Excitement is building for DEMO International 2024, a much-anticipated industry event which will feature three days of live demonstrations of forest equipment working in a commercial logging environment.

Organized by the Canadian Woodlands Forum and hosted by SBC Cedar, the dates for DEMO, which is one of North America’s largest in-woods, in-action equipment shows serving the forestry sector, are from September 19 to 21.

Typically held every four years, the Quebec side of the Ottawa Valley location of this year’s DEMO represents a return to Canada’s forest industry roots, and is being greeted with great enthusiasm. The event four years ago was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. So it’s been eight years since the last DEMO, and needless to say, forestry equipment has experienced significant technological changes since that time in the areas of telematics, onboard computer monitoring of production per shift and fuel consumption, maintenance scheduling and general cab ergonomics.

So, there are plenty of good reasons why a logging company owner, with perhaps a few of their operators and head mechanic, would greatly benefit from attending this unique event. In addition to asking questions and actually sitting in the equipment, they can also watch a lot of iron in action in a typical commercial logging setting.

Over 30 exhibitors will hold live equipment demonstrations at different locations along the over 3.2 km exhibition loop at DEMO. The show will also feature over 100 additional exhibitors, many of whom support the logging sector with products and services.

The site itself has a highly diverse mix of common Central and Eastern Canadian conifers and hardwoods, being part of the Great Lakes Forest region.

“The basic motivation behind DEMO, CWF’s flagship event, is to provide members of the forestry sector, from contractors, woodlands personnel, forest product companies, government representatives and academia, with the opportunity to come together and really view the latest technologies and innovations in the sector,” says Peter Robichaud, former Executive Director and now Project Coordinator with the CWF. “It is all about innovation. Equipment used in the forestry sector has really evolved since the late 1960’s.”

Organizers anticipate that there will be 8,000 to 10,000 visitors at the show, which will feature hundreds of pieces of equipment working and on display.

Participants can expect to see live harvesting, processing, skidding, and forwarding from a variety of well-known and new equipment suppliers. There will also be mulching, chipping and grinding demonstrations as well as small-scale sawmilling and firewood production.

“We are witnessing considerable interest from some of the smaller scale equipment manufacturers, which typically serve the private woodlot sector located primarily in Eastern Canada,” says Robichaud. “And we also have had considerable interest from companies serving the biomass sector. We will have the leading manufacturers of chippers, grinders, and mulching heads present and giving live demonstrations.”

The shift to smaller scale equipment could be a reflection of shifting logging practices in some areas of the country where more pre-commercial and commercial thinning, as well as selective logging, are being encouraged. Also, loggers may be looking at equipment options that are less capital intensive.

New equipment exhibitors will earn a significant benefit from participating in DEMO as well. Some will likely be investigating and open to talking about setting up dealership networks for their products in North America.

This is the 14th DEMO International and Robichaud says that it has become recognized as one of North America’s largest in-woods, in-action equipment shows serving the forestry sector.

Once DEMO dates were announced, equipment suppliers signed up quickly and within three weeks of online registrations opening, participant pre-registration for the event was four to five times what it was for past shows.

Registered participants are being encouraged to drive to the DEMO International site from Ottawa or elsewhere as there is plenty of parking available or they can take a pre-arranged shuttle from one of the designated pick-up points in Ottawa.

Robichaud emphasizes that the DEMO International program is about a lot more than just equipment. It also has a focus on forest management. That is reflected in the pre-DEMO International conference being held at the Delta Ottawa City Centre on September 17th and 18th.

The theme is “Adapting to New Forestry: Unlocking Innovative Solutions”. CWF is hosting this two-day conference in collaboration with the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, FPInnovations, and Université Laval. It is designed for industry professionals, forestry contractors, researchers, and stakeholders passionate about forestry innovation and sustainable practices.

It will feature expert-led sessions, cutting-edge research presentations, and interactive discussions on the latest advancements in forestry technology and management. General themes will include such topics as digitalization, forest management practices, automation, artificial intelligence, climate change, workforce growth and challenges, and forestry in Finland.

One of the advantages of DEMO being held near the nation’s capital is that CWF hopes to attract participation from a number of government leaders to raise awareness about the forestry sector. There is a VIP program planned expressly for this purpose at the event opening on Thursday.

