B.C. forestry workers, other sectors hurt by tariffs to get $70M in jobs training

Workers sort logs in the Western Forest Products Inc. Ladysmith Log Sort in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. Canada is the US's biggest foreign lumber supplier and has already been dealing with higher duties on its shipments that started last summer.

Workers in B.C.’s softwood lumber industry and those in other sectors who have lost their jobs because of U.S. tariffs will benefit from almost $71 million in funding for retraining.

Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu and Sheila Malcolmson, the minister of social development and poverty reduction, made the joint funding announcement about the three year agreement on Thursday at the provincial legislature.

B.C.’s softwood lumber industry has been shedding hundreds of jobs as U.S. tariffs pile up along with the lack of fibre, but Hajdu said “no worker will be left behind” as global trade evolves.

“This new funding will help workers in B.C. build new skills, get back to work or take advantage of new opportunities in emerging in demand industries,” Hajdu said. “It also can help businesses retool their production so they can be more competitive with new products or new markets.”

She said the funding through the new Canada-British Columbia Workforce Tariff Response will also help workers in other industries facing tariffs, including the steel sector.

A statement from the federal government says 8,000 workers in B.C. will be eligible for the support if they have been laid off or if they are retraining to improve their job prospects.

Hajdu said the new funding tops off existing agreements worth $400 million to support training and employment services for about 90,000 British Columbians each year.

The provincial government will deliver the money through its network of WorkBC centres, and Malcolmson, said the investment will help people build skills and quickly move into new opportunities.

“Our Work BC centres are an already proven platform,” Malcolmson said. “They’re doing the work already, and this new investment allows us to scale up what already works, delivering fast, practical services that help people re-skill or pivot to a new opportunity in demand-jobs quickly.”

This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published March 5, 2026.