Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) Program

Open

Created in 2017, the Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) program encourages the deployment of Modern Methods of Construction using advanced wood-based building products, systems, and technologies—such as volumetric modular and prefabricated structural components. To support the Government of Canada’s efforts to address the housing crisis, the program funds projects that demonstrate scalable and replicable solutions to accelerate housing construction and mainstream wood in design and construction. GCWood also supports projects that showcase applications for innovative wood-based products in community infrastructure and other non-traditional wood structures, including industrial and commercial buildings.

Objectives

GCWood will fund wood construction demonstration projects for multi-unit residential buildings (MURB) that encourage the use of advanced wood-based building solutions. These projects will generate many benefits, including:

  • Accelerating the adoption of innovative building technologies and systems
  • Supporting building code updates to enable taller, larger wood buildings with higher occupancies
  • Increasing the speed and capacity of housing construction through Modern Methods of Construction using wood-based products and systems.
  • Expanding the use of domestic wood-based products
  • Reducing GHG emissions by leveraging renewable and sustainable resources that contribute to decarbonizing the built environment

Funding

Demonstration project stream

Open

Support for MURB demonstration projects that use advanced wood-based solutions in design and construction

Background

Since its creation in 2017, GCWood has successfully funded the design and construction of 31 demonstration projects to de-risk and support the greater adoption and commercialization of advanced wood-based products and building technologies. As of January 2026, the program has funded:

  • 10 residential projects
  • 3 bridges
  • 6 schools and academic buildings
  • 5 office buildings
  • 2 industrial buildings
  • 5 mixed-use buildings

The program also produced the 2021 State of Mass Timber in Canada report and an interactive map to record, review, and analyze the rise of mass timber construction in Canada. Applicants are encouraged to review the report and interactive map to see the progress Canada has made in mass timber production, design and building, and the potential for ongoing leadership in this area.

One of the objectives of the GCWood program is to fund projects that demonstrate replicable and scalable solutions that encourage the adoption of advanced wood-based solutions in the construction and building sector. To this end, the program engaged Scius Advisory, a Canadian research and consulting firm in the construction sector, to analyze the replicability of projects and technologies funded through the program. The Replicability of GCWood Program Projects report evaluated the innovations funded by the program based on their technical feasibility, market uptake potential, and knowledge transferability. It found that an estimated 65% can be ranked as “highly replicable,” and eight of the technologies are the first of their kind in Canada.

Contact us

Email gcwood-cvbois@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca for more information or to join our mailing list to receive program updates, webinar dates, and registration details.

For more information on other measures available to support the forestry sector and its workers or for guidance in navigating the multiple funding opportunities, please visit Support for forest sector employers and workers.

News releases

 
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