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A St. Thomas-based timber manufacturer is getting a $3.5-million boost from the provincial government as Queen’s Park pushes to meet its housing target.
At Tuesday’s announcement at Element5 – a supplier of wood panels used in mass timber construction – Nolan Quinn, Ontario’s associate minister of forestry, said the government is making the $3.5 million in funding to the company through the forest sector investment and innovation program, an initiative that provides capital for manufacturers and processors of wood across the province.
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Element5 is “leading the way in innovative mass timber building materials,” as demand for cross-laminated timber products increases, Quinn said.
“Demand for these products is expected to grow by up to 25 per cent per year over the next decade,” he said.
The funding will more than triple Element5’s production, create 32 new positions, increase revenue by more than 300 per cent and boost the company’s export sales by almost 600 per cent, Quinn said.
Quinn also said supporting amendments to Ontario’s building code will allow more wood construction.
“Advanced wood construction will help Ontario build homes and businesses, growing communities faster and more efficiently,” he said.
In April, the government of Doug Ford announced it was expanding the use of advanced wood construction like mass timber to help speed up construction and reduce costs, including the intention to amend building codes to increase the height of mass timber buildings from 12 storeys to 18 storeys as practised in other jurisdictions such as British Columbia and the U.S.
Following the announcement, Paul Calandra, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, called mass timber “another avenue” for the provincial government to reach its goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031, a target set to alleviate a shortage of housing in the province.
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“It really is a reflection of new and innovative ways of building homes, and mass timber is going to play a very, very important role in getting it done,” Calandra said.
The investment by the province in Element5 adds to the city’s economic and population expansion.
The Volkswagen EV battery plant, operated by its subsidiary PowerCo, is expected to open in 2027 and will employ 3,000 workers. An updated economic report last month projects the city of about 45,000 people will balloon to nearly 80,000 by 2051.
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston, who was at the announcement, said, “We spent some great time, five years ago, planning for this growth.”
Quinn called the investment “a significant opportunity for Element5, for St. Thomas and for Ontario.”
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
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