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A list of forestry events cancelled so far in North America due to coronavirus [UPDATED]

Several forestry and pulp and paper events in North America have been postponed, cancelled or modified in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).

Here’s a list of affected events (as of April 16, 11:45 a.m. EDT):

CANADA

• Montreal Wood Convention: The 2020 Montreal Wood Convention, set to take place on March 24-26, has been deferred to 2021.
• COFI 2020: Western Canada’s largest forest industry gathering, the BC Council of Forest Industries’ 2020 convention on April 1-3 has been cancelled.
• Ontario Professional Foresters Association Conference and AGM: The 2020 conference and AGM, April 7-9, has been postponed with new dates to be announced.
• FPInnovations Applied Tissue Course: FPInnovations has rescheduled its May 12-13 intensive course on tissuemaking to October 27-28.
• PACWEST 2020: The IBMP has cancelled this year’s conference, which was set for May 27-30 in Jasper, Alberta. PACWEST will reconvene June 2-5, 2021 in Whistler, B.C.
• The 32nd International Mechanical Pulping Conference: The University of British Columbia was set to host this event June 7-10, 2020, but it has been postponed to 2021, with new dates yet to be announced.
• Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition: Canada’s largest and longest-running conference on the bioeconomy, which was set to run June 9-11 in Prince George, B.C., has been cancelled for 2020. The event will return June 22-24, 2021.
• International Pulp Week 2020: The Pulp and Paper Products Council cancelled this year’s event, scheduled for June 14-16 in Vancouver.

UNITED STATES

• Tissue World Miami: The 2020 conference has been rescheduled to November 11-13, 2020 after having been postponed just days before it was to begin earlier this month in Miami, Florida.
• Paper2020: This event, hosted by the American Forest & Paper Association and the National Paper Trade Association, was slated for March 15-17 in New York City and has since been cancelled.
• International Mass Timber Conference: The March 24-26 event has been cancelled and the organizing team is evaluating next steps.
• World of Wood Convention: For the first time, the 2020 World of Wood Convention will be held as the Virtual World of Wood Convention from April 1-3.
• BLRBAC Spring Meeting: The Black Liquor Recovery Boiler Advisory Committee cancelled its spring meeting scheduled for April 6-8.
• International Flexible Packaging and Extrusion Division Conference: The April 19-22 event hosted by the Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry (TAPPI) was to be held in San Diego and is postponed until further notice.
• PaperCon 2020: TAPPI has postponed the PaperCon 2020 conference, and the new dates are April 25-28, 2021.

This is a working list and will be frequently updated. If you know of a postponed or cancelled conference not listed, please reach out to let us know.

–With files from Maria Church, editor of Canadian Forest Industries/Wood Business