British Columbia is awarding $500,000 each to four new construction projects to showcase the application of mass-timber technologies, with total funding reaching $2 million. The selected developments include buildings in Vancouver, Surrey, Penticton, and Nelson, and form part of the fourth intake of the province’s Mass Timber Demonstration Program, according to Forestry Innovation Investment.
The projects include a 12-storey expansion of Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon in Vancouver, named Willow House, which will provide 75 units for families visiting Children’s Hospital. In Surrey, an Indigenous-led hybrid building will offer 78 below-market rental units across eight storeys. The Nexus building in Penticton will feature six storeys, including four floors of office space along with daycare and retail components. Nelson’s Cube 2.0 will serve as a three-storey Olympic-level climbing gym focused on sustainability in a rural location.
With these additions, the Mass Timber Demonstration Program now supports 24 demonstration buildings and eight research projects across the province. Launched in 2020, the program funds early adoption of mass-timber construction by supporting builders, designers and manufacturers in advancing design, construction systems and scaling production capabilities.
The province states that 41 government capital projects have incorporated mass timber since 2021, with more currently in planning or business case development. British Columbia holds 15% of North America’s mass-timber manufacturing capacity and hosts more than 130 architectural firms, 40 engineering firms and 115 builders active in the sector.
