Buyer's Corner

The environmental and social aspects of wood, pulp and paper products are becoming part of considerations for sustainable procurement and purchasing decisions.

In Canada there are three major, credible certification programs that provide certification of good forest management activities. They also provide chain-of-custody certification that tracks sustainably produced forest products through the supply chain, and provide the ability to label products to communicate to consumers exactly what they are buying.

Those programs are:

Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Sustainable Forestry Initiative® Program (SFI)

These programs promote sound forest management through principles, criteria and objectives that are viewed as the basis of sustainable forest management by governments around the world.

In North America the CSA, FSC and SFI programs are recognized by many government agencies and corporate buyers with procurement policies that include a preference for certified products. Globally these programs are endorsed either explicitly or through the FSC or PEFC international programs and are accepted by governments as assurance of legal and sustainable forest products. This recognizes different certification systems that provide substantially equivalent forest management standards, and provides a global supply of credibly certified wood products.

Canada has a stable and secure supply of certified wood fiber. This independent verification provides added assurance of responsible forest practices from a country with some of the world’s toughest and well-enforced regulatory frameworks for forestry.

Further information for buyers (click on the links below):

Effective environmental purchasing policy:
A Buyer’s Guide to Canada’s Sustainable Forest Products
Sample Procurement Policy

Buildings with a reduced environmental impact:
Tackle Climate Change
Canadian Wood. Renewable by Nature. Sustainable by Design.

Status of forest certification in Canada & the globe:
Forest Certification in Canada – Brochure