Canada: Stewarding Public Forests for People, Planet, and Prosperity
A Strategic Pillar in Global EI Trust’s Vision for Regenerative Asset Management
As a modern natural assets and resource investment firm, Global EI Trust views Canada not only as a vital market but as a foundational partner in our commitment to responsible land stewardship, environmental sustainability, and inclusive economic development. While the company was officially launched in 2025, our strategy is built on generations of forestry science, community experience, and evolving climate resilience practices.
Canada’s forests, vast, diverse, and globally significant, are managed primarily by provincial governments, but operated in partnership with licensed entities. As a trusted licensee in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Luxembourg, Global EI Trust is proud to be a new generation forest manager with long-term ambitions and strong community roots.
Our Operations: A Diversity of Forest Ecosystems Across Four Provinces
We operate across millions of acres of Canada’s boreal and temperate forests, under long-term license agreements. These forests are publicly owned and represent one of the most complex and valuable natural ecosystems on Earth. Our licensed operations support both commercial production and ecological integrity, ensuring Canada’s forests continue to thrive under changing environmental and social conditions.
Forest Zones We Manage Include:
Boreal Forests in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Northern Ontario, dominated by coniferous species such as white spruce, black spruce, balsam fir, and lodgepole pine, with interspersed aspen and tamarack.
Interior and Lower-Elevation Forests in British Columbia and Ontario — home to Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, jack pine, and fire-succession species adapted to dynamic climatic and disturbance regimes.
Mixed-use landscapes that include wetlands, rocky outcrops, and culturally significant areas, essential for biodiversity, carbon cycling, and Indigenous cultural practices.
Long-Term License Agreements & Strategic Forest Planning
Global EI Trust is granted timber rights and forest management responsibilities. These licenses are contingent on:
Submission of government-approved long-term forest management plans
Regular renewal processes (typically every 5 to 10 years)
Compliance with legal frameworks, including Indigenous consultation, biodiversity protection, and public transparency
We work in full partnership with provincial forest ministries and Indigenous governments to ensure sustainable harvest levels, climate-smart planning, and socially equitable outcomes.
🌐 Principles of Forest Management at Global EI Trust
Our forest strategy in Canada reflects our global mission: to regenerate, protect, and responsibly monetize natural systems for future generations. In Canada, this means adhering to four foundational principles:
Ecological Resilience
We practice ecologically based forest management that preserves forest ecosystems within their natural variability, supports regeneration, and protects against disturbances such as fire and pests.Social and Cultural Responsibility
We respect the cultural, legal, and spiritual importance of forests for Indigenous and local communities, incorporating traditional knowledge into our planning processes.Operational Excellence and Innovation
We invest in cutting-edge forestry technology, remote sensing, fire modeling, and ecological restoration tools to ensure forests remain productive and biodiverse under climate change.Collaborative Land Use
We build cross-sector partnerships, with energy firms, conservation groups, Indigenous governments, and tourism operators, to co-design forest strategies that reflect shared stewardship and long-term land health.
🛡️ Environmental Stewardship: Managing for Nature’s Full Value
Every forest plan we produce accounts for multiple forest values — beyond timber. Our strategies actively protect:
Critical species habitats (e.g., woodland caribou, grizzly bear, barred owl)
Hydrological systems and watersheds
Old-growth areas, wetlands, and non-commercial forest zones
Carbon storage potential and biodiversity indicators
We also develop targeted management responses to climate threats, including:
Beetle infestations: Prioritizing harvest in infected lodgepole pine forests to reduce fuel loads and protect surrounding stands.
Wildfire risk: Integrating fuel load management and prescribed burns into planning processes in partnership with fire authorities and First Nations fire crews.
Disease and drought resilience: Using adaptive silviculture and new tree genotypes to build more climate-resistant forest stands.
Partnering with Indigenous Nations: A Cornerstone of Our Canadian Model
We recognize that Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of Canada’s forests, and that our long-term success depends on trust-based, mutually beneficial relationships. Our Indigenous engagement strategy supports:
🔹 Respect for Indigenous Rights and Protocols
We align with the Duty to Consult and Accommodate outlined by federal and provincial governments, while going beyond compliance to build proactive, respectful partnerships.
🔹 Economic Participation and Business Development
We seek out and invest in:
Joint ventures and contracts with Indigenous-owned businesses
Workforce development and training programs
Shared governance models for forest planning and cultural land use mapping
🔹 Employment and Inclusion
We aim to:
Reflect the demographics of local communities in our workforce
Provide career-path jobs and internships for Indigenous youth
Recognize traditional ecological knowledge as a formal input into management practices
Education, Training & Youth Empowerment
We are proud supporters of the Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP) — a national initiative that provides Indigenous youth with job readiness, environmental education, and hands-on forestry experience. We currently support OYEP programs in Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia, with plans to support new program development in Saskatchewan.
We also sponsor:
Scholarships for Indigenous students pursuing natural resource studies
Forestry and biodiversity field days for high schools near our operations
Cultural exchange events that build relationships between staff and Indigenous communities
A Framework for Inclusive Resource Management
Our Indigenous partnership framework is grounded in these values:
Integrity: We act with transparency and mutual respect.
Value Delivery: We structure partnerships that deliver economic value to Indigenous Nations and our shareholders.
Inclusion: We welcome Indigenous leadership, voices, and traditional land knowledge into our business model.
Long-Term Commitment: We prioritize continuity and relationship-building over transactional engagements.
Our objective is to embed Indigenous partnership at every level of our operations — from forest inventory to capital planning to impact reporting.
Connected to the Broader Sector
As members of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and provincial forestry associations, we:
Help shape sustainable forest policy
Support biodiversity initiatives
Collaborate with conservation organizations and research institutions
Represent the next generation of forest sector leadership
The Road Ahead: Scaling Regeneration Across Canada’s Forests
As we expand our Canadian footprint, we are focused on:
Launching carbon offset and biodiversity credit projects across licensed forests.
Partnering with provinces and Indigenous Nations on nature-based climate solutions.
Investing in next-generation forest fire resilience and restoration tools.
Building a workforce that reflects the diverse communities of the Canadian North and heartland.
Global EI Trust in Canada
Investing in Forests. Empowering Communities. Restoring Ecosystems.