Forest Tenure and Pricing Modernization

Ontario is modernizing the system that governs who manages Crown forests, including how companies get wood and how it is priced in the province. A modernized system would help create more flexibility to enable us to respond to today’s fast-changing economic environment and put Ontario’s Crown forests to work for all Ontarians.

The plan to modernize the forest tenure and pricing system will shape the future of forestry in Ontario. Our government intends to take a careful and measured approach that will benefit the established and emerging forest industry, as well as Aboriginal and local communities.

Recently, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 151, An Act to enact the Ontario Forest Tenure Modernization Act, 2011 and to amend the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994. This Bill received Royal Assent on June 1, 2011 and it will support the changes required to implement tenure modernization. 

A New Generation of Forest Tenure: 

Bill 151, an act to enact the Ontario Forest Tenure Modernization Act

"We've worked hard on this legislation to address concerns about change, as well as the desire for change. Now it’s time for action to balance private interests with the overriding public interest in putting Ontario’s wood and people back to work." Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.View video on Bill 151.

Note: On October 20, 2011 the Ministry of Natural Resources became lead ministry for the Forest Tenure and Pricing Modernization system.

Ontario's forest tenure will transition to:

• Local Forest Management Corporations (LFMCs) - Crown agencies governed by a predominantly local board of directors responsible for managing Crown forests and overseeing the marketing and sale of timber in a given area; and,
• Enhanced Sustainable Forest Licences (ESFLs) - Companies that may be owned by, for example, the consuming mills and/or harvesters, or a not for profit corporation, and operate in a manner that will achieve the objectives of tenure modernization.

On May 25, 2011, Ontario announced that it is working with First Nations, local communities and forest industry partners to design and establish the first Local Forest Management Corporation. The new body is proposed to be called “Nawiinginokiima Forest Management Corporation,” which means “working together.” This new proposed LFMC would sustainably manage the Crown forests in the Pic River Ojibway, Big Pic, Black River, Nagagami, and White River forests in the Marathon area. It would also sell and market timber and negotiate the price of wood.

The new models will help make the allocation of Ontario’s wood, as well as prices, more responsive to market demand, create new opportunities for entrepreneurs, and facilitate greater Aboriginal and local involvement in the forest sector.

The province will continue to work with Aboriginal and local communities, stakeholders and the forest industry and seek input on implementation plans and criteria to test and evaluate both the two new governance models.