Investing in mass timber education supports clean growth (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training

Media Relations
250 508-5030

Amy Chen

Media and Communications Specialist
British Columbia Institute of Technology
778 384-7245

Backgrounders

Facts about mass timber education, projects

Mass Timber Demonstration Program

  • Established in spring 2021 with an investment of more than $5.8 million to date, the Mass Timber Demonstration Program is delivered by Forestry Innovation Investment on behalf of the Province of British Columbia.
  • The third intake for the program is open and expressions of interest are being accepted until Oct. 7, 2022, with an additional $2 million available for successful applicants.
  • Individual projects can receive as much as $500,000 for incremental or one-time costs associated with design development, permitting and construction activities in mass timber building construction.
  • Goals of the program include:
    • expanding the use of mass timber in B.C.;
    • overcoming barriers to the development of mass timber expertise and construction; and
    • solidifying B.C.’s global leadership in advancing mass timber products, technologies and services.

Mass timber and advanced education in B.C.

  • Since 2019, B.C. has invested $850,000 toward wood innovation education at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).
  • When the value-added component is considered, mass timber can deliver up to seven times the economic value when compared to milling logs for lumber.
  • Mass timber can match or exceed the structural, fire and seismic performance of concrete and steel while reducing carbon emissions by up to 45%.
  • Mass timber products are prefabricated building components that are brought to job sites just in time for installation, and reducing overall construction time, noise and disruption.
  • BCIT is the largest provider of trades and technology education in the province.

Mass timber building projects underway at post-secondary institutions in 2022

  • The Province has invested $732 million in 10 projects that involve mass timber at post-secondary institutions throughout B.C.

BCIT

  • The Province invested $108.8 million toward BCIT’s Tall Timber Student Housing project, which is under construction.
  • The Province is also contributing $136.6 million toward the BCIT Trades and Technology Complex, which will include a campus services building built of mass timber, a carpentry pavilion with a mass timber roof structure and a covered marine workshop, which will provide a structure fitted for the assembly of mass timber projects.
    • The pavilion will be built for the new mass timber construction training program.

University of Victoria:

  • The University of Victoria has three mass timber construction projects in development:
    • a new student housing and dining facility,
    • an engineering and computer science expansion, and
    • the National Centre for Indigenous Laws.
  • The Province invested $205.5 million toward these three projects.
  • The 398-student hybrid mass timber housing and dining hall will open September 2022.

Collaborative post-secondary campus on the Westshore

  • In August 2022, the Province announced a $77.8-million investment toward a five-storey mass timber collaborative post-secondary building in downtown Langford.

Okanagan College

  • In June 2022, the Province announced a commitment of $66.5 million to build three mass timber student housing buildings in the Okanagan.
  • The new housing will be at Okanagan College’s Kelowna, Vernon and Salmon Arm campuses.

University of Fraser Valley

  • In May 2022, the Province announced $62.3 million toward a new six-storey mass timber student housing building at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.

Capilano University

  • In April 2022, the Province announced $41.5 million to build on-campus housing for Capilano University students in North Vancouver.
  • The new housing and dining hall will be built using mass timber.

North Island College

  • In February 2022, the Province announced $63.9 million to build a 217-bed student housing project at North Island College in Courtenay.
  • The project will be constructed using mass timber and targeting completion in fall 2024.