THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canfor Corporation says as many as 157 employees face layoffs in one northern B.C. town, but the company says itโs too early to estimate job losses in a second community as the forest products firm restructures its B.C. operations.
Canfor announced Wednesday it is permanently closing its sawmill and pellet plant in Chetwynd, west of Dawson Creek, and shuttering its sawmill in the Bulkley Valley town of Houston for an unspecified period while it builds a new facility there.
The Chetwynd closure is expected in April or May, and the announcement came just two days after the mill reopened following a holiday curtailment, but a company statement says Canfor is โcommitted to supporting displaced employees,โ and where possible, it says they will top the list for hiring at other mills.
The statement says โit is too early in the redevelopment planning process to fully understandโ how many of the 333 employees in Houston could be laid off as Canfor designs what it describes as a โglobally competitive manufacturing facilityโ producing โhigh-value products.โ
Canfor president Don Kayne has said the company is making โdifficult but necessary decisions to create a more sustainable operating footprintโ in B.C., and an email sent late Wednesday says the company will โexplore creative optionsโ to retain as many employees as possible.
Opposition Liberal forestry critic Mike Bernier, whose riding encompasses Chetwynd, said in a social media post that he is โdevastatedโ by the closure of the Chetwynd mill, which comes about a week after Canfor confirmed it would close the pulp line at its Prince George operation, costing 300 jobs by the end of this year.
A lack of available fibre for the mills is one reason for the restructuring and the company estimates the Chetwynd and Houston shutdowns will remove approximately 750 million board feet of annual production capacity, or the equivalent of enough lumber to build nearly 46,000 houses.
โOur goal is to match our mill capacity with the economically available fibre for harvest,โ Kayne said in his statement released Wednesday. โThis is what will ultimately create greater stability for our employees and communities.โ
Forests Minister Bruce Ralston issued a statement responding to the Canfor restructuring and saying the B.C. governmentโs immediate priority is to assist affected workers and provide community support teams.
The statement says the government welcomes Canforโs decision to build a new mill in Houston, producing higher-value products from a wood supply that has declined by more than 25% since 2008, in part due to wildfires and the end of the harvest of beetle-killed timber.