Industry News News Mills Sawmilling
Canfor shuts 2 northern B.C. mills, blames industry challenges

Canfor Corporation has announced the closure of its Vanderhoof and Fort St. John sawmills in northern British Columbia, citing ongoing financial losses, weak lumber markets, and increased U.S. tariffs.

The closures will affect approximately 500 employees and reduce 670 million board feet of annual production capacity.

CEO Don Kayne emphasized the impact of regulatory complexity, high operating costs, and reduced timber supply on the decision, which marks a significant setback for the province’s forest industry.

“Our company has proudly operated in B.C. for more than 85 years, supporting jobs and economic activity in communities around this province. During that time, we have always been prepared to manage through challenging times and market fluctuations, recognizing the cyclical nature of our business,” Kayne said.

“However, in recent years, increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber to support our manufacturing facilities has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in our B.C. operations,” he added.

The company plans to wind down operations by the end of the year and explore divesting some northern B.C. tenure.

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