Suppliers in the UK
Canada has a centuries-old tradition of trade in timber with the UK but as times have changed, not to mention markets, fashions and competing materials and the reality that trade in commodity softwood is market-driven, the quantity of wood currently exported from Canada to the UK is both variable and species dependent.
However, what is available is still sourced from the vast, sustainable and legally harvested Canadian forest resource and in some cases is of a quality that is only available from indigenous tree species which have grown in their natural habitat. Details and associated links are provided herein.
What do they supply?
The majority of pan-Canadian production by volume is represented by softwood in the form of strength-graded spruce-pine-fir (S-P-F) dimension lumber. Supply in the UK is variable, so always check what is currently available before specifying. Being a commodity product, trade is heavily influenced by both local and global market conditions and contingent on currency exchange rates.
Of the higher-value specialty timbers, from the forests of British Columbia in western Canada come the notable softwoods Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar and yellow cedar. From eastern Canada and the mixed temperate forests of Quebec, Ontario and The Maritimes it is the hardwoods including the quintessentially Canadian maples together with the speciality softwoods Quebec yellow pine/eastern white pine and eastern white cedar.
In addition to dimension lumber there is also a long history of trade in customary UK dimensions of construction softwood including hem-fir and Douglas fir, strength-graded to BS 4978 and, of course, not forgetting Douglas fir plywood available as overlaid panels for concrete formwork and with a clear natural face understandably popular with architects and interior designers.
The ‘added-value’ products – not all of which will be available in the UK and of those which are some are only traded commercially – range from furniture components and flooring ‘blanks’ through solid and engineered pre-finished hardwood flooring, hardwood pre-finished flooring generally the most commonly available, to engineered wood products from wood I-joists to glulam beams for construction to factory-engineered wood-frame homes.
Suppliers in Canada
For products at source, follow the links to individual Canada Wood UK partner association web sites where you will find details of their member companies and in some cases lists of their products with, for more comprehensive product information and current export market involvement, links to their own web sites.
To access the BC supplier directory, please visit: NaturallyWood site. For wood product suppliers from east Canada, please visit: QWEB site and MLB site.
Please email us should you require further information.
