Region Archives: Canada East

ST. THOMAS, Ontario — Expansion of the Element5 manufacturing plant in St. Thomas, has firmly established the nine-year-old company as one of North America’s leaders in the design, fabrication and assembly of contemporary mass timber structures. Founded in 2015 in Ripon, Quebec, Element5 built a 130,000 square foot St. Thomas facility in 2020 on 40 acres of land in the city’s north end. It generates about 50,000 cubic meters of cross-laminated timber (CLT) a year. Work on the St. Thomas expansion started in 2023 and increases the Element5 footprint to over 350,000 square feet, set to produce another 50,000 cubic meters of glulam a year starting in 2025. …In February, The Hasslacher Group, of Austria, made a strategic investment in Element5 to fuel growth in the North American market and support the St. Thomas expansion. Element5 now calls St. Thomas its headquarters. Element5 recorded 2023 sales of about $30 million and the company is forecasting $40 million in 2024, and $100 million in 2030.

BELLEVILLE — The Ontario government is investing $445,252 in a new action centre to help the 180 workers impacted by the closure of Cascades’ manufacturing plants in Trenton and Belleville connect with services and training they need to get back to work quickly. David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, said “Our government is investing in the Cascades Action Centre to ensure that these workers have access to resources and opportunities to land better jobs.” Run by Unifor, the Cascades Action Centre will operate until April 2025 and support laid-off workers represented by Unifor Local 1470 and the Independent Paperworkers of Canada Local 7. The action centre will host workshops and seminars, provide peer-to-peer support and job search assistance, teach financial management and computer skills.

New Brunswick Power’s application for a pair of steep rate hikes is forcing it to pay higher subsidies to pulp and paper mills this year and next year to help the plants cope with the increases. But the utility says it is not allowed to provide similar relief to any other customers who might be in need, including low-income households. …But restrictions on subsidising power costs do not apply in one case. In evidence presented at the hearing, N.B. Power has outlined plans to spend $26.3 million over the next two years to help pulp and paper mills with their electricity costs. It is a 36 per cent increase over the previous two years. The subsidy, called the Large Industrial Renewable Energy Purchase Program, involves N.B. Power buying renewable electricity generated by the mills at high prices and reselling it back at low prices.

New Brunswick Power executives faced pointed questions early at a New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board hearing that is reviewing plans to raise electricity rates 20 per cent over the next two years, nearly half of which is already being collected from customers. N.B. Power president Lori Clark and CFO Darren Murphy both denied a suggestion from the forestry company J.D. Irving that the utility is exaggerating how poor performance at the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station is likely to be to justify raising rates more than necessary. “The performance metrics that N.B. Power is forecasting for Point Lepreau are not in fact improvements. It’s a forecast of worse performance,” said Glenn Zacher representing JDI. …J.D. Irving is N.B. Power’s largest private-sector customer. It is fighting a request by the utility to raise rates an average of 9.25 per cent this year and next year, including 9.8% on residential and large industrial customers. 

TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec — Unifor announced the conclusion of a historic agreement in principle between the employees at the Kruger plant in Trois-Rivières and the company’s management, putting an end to the strike that began on May 30, 2024. Union members overwhelmingly approved the agreement at ratification meetings held throughout the week. This new four-year collective agreement marks a major milestone for employees, with unprecedented wage increases and substantial improvements to benefits, vacation, pension and the introduction of an overtime bank for production employees. …From May 1, 2024, employees will benefit from an 8% salary adjustment and an additional 3% increase. In 2025, wages will be further increased by $1.30 per hour. For 2026 and 2027, employees will receive a guaranteed increase of 2.25% or more. …Employees will return to work at 11 p.m. Wednesday evening, allowing the plant to resume normal operations.

Jeff Carruthers

WELLAND, Ontario — Fonthill Lumber, a building concern since it was established in 1951, has also been a growing concern for much of the past three years. Completion of that ambitious and massive growth, from a 2,320-square-metre facility on Highway 20 in Fonthill to a sprawling, four-building complex about four times larger on Woodlawn Road in Welland, will be celebrated with a grand opening on Thursday. That’s when Mayor Frank Campion, headlining a guest list of dignitaries, builders and customers from both sides of the Canada-US border, is scheduled. …“Right now, we have the capability of having seven lines to make seven different sets of trusses, plus a four-truss table as well,” manager Jeff Carruthers said. Besides a manufacturing facility for trusses and an administration building that includes a retail out, the 16.2-hectare site also has what the manager calls the “sawmill.”

NEWFOUNDLAND — The Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill’s failure to maintain its boiler’s pressure safety system could have resulted in a disaster, says a boiler expert. In April, operations ceased at the mill for a couple of weeks after the provincial government found that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper had failed to comply with safety regulations. In May, documents obtained by CBC revealed that the company, a division of Montreal-based Kruger, had neglected to inspect the facility’s boiler system’s pressure relief devices. Seventy-eight devices had not been serviced in over 30 years. “It can be catastrophic,” said Desmond Saldanha of the Canadian Boiler Society, a group of energy and environmentally concerned companies in the boiler industry. …The documents obtained by CBC News found that the Corner Brook paper mill had significant code violations.

James K. Irving

The billionaire businessman James K. Irving, chairman of J.D. Irving Ltd., has died at the age of 96, according to a news release from the company Friday evening. J.K. Irving died peacefully Friday in Saint John, N.B., the release said. He was the son of Irving patriarch K.C. Irving, who died in 1992. K.C. was an industrialist who turned a single gas station and sawmill into a family-controlled business conglomerate, making him and his three sons among Canada’s wealthiest businessmen. …J.K. Irving’s net worth at the time of his death was $5.5 billion, according to Forbes. The Forbes website says the company has planted over a billion trees since 1957, and Irving Woodlands, a division of the company, is the sixth-largest landowner in the United States. The forestry and paper operations overseen by J.D. Irving are New Brunswick’s largest private-sector employers.

