Quebec’s Chantier Chibougamau is seeking to become the IKEA of construction with exports of its wood products. While demand for wood in commercial construction projects has been lukewarm in its home province, the firm has landed contracts in Ontario, the United States, and France, including a parking complex in Dijon. French wood construction specialist Forestarius built the 565-spot tiered carpark with wood from Chibougamau.
“We assemble the structure like you would assemble an IKEA shelf in the kitchen,” Forestarius president Thierry Coursin told Le Journal de Montréal. “The quality of the wood worked at Chibougamau, we don’t have in France. The wood we import has a density that allows for more solid construction.” Still, Frédéric Verreault, Chibougamau’s director of business development, would like to see the eco-friendly medium used for more public works in Quebec. “No one is a prophet in his own country,” he said.
