One of Canada’s largest lumber producers is moving most of its corporate and administrative operations from British Columbia to the southern United States as the forestry industry struggles with tariffs, high costs and declining timber supplies.

Interfor Corp. told employees through an internal memo that most executive and corporate support functions now based at its Burnaby head office will be transferred to the company’s existing office in Peachtree City, Ga., near Atlanta.

The company has operated from British Columbia for about six decades, but a growing share of its production and workforce is now located in the United States.

Interfor produces about 62 per cent of its lumber in the United States, including at mills across the U.S. South and Pacific Northwest. About one-quarter of its lumber is produced in Canada and exported to the American market.

Its Peachtree City office already provides sales and logistics services for lumber produced in Ontario, New Brunswick and the U.S. South. The Georgia office also supports Interfor’s engineered wood products business.

The relocation is expected to include executive, financial, administrative and other back-office positions. Interfor will continue operating sawmills in British Columbia, including facilities in Grand Forks and Castlegar.

Interfor employed about 790 people in its B.C. logging, manufacturing and corporate operations at the beginning of 2026. By comparison, the company employed about 2,200 people at its U.S. mills, remanufacturing operations and Georgia corporate office.

The move comes as Canadian softwood lumber exporters face combined U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties of about 35 per cent.

The U.S. Department of Commerce indicated in April that those duties could decline to approximately 24.8 per cent following its latest administrative review. The proposed rate includes a 10.66-per-cent anti-dumping duty and a 14.17-per-cent countervailing duty.

Canadian producers have argued for years that the duties are unjustified. American lumber producers maintain Canadian timber pricing and provincial forestry systems unfairly subsidize Canadian companies.

British Columbia producers also face some of the highest operating costs in North America. Industry representatives have pointed to delays in harvesting approvals, regulatory requirements, rising manufacturing costs and difficulty obtaining an affordable and predictable supply of logs.

The BC Council of Forest Industries said trade uncertainty is adding pressure, but warned the province’s problems cannot be blamed entirely on the softwood lumber dispute.

The council has called on the provincial government to speed up cutting permits and road approvals, improve access to timber and address administrative and regulatory costs faced by mills.

B.C.’s available timber supply has declined because of wildfires, mountain pine beetle damage, conservation decisions and the completion of salvage logging in beetle-affected forests. The reduced supply has contributed to permanent closures, indefinite curtailments and production reductions at sawmills and pulp mills across the province.

The relocation does not mean Interfor is leaving Canada entirely. The company continues to operate facilities in British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick and maintains approximately 4.4 billion board feet of annual lumber production capacity across North America.

However, moving its primary executive and support functions to Georgia places Interfor’s corporate decision-makers closer to the region where most of the company’s lumber is now produced.

The shift also adds to concerns that investment, senior management positions and forestry employment will continue moving out of British Columbia unless the province can improve timber availability and reduce the cost of operating mills.