DISAPPEARING BC MILLS

 

The Mills That Disappeared

British Columbia in Transition—But Transitioning Into What?

Another 400 forestry workers are facing the loss of their jobs as the Howe Sound pulp mill at Port Mellon prepares to shut down indefinitely.

It is only the latest closure in a much larger story that has unfolded across British Columbia in a remarkably short time.

The Simple Version

The BC Council of Forest Industries says:

• At least 21 B.C. lumber mills have closed permanently or indefinitely since 2023.
• More than 15,000 forestry jobs have disappeared since 2022.
• Additional pulp mills, paper operations, pellet plants and production lines have also closed or been curtailed.

The 15,000 jobs were not all workers standing inside those 21 lumber mills. The number includes jobs lost across the larger forest economy—logging, trucking, contracting, manufacturing, pulp and paper, maintenance and supporting businesses.

That distinction matters, but it does not make the loss smaller.

When a mill closes, the damage spreads beyond its gates. Workers lose wages. Contractors lose customers. Local stores lose spending. Governments lose income tax, property tax, stumpage and other revenue. Families may have to leave the community to find comparable employment.

One closed sawmill can also weaken other operations. Sawmill chips and residual wood feed pulp mills and pellet plants. When the sawmill disappears, those operations lose an affordable source of fibre—and another closure becomes more likely.

These are not simply old buildings going dark. British Columbia is losing machinery, productive capacity, skilled workers and generations of industrial knowledge.

The first question is no longer whether B.C.’s forest economy is shrinking. It clearly is.

The question is: what has the disappearance of these mills, workers and wages cost the rest of British Columbia?

That is the subject of Part 2.

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Sources: BC Council of Forest Industries and Domtar’s Howe Sound announcement.