Canada and China Renew Cooperation on Wood Construction Under MOHURD MOU
On Jan 15, 2026, Canada and China renewed a long-standing framework for cooperation on modern wood construction and low-carbon urban development with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD).
The agreement was signed in Beijing by NRCan Minister Tim Hodgson and MOHURD Minister Ni Hong, in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The Government of British Columbia is a signatory to the MOU, represented through a previously executed original signed by B.C. Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar.
The renewed MOU builds on more than a decade of collaboration between the two countries aimed at advancing sustainable building practices and promoting the use of wood as a low-carbon construction material. Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), a provincial Crown agency of British Columbia, has played a central role in supporting and operationalizing this cooperation through sustained policy engagement, technical exchange and in-market coordination.
Canada–China cooperation on wood construction began in 2010, when NRCan, the B.C. Ministry of Forests and MOHURD signed their first five-year tripartite MOU in Beijing. Renewed in 2015, the framework created a platform for regular policy dialogue, technical collaboration and pilot projects, coinciding with China’s growing emphasis on green buildings, prefabrication and emissions reduction in the construction sector.
Although the second MOU expired in 2020, cooperation continued. Supported by FII China and Canada Wood China, engagement with central and local government partners helped integrate modern wood construction into policy discussions, standards development and market demonstration initiatives. Wood construction was also reflected in broader bilateral climate cooperation, including the 2017 China–Canada Joint Statement on Climate Change and Clean Growth.
Over the years, collaboration under the MOU has contributed to tangible outcomes. Canadian experts supported the development and revision of Chinese technical standards for multi-storey wood buildings, fire safety regulations and lifecycle carbon assessment methodologies. Training programs and technical workshops reached government officials, designers and industry practitioners across multiple provinces, helping to build local capacity and confidence in wood-based building systems.
One of the most prominent results of the cooperation is the Sino-Canadian Low-Carbon Eco-District Demonstration Project in Tianjin. Launched in 2012 and advanced under the 2015 MOU, the project served as a national-level testing ground for applying Canadian approaches to energy-efficient design and wood construction within China’s regulatory and urban context.
Backed by MOHURD, NRCan and the B.C. Ministry of Forests, and working through FII and Canada Wood, the Tianjin Eco-District delivered several flagship wood-based developments. These included multi-storey townhouses, the C-MaRS Innovation Centre and the Wood Science Centre, demonstrating the structural performance, safety and carbon benefits of wood construction in dense urban environments.
The renewed MOU aligns with China’s goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, and with Canada’s broader climate and clean growth objectives. Future cooperation will focus on continued policy exchange, technical research, capacity building and demonstration projects, with particular attention to embodied carbon, lifecycle assessment and scalable urban applications of wood construction.
For FII, the agreement underscores the importance of long-term, government-to-government cooperation in translating climate ambitions into practical outcomes. By supporting collaboration across federal, provincial and municipal levels, FII aims to continue advancing low-carbon construction while expanding opportunities for Canadian and British Columbia wood products in the Chinese market.