Element5’s New CLT Plant in St. Thomas Ontario Canada Nearing Completion

St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, is about to become home of Element5 Company’s new $50 million cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing plant. The first CLT plant built in Canada that is not located in either Quebec or British Columbia. The plant is expected to have all of its certification approvals in place to start commercial production by year’s end or in the first quarter of 2021. According to Patrick Chouinard, Element5’s CEO and founder, the plant will have the capacity to annually produce enough mass timber for the equivalent of about eight buildings the size of Brock Commons, the 18-story mass timber/hybrid student housing complex at UBC in Vancouver. Chouinard explained the choice of St. Thomas saying, “We believe southern Ontario will become a center for the mass timber industry, at least in the whole eastern half of North America.” Adding that the plant will make mass timber cost competitive in southern Ontario, with both the wood sourcing and materials supply available within the province.