DEMO also has an educational component, hoping to plant the seed for the next generation of forest industry workers and forest managers. Table Forêt Laurentides and Enviro Éduc-Action will welcome high school students from the Laurentides and Outaouais to the DEMO site. This educational activity aims to introduce them to a range of captivating and accessible professions, while awakening them to eco-responsible forestry behaviors, in particular sustainable forest management. Up to 300 students will travel the exhibitor loop, gaining valuable first-hand experience of advanced forest equipment in action.

There will also be some friendly competition with the DEMO log loader competition presented by Barko loaders.

When participants in DEMO International 2024 step out of their vehicles at the exhibit site in the Venosta, Quebec region 45 minutes north of Ottawa along the Gatineau River, they will be stepping into history, walking the same paths as their Canadian forest industry ancestors.

The SBC Cedar site is a private woodlot where the foundation of an old homestead is still evident, speaking to the site’s history.

This area in Quebec, which is tied geographically to the entire Ottawa Valley, is the birthplace of a seminal transition in Canada from the fur trade to the timber trade.

White pine and oak harvested from the region was used to build ships for the much-vaunted British navy, helping them defeat the French Emperor Napoleon. The jobs created by the booming forest industry there would fuel Canada’s first immigration wave and clear land to make way for the establishment of farms. Later, with the transition from timbers to sawn lumber, it would not only provide the building materials for housing for new arrivals, but the lumber would also be shipped to places like New York, Boston and throughout the American Northeast.

The region is blessed with the highest quality White pine, Red pine and hardwoods in North America, according to historians. But back when the industry began, it also boasted an exceptional natural water transportation system consisting of the Ottawa River and its tributaries, which includes the Gatineau River. The Ottawa River feeds into the St. Lawrence, providing access to commercial centres like Montreal and Quebec.

Entrepreneur Philemon Wright, the founder of Gatineau, Quebec, formerly known as Hull, and described as the ‘Father of the Ottawa Valley Logging Industry’, was the first to prove this water transportation system in 1806. Timber merchants had established themselves in Quebec City, but the question was how to transport logs and squared timbers there from further upstream.

Wright was the first to establish a large raft at the mouth of the Gatineau River loaded with freshly-squared timbers, intending to transport them 300 kms to Quebec City to fulfill a contract. After a lot of backbreaking work and negotiating around several large rapids, he and his crew finally arrived—too late to fulfill their contract, but finding plenty of buyers because of the trade embargo Napoleon had set between the British and their usual Baltic timber suppliers.

The rest is literally history, as this ushered in the ‘timbering’ era where the new occupation of the log driver was invented, responsible for breaking log jams from the tributaries to where transportation rafts were established on the Gatineau River.

The industry proved highly lucrative for a variety of domestic and international lumber barons as well as for local farmers who supplemented their income working in the timber industry either as fallers, log drivers, or timber squarers, as well as everything else, to maintain the massive logging camps that sprung up everywhere.

To avoid the river rapids, log chutes skirting the rapids were established and this also led to the construction of a large canal system, including the Rideau Canal that runs through Ottawa, to transport all sorts of goods but mainly timber to market.

Eventually the squared timber industry and British demand gave way to more sawn lumber and markets closer to home between 1850 and 1900. Capital investment poured into the development of sawmills, and the river and canal transportation system was supplemented and then superseded by railways and roads.

In 1871, the lumber industry was running at full capacity with six large sawmills in what was known as the Chaudiere district in the vicinity of Ottawa-Gatineau—and definitely in the area where DEMO International 2024 will be held.

At its peak, they produced 30 million board feet of lumber annually and later there was the development of both a pulp and paper as well as a newsprint industry, particularly in places like Gatineau, which is situated across the river from Ottawa. For decades, the E.B. Eddy pulp mill was a mainstay of the view across the river.

What also helped with the development of the forest industry overall was steam power and hydroelectric energy to improve efficiency and output.

But without a reforestation plan, the industry began to falter from a lack of timber—something that workers in the 19th century thought would never happen because of the abundance of wood fibre in the region.

Today, through a combination of natural regeneration and silviculture, the area once again supports a variety of thriving wood product industries like SBC Cedar, and a number of area organizations have shown an eagerness to participate in DEMO International to remind and inform participants about the region’s historical significance as it relates to the forest sector.

Logging and forest management have come a long way over the past 225 years in Canada—and DEMO International is a good yardstick to use to understand where we are now, showcasing the latest technologies, products and services.