Black Spruce

MORE CANADIAN THAN MAPLE SYRUP

A Resilient, Climate-Critical Forest Resource

Get to know Black Spruce.

Over 80% of the black spruce range is in Canada.

Its cones release seeds after fires, making black spruce a key post-fire pioneer.

Black spruce thrives where other trees can’t — in very cold or wet conditions.

Its low branches can root in soil, enabling new growth and regeneration.

Black spruce holds North America’s largest living biogenic carbon store, helping mitigate climate change.

Black spruce peatlands store more CO₂ than Canada’s oil reserves, making them crucial for carbon sequestration.

Black Spruce

LIGHT, STRAIGHT, STRONG

Black spruce is the perfect wood for cross laminated timber and glue-laminated timber, where stability, stiffness and weight are all key considerations.

Canada’s Boreal Forest contains 210 billion trees. About 70% are black spruce – an extraordinary tree that thrives in the northern swamp and rock of the Canadian Shield.

Due to the short growing season of the Boreal Forest, black spruce grows slowly, resulting in dense growth rings which give this species a high strength to weight ratio. It is the perfect wood for cross-laminated and glue-laminated timber, where strength, stability and weight are key considerations.

Case Studies Technical Guides

Cross section of a black spruce log with bark, cambium, sapwood, heartwood and pith labelled