BDC Forestry Support Program
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Eligibility & Details
What this program funds and who can apply
Program Description
Financing and advisory support from BDC for forestry businesses affected by U.S. tariffs, duties and trade uncertainty. The programme has three offers. Liquidity support provides working capital of $250,000 to $25 million for forestry manufacturers and $250,000 to $10 million for forestry service companies. Transformation support provides $1 million to $25 million to forestry manufacturers only, paired with BDC Advisory Services and a required transformation plan, for automation, AI, equipment and strategic growth. The Softwood Lumber Guarantee Program is indirect: term loans and letters of credit of $500,000 to $50 million per borrower group are issued by a participating financial institution and backed by a BDC guarantee.
Eligibility Requirements
- Based and headquartered in Canada with operations in Canada
- Minimum $1 million in annual revenue
- 3 years or more in operation
- Forestry manufacturing (sawmills, remanufacturing facilities, pulp and paper mills, finished wood product manufacturers) for any of the three offers, or forestry service companies (lumber harvesting, forestry transportation) for Liquidity support only
- Obligations sufficiently covered before 2025, with an exception for sawmills
- Forestry service companies must report at least 60% of revenue from harvesting or hauling logs, timber or primary wood products
- Finished wood product manufacturers must show at least 15% of revenue subject to U.S. tariffs, with tariffs representing at least 5% of total revenue
- Sawmills must be subject, or potentially subject, to U.S. softwood lumber duties
- Remanufacturing, pulp and paper and service companies qualify on financial impact instead: a minimum 20% annual revenue decline or a 15% reduction in annual EBITDA
- Liquidity financing must be used strictly for operational cash flow in Canadian operations
- Transformation financing requires a transformation plan and must be used strictly to implement the transformation project
- Transformation support is not available to forestry service companies
- Softwood Lumber Guarantee applicants must apply through their primary financial institution, which must be a participating Canadian regulated deposit-taking institution holding a first-ranking security interest
Quick Assessment
Funding Details
- Amount
- Liquidity support: $250,000 to $25 million for forestry manufacturers, $250,000 to $10 million for forestry service companies. Transformation support: $1 million to $25 million, forestry manufacturers only. Softwood Lumber Guarantee: $500,000 to $50 million per eligible borrower group.
- Type
- Loan
- Level
- Federal
- Deadline
- Available until December 31, 2026, or until the envelope is fully used — whichever comes first.
Program Scorecard
Competition, effort, and approval at a glance
How to qualify
Insider tips, common pitfalls, and what successful applicants look like
Insider TipDecide which stream you are in before you call: the Transformation stream is closed to harvesting and hauling companies, and taking the bank-issued Softwood Lumber Guarantee closes the Liquidity door for mills and remanufacturers.
Rejection Pitfalls 8
- Annual revenue below $1 million
Success Profile
Everything you need to secure BDC Forestry Support Program
Not a marketing summary. The actual checklist, intel, and stack strategy reviewers look for.
- 8 rejection pitfalls reviewers flag — so you catch them first
- 6-document checklist with what each reviewer is actually checking
- Your Application Game Plan — the print-ready PDF the preview below describes
- Insider tip from program officers on what separates winners
- 2-program stacking strategy to combine with compatible funding
- Success profile + evaluation criteria — exactly what lenders look for
Application Playbook
Step-by-step process, required documents, and expenses
Application steps not yet documented.
Required Documents 6
Eligible Expenses 4
Ineligible Expenses 2
Deadline Notes
Ineligible Organizations
Funding Stack Strategy
Compatible programs, clawback risk, and combined funding potential
Compatible Programs
Clawback Risk
Not-applicable RiskHow BDC Forestry Support Program Compares
Side-by-side with similar programs
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