations to help improve Saskatchewan wood manufacturers’ productivity. This project is supported by Western Economic Diversification Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan, through the Canada-Saskatchewan Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA). FPInnovations will contribute $138,000 to the Saskatchewan project, while the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan will invest a shared commitment of $848,000 to ensure Saskatchewan wood manufacturers succeed in today’s global market.

FPInnovations is a national forest sector research and development institute that specializes in supplying sector specific industry research and knowledge transfer to the solid wood products, pulp and paper, forest operations and transportation sectors.

The investments by the Governments of Canada and Alberta are made through the Canada-Alberta Western Economic Partnership Agreement. Through this agreement, Canada and Alberta are jointly contributing $50 million, over four years, to strengthen economic activity and improve quality of life in Alberta communities.



For additional information please visit: www.wd-deo.gc.ca


The following are the remarks made by Lee Richardson at the announcement of the announcement of the joint Federal-Provincial knowledge sharing program.

Thank you. Good morning everyone. It is a pleasure to be here today on behalf of our Conservative Government and my colleague, the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge my fellow platform guests: The Honourable Mel Knight, Minister of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development; and Alan Potter, Vice-President of Strategic Technologies and Initiatives for FPInnovations.
Our Government’s top priority must continue to be creating jobs and strengthening our economy. An important way we can do this is by supporting key industries like the forestry sector.
As a part of our Economic Action Plan, our Government invested $170 million to help our forestry companies innovate and compete in the world market.
We also introduced the $1 billion Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to improve the efficiency and sustainability of Canadian pulp and paper companies.
Today, I am pleased to announce that our Government is investing more than $1 million to enable FPInnovations to deliver a knowledge transfer program for Alberta and Saskatchewan’s value-added wood products manufacturing sector.
$639,000 of this investment will be allocated to Alberta’s wood manufacturing industry. The remaining amount will be invested in Saskatchewan.
Through this investment, FPInnovations experts will share their knowledge with wood manufacturers to improve their competitive position in the marketplace.
The experienced advisors from FPInnovations will work with Alberta business owners and production managers to develop new, higher quality products and diversify markets.
Developing and demonstrating new technical innovations can lead to the creation of higher-end, customized products and open new sales markets. One example of the products I’m referring to is pre-built panels that can be used to build homes at a lower cost and with less time and waste.
As contractors begin adopting this more efficient method of constructing homes, there could be significant opportunities for wood manufacturing firms to diversify their businesses by producing pre-built panels for market.
Through FPInnovations, small and medium-sized companies can access the resources and expertise needed to take advantage of market opportunities such as this, which can lead to increased sales and business growth.
Funding for this initiative is provided through the Western Economic Partnership Agreement, or WEPA as it is otherwise known.
By bringing both orders of government together with our industry partners, we have taken an important step towards strengthening the development and growth of Alberta’s wood manufacturing firms.
Our government recognizes that the forest sector and related industries are critical to Alberta communities.
We will continue to work in partnership to create new opportunities for Alberta’s wood manufacturing firms and forest sector in the short and long term.
On behalf of our Conservative Government, I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making this project a reality.
I look forward to hearing about the successful outcomes that are realized as a result of our collective efforts.
Together, we’re building a stronger West for a stronger Canada.
Thank you.