UPDATE: Canfor announces Fort St. John Sawmill to close by year-end, affecting 220 jobs

UPDATE 5:30 p.m. September 4th: This article has been updated to include additional information from a Canfor press release.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Canfor announced to Fort St. John employees on Wednesday, September 4th, that it plans to close its sawmill in the city.

According to a copy of a document about the closure shared with Energeticcity.ca by an employee, the Fort St. John sawmill will “go through a systematic, orderly wind-down process” and close operations by the end of the year.

The document cites “high costs, operating complexity, and the persistent challenge [of] accessing enough economic fibre” leading to millions of dollars in losses as the reason for the closure.

“With continued weak lumber markets and increases in the U.S. countervail and anti-dumping duties announced last month – duties that are expected to more than double again next year – we simply can’t continue to sustain losses of this magnitude,” it reads.

Canfor reportedly expects the direct job loss in Fort St. John to be approximately 220 people, including salaried and hourly workers, pellet plant employees, and a portion of its regional staff.

“In the days ahead, we will work with our union partners to establish transition offices at Fort St. John, and we’ll work together on a comprehensive employee adjustment plan, including severance, transition services, and other supports negotiated through our adjustment agreement.”

The document says the exact date when employment will end will vary based on operational requirements at the facility.

Employees losing their jobs will be entitled to a severance package worth ten days of pay for each year of continuous service, plus additional increments of pay for “partial years” of employment.

Meanwhile, workers who transfer to another division of Canfor due to the closure will be entitled to seven days’ worth of severance pay for every year of continuous service with the company.

Employees are being told to expect an estimate of their total severance amount in the coming weeks. After that, they’ll receive a form they can fill out to either have the money sent to their RRSP or to receive it like normal pay.

“In order to receive severance, employees must work through to their last scheduled day,” the document reads.

Canfor says it will negotiate benefit extensions with the employees’ union. 

Still, benefits like long-term disability and life and accident insurance coverage will end on the last day of employment unless employees apply for an extension by following the instructions included in the document.

In a press release sent out at 5:00 p.m. on September 4th, Canfor confirmed the closure publicly, alongside an announcement that its Plateau sawmill in Vanderhoof will also be closing.

The total number of jobs impacted between the two facilities is 500, and the closures will remove more than 670 million board feet of annual production from Canfor’s BC operations.

Canfor President and CEO Don Kanye echoed the sentiments expressed in the company’s internal document, providing a statement in the press release.

“We are devastated by the decline in our province’s foundational forest industry, and we recognize the impact these closures will have on our employees and their families, as well as our First Nations partners, contractors, suppliers, communities and customers,” Kanye says.

“We are committed to supporting our employees and will work with our union partners on an employee transition plan, including severance. The wind down of operations is expected to be complete by the end of the year.”

“With the dramatic reduction in available timber supply, we will explore opportunities to divest some of our northern BC tenure, which may help support other BC forest companies facing the same significant challenges in accessing economic fibre.” 

Energeticcity.ca will update this story with new information as it becomes available.