Welcome to 2026. We want to wish everyone the very best this year.
Starting off the year was welcomed with news of a reprieve on the U.S. tariffs on Canadian kitchen cabinets. This was definitely good news, albeit still not what we want, but at least not as bad as it could have been. There’s still much to do on this issue and CKCA had numerous meetings with government officials in November to raise awareness for our industry and explain our concerns.
We know that advocacy does not yield overnight results, this is a long game. But we took significant steps forward with the help of a delegation of CKCA members who took time from their busy schedules to meet with various government officials. In 2026 the work continues with follow up meetings, building more connections and working to ensure that policy makers understand how the decisions they make impact our industry. We strive to find solutions that work for everyone. It’s not easy, but it’s what we must do if we want to see positive change for our industry.
More good news came as we continued to finalize our Spring Regional Event taking place in Hamilton, Ontario May 12-14. We’ll be touring some amazing companies including Cabinet Solutions, Carver Cabinetry, Diamond CNC, Gravelle Woodworking, Mobel Cabinetry and ProPly – what a lineup and what a great group willing to open their doors to host a tour – a huge thank you! Be sure to mark your calendars and sign up early, this event will surely sell out.
At the end of 2025, CKCA celebrated another year of membership growth with now more than 260 members. We’ll continue to deliver value to our industry and keep growing our membership. The more voices we have, the stronger we are when we need to speak up and from 2025 and onwards, we have certainly needed to do that.
There have been many good things happening in spite of the bad news related to the U.S. tariff, the soft housing market, and the growing imports of cabinets into Canada. It is disappointing to see that the Federal Government’s announcement of 500,00 homes in Canada has dropped significantly. We know business has picked up for some parts of the country where members tell us they are extremely busy, but other areas have seen business drop 30-50 per cent, especially in multi-family and new home construction. The highs and lows are making it increasingly challenging even for our resilient industry that has seen these swings before. We were recently contacted by media at the National Post about how companies are budgeting and planning in this current environment. We reported that while we are an industry that has seen highs and lows before, the future is getting harder to predict and there are a lot of unknowns. I think all business has budgets and plans, but we know they may have to change quickly. Being nimble or agile has never been more important. Having a Plan A, B and C is now more essential than ever.
So while in 2025 we saw the good, the bad and the unknown, we enter 2026 with cautious optimism that a path forward will become clear and the housing markets across Canada have stable and sustainable growth.
CKCA wants to see our industry continue to thrive where less time is spent having to continually pivot to more time spent growing and evolving the business. If CKCA can help make that happen, even if it’s just in a small way, then we know with certainty that we’ve done a good thing.
