Bryan Hayes, member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Canada, on behalf of Greg Rickford, Canada's minister of natural resources and minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, this week announced investments in science and infrastructure upgrades to Natural Resources Canada's Great Lakes Forestry Center in Sault Ste. Marie. This $5 million in new funding builds on the government's unprecedented and historic investment in public infrastructure to ensure Canada's future economic growth for years to come.

The funding announced this week will be used for energy-efficiency and infrastructure upgrades to the center. The upgrades will provide long-term cost savings and will help federal scientists conduct important research on sustainable forest management including biological control of forest pests and diseases, forest ecosystems and forest productivity, and forest fire research.

Across the country, the Government of Canada is investing $380 million in federal laboratories and research facilities for major repairs and upgrades that will improve the ability to perform leading-edge research. For example, the Great Lakes Forestry Center is working to combat the highly destructive emerald ash borer.

Since 2007, the Government has invested a total of $1.8 billion in support of the ongoing transformation and renewal of Canada's forest sector. Budget 2015 maintains this momentum by investing $86 million over two years to further extend the Forest Innovation Program and the Expanding Market Opportunities Program.

These investments are working to help ensure that Canada's forest industry continues to support and create jobs. Operating profits for Canada's forest sector reached $2.7 billion in 2013, up 152% from 2012. These are the highest operating profits earned over the past eight years. Since 2012, exports of forest products from Ontario have risen by $142 million.

• Canada's forest sector contributed $20.9 billion to the country’s nominal gross domestic product in 2013, directly employing more than 216,000 workers in all regions of the country and more than 43,000 in Ontario. 
• Less than 0.5% of Canada's forests are harvested annually to manufacture products for the domestic and international markets, and all forests harvested on public lands must be regenerated. 
• Canada's forestlands include more than 160 million hectares of forestland certified by third parties as being sustainably managed—43% of the world's certified forests. 
• In 2013, the value of Canada's forest product exports increased by 13.1% from 2012 levels — rising to $28.4 billion from $25.1 billion—and production levels were higher across all market segments. 
• In addition, the Expanding Market Opportunities Program has also helped to open doors to new business opportunities and has diversified markets for Canadian forest products. These efforts have been particularly successful in increasing sales of Canadian wood products to China, where exports have grown by more than 1,000% between 2007 and 2013.