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Canadian Glulam Manufacturers:

Goodlam, Division of Goodfellow Inc.

Nordic Engineered Wood Products

Structurlam Wood Products Ltd.

Western Archrib

Art Massif Structure De Bois

Fraser Wood Industries Ltd.

Canadian CLT Manufacturers:

Nordic Engineered Wood Products

Structurlam Wood Products Ltd.

Element5

Kalesnikoff mass timber

The earliest PWF’s were constructed in the Prairies over 50 years ago and are still in use today. Click here for more information

The most current guidance related to the design, construction, and specification of PWFs is found in the 2014 edition of CSA S406 ‘Specification of permanent wood foundations for housing and small buildings’.

CWC also publishes ‘Permanent Wood Foundations’, which provides additional design guidance, selection tables, and construction details. Please note that this publication was produced in 1997 and conforms to CSA S406-92, which is not the most recent version of CSA S406. CWC will be releasing an updated version of ‘Permanent Wood Foundations’ in 2016. Please visit our webstore should you wish to purchase this or any other publications.

Wood Preservation Canada is a member of the Canadian Wood Council, and their staff is very knowledgeable on pressure treated wood products.

If your wood foundation has flooded, it is suggested to dry out the moist wood as quickly as possible and, if necessary, wash with soap and water (not bleach or oxidizing agents) to remove any sediment or fungi deposits.

If you are looking to quickly determine the amount of shrinkage occurring in your structure, Cecobois, a special project of the Canadian Wood Council has created an online tool for calculating the shrinkage of wood structures.

There are a number of resources pertaining to shrinkage and managing moisture of wood-frame buildings available on our website:

Moisture and Wood Frame Buildings

Managing Moisture and Wood

Vertical Movement in Wood Platform Frame Construction – Basics

Vertical Movement in Wood Platform Frame Construction – Movement Prediction

Vertical Movement in Wood Platform Frame Construction – Design and Detailing

Western Red Cedar, Eastern White Cedar, and Eastern Hemlock all fall under the Canadian wood species category known as Northern Species. The most up-to-date information available on the standard grading rules for Canadian lumber is available through the National Lumber Grades Authority. The NLGA publishes a document which is available for free download on their website. The free document provides a list of common species combinations with the individual species included in them on page 9.

For any inquiries related to importing Canadian wood products, you should contact Canada Wood, as they are the agency that is responsible for assisting international buyers and sellers of Canadian wood products.

The Canadian Wood Council does not provide engineering consulting services. If you are looking for engineers or contractors that specialize in wood design or construction, we suggest contacting a local Wood Works! Technical Advisor. From the WoodWorks website, select an appropriate region and go through the contact list until a technical advisor is found.

The Canadian Wood Council does not represent hardwood lumber manufacturers. Here are some resources that you may wish to contact for further assistance:

The Canadian Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association

National Wood Flooring Association

Canadian Hardwood Bureau

The Canadian Wood Council does not provide engineering consulting services. If you are looking for engineers or contractors that specialize in wood design or construction, we suggest contacting a local Wood Works! Technical Advisor. From the WoodWorks website, select an appropriate region and go through the contact list until a technical advisor is found.

I-joists, LVL, LSL, PSL are all proprietary engineered wood products. The design and installation of proprietary products are the responsibility of individual manufacturers, and they should be contacted for information on their products.

Please contact either the NLGA (National Lumber Grades Authority) or the CLSAB (Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board) for guidance on how to find a local lumber grading agency.

The NLGA Standard Grading Rules for Canadian Lumber incorporates the National Grading Rules for Dimension Lumber, a uniform set of grade descriptions and other requirements for softwood dimension lumber that form a required part of all softwood lumber grading rules in the United States. Thus, all dimension lumber throughout Canada and the United States is graded to uniform requirements. For engineering design in Canada, CSA O86 Engineering Design in Wood recognizes certain US species combinations as being equivalent to Canadian species combinations for the purposes of determining design values. As per Clause 6.2.1.3 and Table 6.2.1.3 of the CSA O86-14, US Douglas Fir-Larch is considered equivalent to Canadian Douglas Fir – Larch and US Hem-Fir is considered equivalent to Canadian Hem-Fir.