announced back in December 2025 that it would be laying off all of its 350 workers<\/a> and closing down for good.<\/p>\nThe Bridging Retirement program was created back in late 2019 by the Province of B.C. to help pay forestry workers and contractors a one-time sum of $75,000 as a way to help them transition into retirement.<\/p>\n
Watch below:<\/p>\n
In February of 2025, the province cancelled the program saying it was fully subscribed and was no longer taking any new applications.<\/p>\n
President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada union Geoff Dawe wants the province to reinstate the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows them to leave the industry that they\u2019ve probably spent anywhere between 25 to 35 years in. It let\u2019s them leave with some dignity and not be a burden on the system,\u201d said Dawe.<\/p>\n
Dawe says the union has been advocating to the province to keep the program going well before the announcement of the Crofton mill closure.<\/p>\n
The original program insured workers 55 and over would qualify for the $75,000. North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas says he not only wants the province to reinstate the program, but lower the age eligibility to 50 years old and over.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout half of the workers fall within that 50 to 65 age range. Once you get into your mid, late 50s early 60s, it\u2019s tough to go back to school or relocate your family,\u201d said Douglas.<\/p>\n
In a statement to CHEK News, B.C.\u2019s labour ministry did not commit to reinstating the Bridging to Retirement program, instead saying it was focused on retraining, job transition services, and broader forestry-sector investments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closure of the Domtar pulp mill in Crofton is a tough loss for workers, their families and the Cowichan Valley,\u201d said the ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is on individualized support, retraining opportunities, and helping workers pivot to in-demand jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, many of the mill\u2019s remaining workers will see their last day of work on Feb. 3.<\/p>\n
North Cowichan\u2019s mayor says he\u2019s hopeful a new owner will take over the site, and says he\u2019s taken several calls over the last few weeks from interested investors and individuals.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both the union representing Crofton mill workers, and the mayor of North Cowichan, are urging the province to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132,1062],"class_list":{"0":"post-393117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}