In 2009, the Ministry of Natural Resources implemented a four year export fund to help Ontario’s wood-product manufactures take advantage of opportunities to export products to customers in key target markets. The fund helps to support the work of several of our partners to help build export capacity within the sector and to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Wood Manufacturing Council
Wood Manufacturing Council (WMC) offers many programs that support your industry’s long-term growth and ensure employees have the skills they need to succeed.
One of the programs that WMC offers is Going Global—a series of five hands-on workshops that give entrepreneurs, executives and managers in the advanced wood-manufacturing industry the information they need to compete in the global marketplace and capitalize on a world of opportunity. Dates and locations of the workshops are available on the WMC website.
Ontario Wood Product Export Association
Ontario Wood Product Export Association (OWPEA) is a province-wide association that works to develop and promote awareness of Ontario’s wood products industry on the world stage. The OWPEA assists members in developing export readiness, identifying trade opportunities, and enhancing market awareness through seminars and other networking and educational programs.
Eastern Ontario Model Forest
Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) offers a series of educational programs and direct assistance to help wood product producers address a key market access barrier for them to export their products, namely chain of custody certification for their products. Illegal logging is a global problem and many countries are implementing import controls to combat it. While illegal logging is not an issue in Ontario, our exports to these markets can be affected by these controls. Chain of custody certification for your products is one of the tools available to provide assurance of legality of supply. Chain of custody certification offers you third party verification that your products will meet consumers’ expectations that they are buying a product that was made from a sustainably managed resource.
FPInnovations
FPInnovations (FPI) has assigned a full-time export specialist in the province to assess company’s preparedness to compete in export markets. The service will offer case by case direct technical assistance to Ontario based wood product manufacturers to help them take advantage of their export opportunities and launch their products on the international market.
FPI have developed a business assessment tool that specifically investigates a company’s export readiness and identifies those aspects of the business that could benefit from customized export assistance. If assessed companies choose to go ahead with direct export support, which could include assistance with the preparation of an export marketing strategy, up to 75% of the project costs could be covered by the export fund.
