While wood has long been used as a construction material, the benefits of using wood as the primary material in the construction of certain types of buildings is increasingly being recognized world-wide as a more sustainable building option.

Not only is wood our only natural and renewable construction material, but because carbon stays stored in wood products like lumber, wood frame buildings continue to serve as carbon sinks long after the wood used in their construction has left the forest. What’s more, mass timber construction can be completed 25% faster, reducing carbon pollution during construction by up to 45% and requires less energy to heat and cool long-term. 

In addition to creating more sustainably built, resilient communities, increasing the use of wood in construction would provide numerous economic benefits, including the creation 50,000 new jobs between 2018 and 2028 in the manufacturing, design, and construction sectors. It would also add $7.5 billion worth of economic activity through the construction of 900 new commercial, residential, and institutional wood buildings in Canada.