The forest management regime of Alberta, Canada, was reviewed in light of the three pillars of sustainable forest management: economic, social, and environmental values of forests. It was found that as long as the provincial policy is inclined to the pursuit of economic benefits derived from the short-term resource development in the boreal forests, it would be difficult to either maintain or enhance the social and environmental values of the forests at the same time. The boreal forests provide resources for timber production, oil and gas development, and a quality of life for forest-dependent community members including Aboriginal peoples. This leads to the need for integrated resource management (IRM) through public participation, which takes into consideration all stakeholders’ benefits in the region and ecosystem protection. In addition, a comparison was made between zoning and the management regime based on the principles of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), both of which are applications of IRM. As a result, differences were found in terms of achieving a balance between the three forest values. It was also found that planning IRM needs transparent and participatory decision-making processes, which enables all stakeholders not only to claim their benefits, but also to discuss how to achieve a balance between three forest values.