City council voted unanimously during Monday’s (Sept. 14) regular meeting in being an early adopter of the Initiative for Tall Wood Mass Timber Construction, signing on with 12 other communities from across the province.

Mayor Lyn Hall believes this could help shape the downtown landscape into the future.

“It was important for us because forestry is a mainstay of our economic growth here and has been for 100+ years. The importance of it, and we’ve always been known as the Spruce Capital, but it’s far more than that. It gives us the opportunity now to be a part of a group of communities across the province to look at Mass Timber construction. We may not see it immediately, but it may be something we see a few years down the road.”

Mayor Hall added that he felt it was important that Prince George was among the municipalities signing onto the initiative.

The Province announced last year that it will provide opportunities to build taller buildings with engineered wood products ahead of the provincial adoption of the 2020 National Building Code. That code is targetted to contain provisions for the construction of mass timber buildings up to 12 storeys high from the current six.

“It gives options to builders and investors when they’re looking to do construction in Prince George.”

The Mayor also believes it could lead to a potential shift in the landscape for downtown.

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