Additional coverage in CTV News: Tributes remember J.K. Irving for his business, community contributions

Bloomberg in the Financial Post, by Rebecca Penty and Thomas Seal: James K. Irving, Canadian Forestry Billionaire, Dies at 96

Company press release: Irving family announces the passing of James K. Irving

ESPANOLA, Ontario — It’s been a little over six months since Domtar indefinitely idled the pulp and paper mill in Espanola, Ontario, and put 450 jobs on the chopping block. Some feared the shutdown would depress the local economy. But so far these dreaded outcomes have not materialized. …The Unifor Action Centre is also striking an optimistic tone. …Johnathan Nadeau says a voluntary survey conducted among the 250 former mill workers represented by Unifor Local 74 suggests about 35 per cent of them are still looking for their new permanent jobs. …While the closure of the mill caused some hardship, Nadeau says he’s heard some inspiring stories from his former colleagues, including some that have taken on roles they find more fulfilling. …As for the future of the idled mill, it remains unclear. …Domtar spokesperson Louis Bouchard said “the site remains available for purchase, and we are willing to explore a potential sale”.

Benoit Charette

QUEBEC — The Legault government is blasting Ottawa over its plan to adopt a decree aimed at protecting Quebec’s dwindling caribou herds. But federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbault says he has “no choice” but to act. The law obliges him to act when a species is threatened. His actions, however, irked Quebec with Benoit Charette, Quebec’s minister of the environment, saying thousands of forestry jobs and the livelihoods of many small villages could be lost. …Canadian Relations Minister Jean-François Roberge said, “We have a detailed knowledge of the situation, tree by tree, region by region, when it comes to tourist development and forestry,” Roberge said. “It makes no sense for Ottawa to arrive with an ultimatum; where they do not have the knowledge on the ground.” …Guilbault targeted the forestry industry saying its “operations and the networks of roads have largely contributed to the disturbance of the habitat.”

Steven Guilbeault

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he’s moving forward on his threat to invoke federal powers to protect Quebec’s declining woodland caribou herds. Guilbeault said today that he’s starting the process to obtain a federal decree to protect the herds in Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, after what he describes as Quebec’s failure to develop a plan to save them. The federal minister says his government will hold consultations to determine the size of the potential protected habitat as well as the scope of the decree. He told The Canadian Press that industrial activity such as logging will be limited in the protected zones and that Ottawa hasn’t ruled out stepping in to protect two other herds in eastern Quebec. …Guilbeault says Quebec can still act in the coming weeks and months by releasing its own caribou protection plan, which has been promised and delayed for years.

Government of Canada release: Following the Government of Quebec’s failure, the federal government begins consultations on an emergency order to protect caribou

Northern Ontario organizations, Penokean Hills Farms and the Atikokan Economic Development Corp., were recognized by Community Futures Ontario during the organization’s annual conference… Atikokan EDC was recognized for Excellence in Community Economic Development. The organization led efforts, alongside Resolute Forest Products, to resolve a labour shortage at the local sawmill by establishing accommodations for Ukrainian newcomers settling in the community. Unable to find enough local workers to fully staff its sawmill, Resolute turned to Ukrainians coming to Canada, after being displaced by the Ukraine-Russia war, to fill those positions. Unfortunately, there were no available accommodations to house the newcomers. With help from the EDC, Resolute converted the empty Atikokan Hotel into living quarters, equipped with laundry and gym facilities, for newcomers. To date, more than 100 displaced Ukrainians have settled in Atikokan, increasing the town’s population by five per cent and enabling the sawmill to double the number of its shifts.

Nolan Quinn

ONTARIO — On June 6, MPP Nolan Quinn was appointed to the Cabinet, assuming the role of Associate Minister of Forestry, working alongside Minister of Natural Resources Graydon Smith. …Previously, Quinn served as the parliamentary assistant to Ontario’s health minister, gaining deep insights into public service. …Quinn underlined the urgency and importance of his new role in forestry, particularly in addressing the pressing economic challenges in Northern Ontario. “Forestry is a way of life up there,” he noted. “There’s a mill currently closed down in the north, so that is a concern right now. I believe there’s an immediate need for me to jump right into the file.” …Quinn is determined to leverage his business experience to support the forestry sector, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and competitiveness.

Over the past seven months, there have been significant mill closures in Ontario pulp mills in Espanola and Terrace Bay, and the corrugated medium mill in Trenton. As well, the Temiscaming, Que. cellulose plant closure received significant wood from Ontario. While these closures seem to come out of the blue, the process to close a mill starts years before when companies make conscious decisions not to reinvest. …Why did Terrace Bay and Espanola pulp mills close and mills in Dryden and Thunder Bay continue to operate? The Dryden mill, which opened 1983, and the Thunder Bay mill, which opened in 1976, are not new but have been maintained and upgraded. …Since there is no longer any significant pulp production occurring east of Lake Nipigon, what is the future of the large sawmills in eastern Ontario? …Sawmills will be forced to curtail production if they cannot find a home for residuals.

J.P. Towner

Boucherville, QC – RONA inc., one of Canada’s leading home improvement retailers operating and servicing some 425 corporate and affiliated stores, announces the appointment of J. P. Towner to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer. Towner joined RONA in October 2023 as Chief Financial Officer. He is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of experience in corporate strategy, financial management and leadership, whose extensive expertise and proven track record of driving profitable growth will support RONA’s ambition of becoming the best home improvement retailer in Canada. J.P. Towner has previously held top leadership roles in high-profile Canadian retail and construction companies, including Chief Financial Officer at Dollarama and Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Pomerleau Inc.