Abig part of any conference involves networking and making new contacts. For this, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Sweden organized an exciting side event, along with tasty hors d’oeuvres, that was a draw for Europeans and Canadians interested in forming or expanding bioenergy partnerships in Canada. Representatives from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec provincial governments talked about incentives and opportunities. Rolf Fyne, director of business development in Europe for Invest British Columbia, kicked off the session by listing why British Columbia is a great place to invest in bioenergy. The province aims to become a leading supplier of renewable energy throughout its region and to the nearby United States and is creating a policy environment to foster that, he said. Incentives include an estimated availability of 500–700 million bone-dry tonnes of beetle-killed wood by 2013, and carbon tax and carbon trading schemes that make bioenergy more profitable. Funding for research and development and demonstration projects is available under the BC Bioenergy Strategy, for example, and from the BC Bioenergy Network, said Fyne. And BC Hydro is soliciting renewable energy providers. Supportive policies and legislation include the Clean Energy Act of June 3, 2010; changes to boiler staffing requirements; a new ASME certification equivalency process for acceptance of approved European boilers; and the establishment of BC Timber Sales, which Fyne said is giving inexpensive, three-year contracts to remove beetlekilled wood and revitalize the forest. The Ontarians came armed with a menu of six real bioenergy partnership opportunities from companies based in Ontario or with assets there. And “there are more where those came from,” said Douglas Clarke, business development consultant for the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in London, UK, and Stephen Roberts from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, and Forestry in Ontario. They also discussed ongoing and upcoming initiatives to stimulate forest bioenergy in Ontario, including the Green Energy Act, mandating an end to coal-fired electricity production by the end of 2014 and providing a feed-in tariff for renewable energy producers, as well as proposed forest tenure reform. Finally, Michel Lachance, director of industrial bioprocesses and bioproducts for Centre Québécois de Valorisation des Biotechnologies, described Quebec’s bioenergy goals and opportunities. The province aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020. This will be done partly by using the 6.4 million dry tonnes/year of available forest biomass, through programs that allocate residual forest biomass, support research and demonstration projects, and provide financial assistance for biomass heating to replace heavy oil consumption, for example.