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Building workforce resilience through inclusion

The complexities of recruiting, retaining, and managing a diverse workforce were at the center stage during the 2024 Council of Forest Industries (COFI) annual convention – the largest gathering of the forest sector in Western Canada. An insightful presentation on building workforce resilience through inclusion was delivered by Louise Bender, vice-president of people and administration at Mosaic Forest Management, and Jason Krips, president and CEO of the Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA).

“Think about the workforce – have we provided a welcoming environment so they would want to work at our mills?” Bender asked the attendees.

The pair emphasized the importance of fostering diversity and inclusion from the boardroom through the production chain, and all the way to the forest floor, while also unveiling an emerging alliance dedicated to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across Canada’s forest industry. This marked a significant step towards a more inclusive future for the sector.

“We want to make sure that the underrepresented are supported in this sector,” Krips stressed.

A vision for an inclusive forest sector

Bender and Krips introduced the beginnings of the new Forest Sector EDI Alliance (FSEDIA), with the vision to position the forest sector as a desirable industry for all. Statistics show that only 19 per cent of the workforce are women largely working in administrative roles, which is slightly up from 17 per cent in 2016. Around 15 per cent of the workforce are Indigenous, largely working in mill operations; nine per cent are under the age of 24, while temporary foreign workers comprise one per cent of the workforce. The pair noted that these numbers seem to have little movement year-over-year, indicating a plateau in EDI outcomes and reinforcing the need for more work to be done in this space. The alliance strives to remedy this and ultimately for the sector to be more representative of the communities that it is a part of.

The next evolution of safety

Both emphasized the need to nurture cultural and psychological safety in the workplace, asserting that this is the next evolution of health and safety at work. They stressed that ensuring these fundamental elements are in place is integral to creating a work environment where employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute to their fullest potential. This is particularly important in an industry like forestry, where the workforce is traditionally underrepresented by diverse groups. 

“We collaborated to make sure safety is a priority to increase our workforce talent pool,” Krips explained.

By providing opportunities for new stories to be told and heard, leaders can foster an inclusive environment that will help retain the existing workforce and simultaneously attract new talent. The alliance is poised to play a pivotal role in supporting this transformation by offering more opportunities for collaboration and the exchange of best practices across the industry in Canada.

Purpose and objectives

The Forest Sector EDI Alliance is an initiative aimed to achieve meaningful inclusion for current and future employees in Canada’s forest sector. The alliance is focused on increasing equity for all individuals, including Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities, women, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and newcomers to Canada. The alliance’s mandate is to create cultural safety within the forest sector, making it an industry of choice for everyone.

Building a network of allies

One of the key strengths of the alliance is its focus on building a network of organizations committed to advancing EDI within the forest sector. By bringing together representatives from across Canada, the alliance aims to create a united front that can drive change and foster a more inclusive industry.

This network will provide a valuable resource for organizations looking to improve their EDI resources. Through the exchange of ideas and best practices, members can learn from each other and work together to overcome common challenges.

Sparking EDI conversations

Bender and Krips shared that another key component of the alliance is to spark dialogue about EDI both internal and external to the alliance. Externally, a great example was the panel that the alliance assembled for CFI’s Women in Forestry Virtual Summit earlier this year, titled Branching out: Cultivating change in the forest sector.

Internal to the alliance, the members have committed to rooting their work in making space for lived experience stories, where individuals working in a broad cross-section of roles from across the sector share about some of the barriers they have experienced and some of the supports they wished they had access to.

Bender and Krips both remarked on some of the memorable stories they had heard to date, reflecting on the women who don’t have access to appropriately sized personal protective equipment (PPE), or the faller who is openly a part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community and will wake up in the morning ready to start their day just to find that someone has stolen their boots or hidden their equipment.

The pair cited how important it is for these stories to be shared, for they serve not only as a reminder that there is more work to be done, but also as a guiding light that helps identify where we can all work to create positive change.

Share best practices

The alliance is comprised of forest sector companies, contractors, non-profits, post-secondary, and others who touch the forest sector in some capacity and are motivated to create change in Canada’s forest sector. The pair emphasized that the power of bringing together a group like this lies in the recognition that everyone is in different places in their journey, and that every entity has a perspective or experience to share that everyone can all learn from. Some organizations may have an innovative program that works to integrate newcomers to Canada, others may have an advanced method of measuring cultural and psychological safety, while others might facilitate an impactful peer mentorship program. Everyone can learn something from one another and that sharing these best practices is a core component of the alliance. 

Looking ahead

As the forest industry looks to the future, the pair said initiatives like this alliance are a significant step forward in ensuring that Canada’s forest sector remains a vibrant and attractive environment for all. They shared that the alliance is expecting to launch a website in the coming months and looks forward to welcoming more folks from across the sector into the fold.  By working together and embracing the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, the forest sector can build a more resilient and sustainable workforce for the future, the pair concluded.