The British Columbia government is making regulation changes to help forest-sector contractors stay in business, improve competitiveness and prosper.

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British Columbia, Canada: New rules help forestry contractors succeed

British Columbia, Canada: New rules help forestry contractors succeed

The British Columbia government is making regulation changes to help forest-sector contractors stay in business, improve competitiveness and prosper.

Amendments to the Timber Harvesting Contract and Subcontract Regulation create transparency in contract negotiations and improve the dispute resolution process between forest tenure holders and the contractors they hire, including log harvesters, log haulers and road builders, who hold replaceable contracts. One change to the regulation requires licence holders to provide contractors with clearer work specifications to understand the full scope of work to negotiate their rates.

The changes, effective June 10, 2021, result from the Contractor Sustainability Review, initiated in 2017 and completed in 2020.

During the initial phase of the review, the 2018 Contractor Sustainability Review Final Report identified that almost half of forestry contractors were losing money or insolvent. Amending the decades-old regulation was the recommendation of Dan Miller, former B.C. premier, who facilitated the last phase of the review.

This is one of the ways the Province is taking action to modernize the forest sector, as outlined in an intentions paper released on June 1. These amendments conclude the work done in collaboration and consultation with contractors and tenure-holder representatives throughout the review. Their advice is reflected in the changes.

Replaceable contracts are a requirement of some tree farm licences and forest licences. They require licence holders to continue their contracts with contractors who are fulfilling their obligations.