{"id":865623,"date":"2026-08-21T01:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T01:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/865623\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T01:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T01:22:10","slug":"b-c-s-howe-sound-pulp-and-paper-announces-mill-operations-stopping-indefinitely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/865623\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C.’s Howe Sound Pulp and Paper announces mill operations stopping indefinitely"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Domtar has announced what it describes as the “indefinite idling” of operations at the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper mill on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast.<\/p>\n

The announcement came during a town hall meeting for employees on Aug. 20 at the site in Port Mellon. <\/p>\n

Domtar, the company that owns the mill, said operations at the Bayview Fibre chipping facility will also be idled.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The announcement will affect approximately 400 employees, the company says.<\/p>\n

“We’re just kind of in shock,” said Andrew Appleton, a tugboat captain at the mill who has worked there for 22 years. <\/p>\n

“It’s something that, you know, I think we all thought that could happen down the road if things didn’t get better.” <\/p>\n

“None of us thought it would happen so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appleton was at work on Thursday and said everyone was calling their families and loved ones to share the news. He was told employees’ last day will be Oct. 19.<\/p>\n

“Everybody’s just kind of walking zombies right now at the mill, just trying to figure out what their next steps are,\u201d Appleton said. <\/p>\n

\"TheTugboat captain Andrew Appleton said there will be ‘no more pulp after 117 years’ at the mill that was built in 1909. (Andrew Appleton)<\/p>\n

Back in 2015, the mill closed part of its operations<\/a>, affecting up to 180 workers.<\/p>\n

Luc Th\u00e9riault, Domtar\u2019s president said “the business cannot overcome reduced demand from Asia, unprecedented and sustained poor pricing for pulp globally, and a decline in affordable domestic [fibre].”<\/p>\n

He said the business decision to indefinitely idle these facilities is the result of careful consideration and is not a reflection on employees. <\/p>\n

“The teams at Howe Sound and Bayview Fibre worked tirelessly to improve performance but current market conditions require this step,” Th\u00e9riault said.<\/p>\n

He added that he recognizes the hardship this decision will have on the employees of the facilities and the Sunshine Coast community as well as the coastal forest sector. <\/p>\n

“The business will monitor market conditions, domestic [fibre] availability and the overall business environment, and will evaluate future opportunities if conditions improve,\u201d Th\u00e9riault said. <\/p>\n

Appleton is not sure what he’s going to do for work, but considers himself one of the lucky ones.<\/p>\n

“I have my marine licence as the tug captain here, so I can hopefully get on to the ferries or something. I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Appleton said.<\/p>\n

One person just moved to the Sunshine Coast to work at the mill after being laid off from another mill closing on Vancouver Island, according to Appleton. <\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of people in my position that have been here a long time, and there’s also people that just moved here,” Appleton said.<\/p>\n

Domtar announced back in December that it was permanently ending operations at its Crofton mill<\/a>, affecting around 350 employees. <\/p>\n

Appleton said many of the businesses in the area work closely with the mill and will be impacted.<\/p>\n

“I just don’t know how people are going to continue to operate heavy equipment and everything while we’re thinking about this,” he said.<\/p>\n

Unifor National president Lana Payne said in a release that the “curtailment” of operations at Domtar’s Howe Sound pulp and paper mill is evidence of a deepening forestry sector crisis and demanded immediate action from the B.C. and federal governments. <\/p>\n

“Collapse of the forestry industry in the west, a core pillar of the economy, is just around the corner if governments don’t act now,” Payne said. <\/p>\n

She said the union is disappointed with the decision.<\/p>\n

“We are totally committed to working with the company and governments to find a solution,” Payne said.<\/p>\n

Province responds<\/p>\n

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said in a written statement that he empathized with all those affected by the decision.<\/p>\n

“We have been engaging with the company to better understand the full scope of the challenges it is facing,” Parmar said. “We are prepared to work through the cross-government working group to identify practical, long-term solutions.”<\/p>\n

He said the pulp sector is feeling the effects of changes in the global market, with prices approaching their lowest in 100 years, when adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n

“We will be reaching out to the Sunshine Coast community immediately, working with local leaders, labour representatives and workers to ensure people get the support they need, including income and mental-health supports, as they navigate this transition,” Parmar said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-865623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865623","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=865623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}