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Domtar says it is open to selling the Maniwaki, Que., sawmill it’s been temporarily closing and reopening since the end of 2024, leaving more than 100 workers in further limbo.
The company, which acquired the mill when it bought Resolute Forest Products in 2023, cited difficult market conditions and U.S. softwood lumber duties when announcing a closure in September 2025.
Domtar gave staff and elected officials an update at a meeting Tuesday night and later confirmed the company’s latest thinking to Radio-Canada.
“We don’t see recovery in the short, medium or long term,” said Guillaume Julien, Domtar’s eastern Canadian senior director of public affairs, in French.
“We think the best scenario would be to find a local owner.”
WATCH | Sadness in Maniwaki last September:
Maniwaki sawmill closure puts 130 jobs on the chopping block
The Domtar sawmill in Maniwaki is closing indefinitely after sweeping lumber tariffs from the U.S. put Canada’s industry at risk.
Part of the reason the sawmill would reopen was around its agreement with the province to purchase wood.
A worker union said those relatively short reopenings aren’t enough for workers.
Unifor Local 182 President Jessy Scott said it’s not clear what it will take to find a buyer.
“The guys are pretty down,” he said.
About 3,800 people lived in the western Quebec community as of the 2021 census.