Hundreds of workers are facing an uncertain future after logging giant Canfor announced Wednesday it would close its sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year.
It’s the latest blow to the beleaguered B.C. forestry sector, which has seen a wave of mill closures over the last few years.
Last year, numbers from Statistics Canada showed B.C. had lost more than 40,000 forest-sector jobs since the early 1990s.
Canfor blamed the mill closures, which it says will affect around 500 employees, on “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.”
Daybreak North7:38Union head criticizes Canfor, government as 500 more mill jobs lost in northern B.C.
Around 500 employees are facing the news that the mills they work at in Fort St. John and Vanderhoof will be closed by year’s end, according to employer Canfor. Brian O’Rourke, president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, says the way the industry is run needs to fundamentally change.
The company also said recent “punitive” tariff hikes by the U.S. — which saw the country nearly double the duty on softwood lumber imported from Canada — meant carrying on would have put other Canfor operations at risk.
“We are devastated by the decline in our province’s foundational forest industry, and we recognize the impact these closures will have on our employees and their families, as well as our First Nations partners, contractors, suppliers, communities and customers,” Canfor CEO Don Kayne said in a statement.
“We are committed to supporting our employees and will work with our union partners on an employee transition plan, including severance.”
Canfor, a publicly traded company headquartered in B.C. with operations worldwide, has posted operating losses for the first and second quarters of 2024, and in 2023 posted a total operating loss of $532 million.
Kayne said the company had lost hundreds of millions of dollars in its B.C. operations in recent years.
“With the dramatic reduction in available timber supply, we will explore opportunities to divest some of our northern B.C. tenure, which may help support other B.C. forest companies facing the same significant challenges in accessing economic fibre,” he wrote.
Mayor, union president bemoan cuts
Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the city was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement.
“This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” she said in a statement.
Brian O’Rourke, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, B.C., said the job losses would hit hard in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John — communities of around 4,300 people and 21,000 people, respectively.
“In a lot of the smaller rural communities, it’s devastating because there are not really transferable jobs within the area,” he told CBC News.
O’Rourke pointed a finger for the continued mill closures at the provincial government, saying that logging was still a viable industry in B.C. even amid the continuing issue of access to economically usable wood.
“We had a forestry summit a number of months ago in Victoria where three of the largest unions — USW, PPWC and Unifor — came together, and we pointed out to the government all of the faults and things they needed to do,” the president said.
“And since that time, it’s been crickets. I have not had one call from any government officials, based on all the closures we’ve had since that point in time.”
The union president said mill operators that close mills should not be able to sell their logging tenures — agreements that dictate areas where companies can log trees.
“That is not their tenure. That is belonging to the residents of British Columbia,” he said. “[Government officials] need to do something about that. Enough is enough.”
Canfor has closed 10 of its 13 B.C. mills: union
In a written release, United Steelworkers director Scott Lunny called on the B.C. government to take a close look at the forest industry and the corporations who run it, pointing out that over the past decade Canfor had closed 10 of 13 mills it had in the province.
“If Canfor wants out of B.C., and it sure looks like it does, then we need to find someone who will provide high-paying, community-supporting jobs for the right to harvest the timber,” he said. “If Canfor won’t do it, find a company that will invest in B.C.”
The industry group B.C. Council of Forest Industries, of which Canfor is a member, also called on the provincial and federal governments to come up with a plan to help stabilize the forest industry in the face of U.S. tariffs.
“Without decisive intervention, the viability of this foundational industry is at risk,” said council president Linda Coady.
In a statement, B.C. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the province was taking action to ensure there was a sustainable fibre supply for the forestry industry in B.C. following wildfires and a mountain pine beetle infestation that affected supplies.
The minister pointed to programs like the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund as ways the government is encouraging local forestry operations.
“The U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to increase punishing softwood lumber duties, on top of low prices for lumber, is hurting forestry communities,” Ralston said. “We will continue to fight unfair duties and stand up for forestry workers.”