The forest products sector was clearly hit hard by the 2008-09 recession and the collapse of the U. S. housing market in 2006-2009, which is reflected in the weaker growth after 2004. [...] The two main objectives of the report are: 1) to deepen our understanding of productivity developments in Ontario’s forest products sector since 2000 and the factors explaining these developments; and 2) to identify possible policies and actions for both the public and private sector to improve the province’s 2. This report was written by Evan Capeluck and Jasmin Thomas under the supervision of An [...] In sum, the period since the mid-2000s has been the most difficult in the forest products sector’s recent history in Ontario. [...] Similar to the aforementioned narrative, in an overview of Ontario’s forest products sector, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (2012) found that the following factors contributed to the downturn in the sector: 1) the higher value of the Canadian dollar; 2) access restrictions to the U. S. market under the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement; 3) the U. S. housing crisis; 4) expansion of digital [...] As such, maintaining the health of the Ontario forest products sector through strong productivity growth is crucial to maintaining the health of the Canadian forest products sector as a whole.