Region Archives: Canada East

Remi Lalonde

The new president and chief executive officer of Resolute Forest Products has a strong connection to Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario. Remi Lalonde was the general manager at the company’s Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill for 2½ years in the mid-2010s. He said the operations in northwestern Ontario are integral to Resolute, noting the company understands its social and economic impacts on Atikokan, Ignace, Thunder Bay and surrounding areas. “What we’ve seen in the last several quarters here is a significant improvement in performance for our wood products business, and that’s good for our footprint in northwestern Ontario,” Lalonde said. “[It’s] good for the economy, good for Resolute and good for the people there.” …Lalonde said he was told Thunder Bay once considered itself the “New York of paper,” based on its extensive pulp and paper operations. Demand has shifted, he said, making lumber more attractive and profitable.

Demand for lumber has been so high at Randy MacNichol’s independent sawmill in Salisbury, N.B., he has difficulty taking time on the phone to answer questions about it. …But with unrelenting demand and record prices for wood across North America, all lumber production businesses, including his, are having a banner season. …MacNichol is open about the success he is having, but others in the province are not offering as much information. …New Brunswick lumber companies have experienced surges in product prices before, like brief spikes that occurred in the summer of 2018 and in the spring of 2002, but nothing as large or as long lasting as the current wave that is in now its 12th month. …Precisely how well individual New Brunswick companies are doing in the current market is unknown, but, according to MacNichol, it’s a good time to be in the business of selling lumber.

Rosalind Penfound

Inclusive Economic Growth Minister Labi Kousoulis has appointed former deputy minister Rosalind Penfound as the new chair of the Forestry Innovation Transition Trust. Ms. Penfound replaces Sandra McKenzie, who has resigned to focus on her business. …Ms. Penfound is a values-based senior leader with decades of experience in public service. She has spent the last seven years at the Nova Scotia Community College as vice-president, organizational development. She also served for more than nine years as a deputy minister in several provincial government departments. The Forestry Innovation Transition Trust, established in March 2020, is a $50 million fund helping to bring innovation to the Nova Scotia forestry sector. …The fund can be used by companies, organizations or post-secondary institutions to bring innovation to the forestry and biological resources sector.

Vic Fedeli

A few local businesses are receiving a big financial boost today courtesy of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.  Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing made the announcement which will impact five businesses with a combined total of $2.1 million in funding. Fedeli says the funding will also lead to the hiring of 19 new jobs along with promoting economic development in the area. … FPInnovations is receiving $525,600 to support its scientific and technical staff in connecting with forest sector businesses to help attract investment, grow skilled employment and achieve tangible economic impacts in northern and Indigenous communities. “This three-year partnership demonstrates how innovation can contribute to strong economic growth in Northern Ontario’s forest sector. NOFHC’s mission to diversify and foster economic growth in the region is well-aligned with FPInnovations’ mission to increase competitiveness of the forest industry and transform the sector,” added Stéphane Renou, President and Chief Executive Officer, FPInnovations.

PERRY SOUND, Ontario — Eco Development Group will start constructing its factory site at the Parry Sound Industrial park, where CLT prefabricated house kits will be designed and manufactured. This project is supported and partly funded by federal and provincial economic development agencies. …The plant will run with the use of eco-technologies – heat pumps heating and cooling. PV solar panels installed on the roof will reduce electricity consumption from the grid. The production plant will be set in two industrial buildings. Planned capacity is 40,000 m3 per year. The company will create 70 full-time jobs. The first phase – cutting of CLT panels in construction elements for specific projects will be launched in summer 2021. The second phase – production of CLT panels and GLT beams will start at the end of 2022.

THUNDER BAY — Resolute Forest Products’ Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill has won an international award for an innovative pilot project. It captured a Silver Award in the Edison Awards competition for its thermomechanical pulp biorefinery pilot. Commissioned in 2019, the apparatus uses patented technology to break down wood into elemental chemicals such as basic sugar and lignin, which can then be put back into the supply chain in the form of commercial products such as wood adhesives, composites and animal feed. It’s a collaboration between Resolute and FPInnovations, a not-for-profit organization working to support the competitiveness of Canada’s forest products sector. …The Resolute project took the silver prize in the Manufacturing, Logistics & Transportation category.

TORONTO — Lumber prices in North America have reached levels unseen before. Ian Dunn, president of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA), says there are a variety of factors amid the COVID-19 pandemic that have contributed to this increase in cost. …Dunn explained… “On the supply side of things… and as a result of the health and safety concerns, we scaled back operations in the mills. …On the demand side, Dunn said an increase in the renovation market is heavily contributing to current lumber prices. …While Dunn said mills are doing what they can to catch up to the demand, he says they “can’t really just flip a switch to increase lumber production.” …”We’re very fortunate here in Ontario, we have a healthy, abundant and productive crop forest that provides timber to our mills, but again it takes time,” Dunn explained. “You cannot just change forest management planning direction in the province.”

