The Coast Forest Policy Coalition expresses deep concern over Domtar’s announcement of the permanent closure of its Crofton pulp and paper mill and calls for immediate collaborative action to address BC’s coastal fibre supply challenges. The Crofton closure affects hundreds of families and businesses in the Cowichan Valley and represents the tenth coastal mill to permanently close since 2018. The coast has lost 5,400 jobs since 2022 alone, with over 700 companies across the supply chain facing uncertainty. “Pulp mills are critical infrastructure on the coast—they’re essential to our integrated forest economy, utilizing sawmill and harvest residuals that are a necessary part of coastal forestry operations,” says Peter Lister, Chair of the Coast Forest Policy Coalition and Executive Director of the Truck Loggers Association. …The Coalition has outlined solutions that emphasize collaborative action: streamlining permit preparation processes to reduce current timelines, providing regulatory certainty by pausing new policy initiatives until existing processes work efficiently, and developing coast-specific solutions that recognize coastal operations’ unique requirements.