Russians Find Lots to Learn in PG

By 250 News

A group from ILM Pulp, Russia’s largest forest-products company, was in town July 23^rd-28^th to learn about timber-frame housing. The visitors cancelled plans to visit Toronto and Calgary, so they could spend the whole time learning in Prince George, says Charles Scott, manager of Export North.

Timber-frame housing is not a method Russians are familiar with, says Scott, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting the construction of large numbers of wood-frame housing units, with some developments planned to have 10,000 or more units. One southern relocation initiative alone is expected to need 1.2 million houses.

Russia has also recently adopted a slightly modified version of the Canadian Building Code. “This means we can bring over Canadian home designs with no modifications,” says Scott.

To meet the housing demand, Russia will have to quickly educate huge numbers of tradesmen and professionals. The Russians spent time at CNC and learned about their training process by visiting the College’s carpentry and lumber manufacturing programs, as well as the new Brink Building that houses trades programs.

CNC already has strong links in Russia, says Scott. “CNC has been working with Russia for more than eight years.”

While in Prince George the visitors followed the building process from standing tree to completed house, and visited building sites, sawmills, equipment suppliers, and local companies such as Wolftek Industries, Sinclar Enterprises, Winton Global, and Remax Realty.

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