Derek Nighbor

Prospects for growth and continued demand for wood products is looking very promising for the forest industry, a Timmins audience was told Tuesday. “We have got an opportunity to decarbonize other industries to get them off the heavy fuels on to more biomass and biofuels from our wood waste,” said Derek Nighbor, president and chief executive officer of the Forestry Products Association of Canada. “The feds just signed an agreement with the U.S. government to look at green procurement, how we can better greener operations; so a lot of opportunity there.” Nighbor was the keynote speaker for the Timmins Chamber of Commerce. He said the federal government is talking a lot about conservation and preserving vast areas of Crown land. “And we support that. But we believe it needs to be effective and we can’t turn everything into a park,” said Nighbor. 

Abercrombie, NS – Northern Pulp Nova Scotia… announced that the British Columbia Supreme Court has approved the requests made by Northern Pulp to, among other things, extend the protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to October 31, 2021. The Court has also approved the amendment of the interim financing milestones… and approved an additional draw of $6.0 million to meet obligations during the extended timeframe. Throughout the Stay Extension, Northern Pulp will continue to manage and maintain the mill and advance plans to transform its operations. “[This will] provide us with the opportunity to advance our transformation plans, which include everything from community engagement to forestry practices to addressing air and water emissions, engage with stakeholders and First Nations for their input and feedback on our proposed transformation, and initiate work on a new environmental assessment for an advanced ETF,” said Graham Kissack, Vice President, EH&S and Corporate Communications, Paper Excellence.

A Liberal MLA is calling on the government to put more money into provincial home renovation programs because of the rising cost of building supplies. O’Leary-Inverness MLA Robert Henderson raised the issue in question period Thursday. “The rising cost of materials has led to construction budgets increasing exponentially, and in some cases, we have seen the results of delayed or even cancelled projects,” Henderson said. “I know of people in my riding that had to stop construction. They just can’t continue on.” Henderson said he knows that government has committed to increase funding for its home renovation programs, but he said it’s not enough. …”I’ve had one constituent come to me and said the increase is barely … more than a few sheets of plywood and a bag of screws. We know lumber costs in Atlantic Canada are much more expensive than they were before the pandemic.”

Ian Dunn

While the world has been hit with a global lumber shortage, don’t expect more clear-cutting in the region. Ian Dunn, President and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association… says the impact on lumber mills in the area will only go so far. Because of the greater diversity of timber in the region… some lumber mills may see a bump due to increased prices, others may not. However, due to the increased demand, Dunn indicates that more use could be put into allocated woodlands. …That being said, Dunn stresses that sustainability is not up for sale. Timber harvesting is a secondary goal to forest management, but it does have its uses to management plans. For instance in Algonquin Park, Dunn pointed to greater woodland health compared to other Ontario Provincial Parks specifically because of selective cutting being allowed there.

GreenFirst Forest Products, a Vancouver-based company with expertise in restructuring sawmills, saw its stock surge by more than 150 per cent on its first day of trading after announcing a major acquisition. …Trading in the company’s stock was halted on April 12 following the announcement that it would acquire forestry and paper mill assets from Rayonier Advanced Materials in Ontario and Quebec. Reacting positively to the stock growth, incoming director and CEO Rick Doman said he will be excited to move forward with the acquisition later this year and transition into his new role. …In addition to the most recent acquisition, the company also acquired assets in Kenora, Ont., in October 2020, and is currently awaiting approval of the deal by the provincial government.

Malcolm Cockwell

Christine Leduc

HALIBURTON, ON – Steve Hounsell is stepping down as President and Chair of Forests Ontario, though will remain on the Board of the not-for-profit organization. Concurrently, Malcolm Cockwell of Haliburton, Ontario has been selected by the Board of Directors as the new President, effective immediately. Current Board member Christine Leduc from Timmins, Ontario will become Vice President of the Board of Forests Ontario. The Board thanks Mr. Hounsell for his important contributions to the advancement of Forests Ontario over the 13 years he served as Director and President and Chair. Mr. Hounsell is well-known and lauded for his efforts in the battle against both climate change and biodiversity loss. His contribution to the growth and development of the organization and to the health of our forests has been invaluable. …New President Mr. Cockwell is the Managing Director of Haliburton Forest, a multi-use private land stewardship company responsible for more than 100,000 acres in central Ontario.

Chris Spencer

New Brunswick is receiving no extra royalties from forestry companies for trees cut on crown land this year, even though prices for lumber made from those trees are at record highs. Meanwhile. other provinces are moving to claim some of that growing windfall. That points to a fundamental flaw in New Brunswick’s timber royalty system according to Chris Spencer with the Southern New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board. …In Alberta which ties timber royalties to the market prices of timber products, those record prices have also been generating record amounts of public revenue. …Spencer said private woodlot owners in New Brunswick, like the province, have received no increases in the price of wood they have been selling to mills this year. …”The lumber market reacts to supply and demand factors across Canada and the US,” wrote Nick Brown, in explaining why timber royalties in the province are not growing.

