For Immediate Release December 2, 2025 - BC Pulp and Paper Coalition says Crofton closure was avoidable Vancouver, BC.

BC Pulp and Paper Coalition says Crofton closure was avoidable Vancouver, BC. The BC Pulp and Paper Coalition calls the announcement of the permanent closure of Domtar’s Crofton pulp and paper mill “a catastrophic blow” to people on Vancouver Island, the provincial economy, and a cornerstone BC industry.

“My heart goes out to the hundreds of families who will lose their livelihood, including the employees at Crofton, numerous suppliers and supporting businesses in the Cowichan Valley,” says Joe Nemeth, General Manager of the BC Pulp and Paper Coalition. “Our Coalition, labour, suppliers, and other industry associations have warned the provincial government for more than two years that more pulp mill closures on the BC Coast are inevitable unless government changes the policies that are strangling the fibre supply needed by the industry.”

“The fibre supply problem has been our primary focus in our dealings with government,’ says Nemeth. “Yes, the Ministry of Forests has made some headway under existing policy to free up fire-damaged or waste fibre. But these moves have not been made fast enough or at a big enough scale to save Crofton and many of the sawmills that have closed this year.”

Nemeth adds that the Coalition, in cooperation with other industry associations including First Nations Forestry Council, COFI, TLA, ILMA, IWPA, Woodlots BC, NWLA, Wood Pellet Association along with the three major unions (PPWC, Unifor and USW), sent a letter to Forests Minister Parmar in November that outlined a new process to fast-track the cutting permit process for damaged timber stands.

“BC has over 200 million m3 of fire damaged timber alone, that is dead and rotting but could be used in many of our mills, like Crofton. That damaged timber represents over ten years of fibre supply for the entire BC pulp sector,” he says. “ We need to access this fibre now.”

“The fibre supply crisis is a made-in-BC problem,” says Nemeth. “This is not happening because of American trade tariffs. While the Premier’s January mandate letter to Minister Parmar charged him with delivering an annual harvest of 45 million cubic meters, the current trend shows that this year’s harvest in BC will be about 30 million cubic meters and continuing to decline.”

He adds that “if our fibre supply challenges are not dealt with immediately, BC will experience more mill closures, more job loss, and more pain for BC’s resource communities.”

The BC Pulp and Paper Coalition represents the 11 operations of Nanaimo Forest Products, Kruger Pulp, Mercer International, and Paper Excellence Canada that collectively represents thousands of family supporting jobs in forestry dependent communities.

Media Contact: Gary Ley, 604-787-5467, gary@glpa.ca