BC Timber Sales program expands to include specialty custom cutters and processors

British Columbia is expanding its timber supply program to support custom cutters and processors who manufacture specialty wood products without owning their own mills.

The province's BC Timber Sales Value-Added Manufacturing Program now includes a dedicated category for these businesses, which supply wood for specialty windows, doors, Japanese temple components, and other bespoke products to buyers worldwide. Nearly 40 custom cutter companies in B.C. directly employ roughly 250 people and indirectly support hundreds more through trucking, rail, and port operations.

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar announced the expansion Monday in Vancouver, citing the need to build more value-added products domestically in response to U.S. tariffs on dimensional lumber. "Our government is continuing to take real action to get local logs processed in local communities, creating local jobs," Parmar said.

Tom Sundher, president of Surrey-based Sundher Group—one of the province's largest custom cutters—appeared alongside the minister to explain the sector's needs. Because custom cutting serves customer-specific orders, his company uses multiple mills with different equipment rather than operating a single facility. The value-added wood manufacturing sector generated more than $1.3 billion in gross domestic product in 2024.