EACOM Timber Corporation is pleased to announce an investment of $8.9M to equip its Elk Lake sawmill with a new, state-of-the art continuous dry kiln (CDK). Expected to be fully operational by early fall, the CDK will allow for continuous drying of lumber, reducing production bottlenecks and energy consumption. This will be the second such installation for EACOM, the first having been installed in 2017 at its Timmins sawmill. … In addition to being more energy efficient, the new system will eliminate the use of both diesel fuel and propane which are currently being used as part of the energy mix for heating the buildings on-site and two kilns. Going forward, all building heat and the new CDK will be exclusively powered by direct fired natural gas, a much cleaner energy source.

First Nations leaders say they see little reason to have any faith in the Higgs government’s suggestion of resource revenue agreements to replace tax-sharing deals. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn said earlier this week that letting bands share in the profits from forestry and mining operations made more sense than the tax agreements being terminated. “There are existing best practice models that exist across Canada that sadly and very unfortunately do not exist here in the province of New Brunswick,” she said… Dunn later acknowledged to CBC News she has yet to “scan” other provinces to see what works and has not spoken to anyone in the New Brunswick forestry industry about a new model. …Dean Vicaire, the executive director of the Mi’kmaw organization Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn, said, “if the province is really sincere about this, they would have at least given the chiefs a heads up or previously discussed what’s happening in other provinces”.

Canada’s biggest toilet paper manufacturer aims to make some of its tissue from bamboo as an environmentally sustainable option for consumers. Kruger Products… is researching ways to turn bamboo into quality tissue with the goal of adding the renewable resource to its EnviroCare line, likely by 2023, Chief Executive Officer Dino Bianco said in an interview. “The biggest issue with bamboo is you just can’t get the quality that North American consumers want,” Bianco said. “We will try to improve the quality of it, and we would put it under our environmental brand as a choice for consumers who want that.” Bamboo currently accounts for just one per cent of North American toilet paper, Bianco said. The Mississauga, Ontario-based company will most likely buy the raw material from Asia, Bianco said.

A new West Coast lumber player is making moves in Ontario. GreenFirst Forest Products has a cut a US$214-million cash-and-shares deal to acquire four lumber mills in Chapleau, Cochrane, Hearst and Kapuskasing from Florida pulp maker Rayonier Advanced Materials, as part of the Jacksonville company’s sell-off of assets in northern Ontario and Québec. The Kapuskasing operation includes a newsprint mill. The Québec operations involved in Béarn and La Sarre. Collectively, those mills produced 604-million board feet in 2020. But according to an April 12 news release from GreenFirst, these operations are capable of producing a wide range of forest products including dimensional lumber, wood chips and by-products used in residential and commercial construction. The deal is expected to close sometime during the second half of ths year subject to regulatory approvals and the transfer of forestry licences.

CORNER BROOK, NL — At this time of the year, rivers and ponds in western Newfoundland are usually awash with the spring runoff, meaning high water levels and steady power generation for the Deer Lake hydroelectric station. This spring, however, water levels are at a 54-year low. Last week the government announced that the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill, which uses power from the Deer Lake station, would be getting supplementary power from Crown-owned Nalcor Energy in a temporary exchange. In the face of a changing climate though, future water levels may rely more on careful forestry management than predictable rainfall. …While the Corner Brook mill needs trees to produce pulp and paper, trees may also be an answer to keeping water in the reservoir and their equipment running.

Powassan deputy mayor Randy Hall believes somewhere along the supply chain in the wood industry, COVID-related price gouging is going on. And Hall wants Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli to investigate what’s happening to the cost of building materials. …Hall says he’s looking at projects he knows will be far more expensive than originally planned.
As an example, he cited the cost of 2 by 4 lumber, which Hall says has increased from about $2 to more than $8 since last summer. …Hall says he’s done some research into the costs the wood industry faces that would account for the higher price of lumber, but hasn’t been able to identify what factors triggered the sudden rise. Hall says neither the price of fuel nor vehicles nor labour have increased enough since the pandemic began to trigger the huge spike in lumber prices consumers are seeing and facing.

MISSISSAUGA, ON – Kruger Products L.P. has launched its new sustainable development strategy, Reimagine 2030: transformative growth and sustainable innovation. This 10-year strategy includes four targets to reduce its environmental footprint even further, and has been developed to evolve as the business grows. “The past year has underscored just how important our mission to make everyday life more comfortable is for everyone – our employees, consumers, customers and communities,” said Dino Bianco, President and CEO, Kruger Products. “We are at a critical moment and as a leader in the tissue category, we believe it is time to think bolder, move faster and be more agile to advance social impact, protect the environment and continue to grow as a business.”  

The event consisted of a panel discussion among four CEOs: Cees de Jager, Softwood Lumber Board; Kevin Edgson, EACOM Timber; Craig Johnston, Forest City Trading Group; and Andy Goodman, Sherwood Lumber. …De Jager posed a question: as vaccinations ramp up, will the changes to how we work be permanent? …Most of the panelists agreed that the future will likely include more flexibility when it comes to allowing employees to work from home, with some companies considering a hybrid model. This change in how we work has also impacted the way we build. The trend has shifted from multifamily housing back to single family housing, de Jager said. Demand for non-residential construction has diminished, and the R&R is very strong. …Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that while the current lumber market situation is abnormal… “The new normal will be a different,” de Jager said. “But, I think the future is bright for all of us.”