Canadian wood products present a problem when it comes to improving their properties through chemical treatment. Most Canadian wood species have heartwood that, after kiln drying is relatively impermeable to pressure treatment with aqueous solutions. One means to rectify this problem may be the use of different drying regimes. This project was designed to evaluate the effect of seven different drying regimes on the permeability of the heartwoods of five BC wood species. This report covers Phase I, research on lodgepole pine and white spruce. Lumber from these species was pre-sorted for permeability and moisture content and matched groups of 60 boards were subjected to one of seven drying regimes. These were, air drying, dehumidification, conventional kiln drying, steam plus conventional, high temperature, radio frequency/vacuum and superheated steam /vacuum drying. Each group was then separated into two sub-groups of 30 boards. One sub-group was pressure treated with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) and the other was pressure treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Each board was weighed before and after treatment to determine solution uptake. The DOT-treated material was sampled for solution penetration and chemical analysis immediately after treatment. The CCA-treated material was sampled after preservative fixation. The data from Phase I have not yet been statistically analysed. This will be done early in year two.