Nearly $10 Million in New Supports for Forestry Contractors

The Nova Scotia Forestry Innovation Trust announced $9.85 million in new support for forestry contractors.

Adopting ecological forestry practices means the contracting base must purchase or retrofit equipment. It is also helpful because the sector’s contract base is struggling. Following the closure of Northern Pulp, the sector’s contracting capacity shrunk by 40 percent.

“We are grateful for the support to help our contractors make the necessary equipment upgrades to assist in our transition to sustainable ecological forestry practices,” said Angela MacGillivray, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Forestry Contractors’ Association. “This support comes at a time when the sector is facing increased costs to transition to ecological forestry and will have positive impacts across the whole sector.”

This news comes as the federal government announced that biomass would be eligible for a federal tax credit that will help attract investment to the sector.

Together, these announcements help address two of the largest challenges facing the sector: the lack of markets for low-grade fibre and the challenges faced by our contractors.

Rules and Funding

The Nova Scotia Community College will administer the program, and the criteria and application process are currently under development. An eligible business could receive up to $500,000 from the program.

Available grants include:

• Up to 35 percent of the purchase price for new equipment (maximum grant of $250,000)

• Up to 30 percent for used equipment (maximum grant of $125,000)

• Up to 30 percent for retrofits (maximum grant of $100,000)

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