08/20/2026
The Truck Loggers Association (TLA) is, once again, deeply disappointed by today’s announcement that Domtar will indefinitely idle its Howe Sound pulp mill and Bayview Fibre chipping facility in Port Mellon. The decision affecting approximately 400 employees represents yet another serious setback for BC’s coastal forest sector and the communities that depend on it.
This latest announcement follows other recent mill closures and reinforces the serious challenges facing BC’s forest sector. The consequences extend well beyond the mills, affecting workers, independent logging and forestry contractors, local businesses and communities throughout the coastal supply chain. With the indefinite curtailment of yet another BC pulp mill, the viability and stability of the entire coastal forest sector is increasingly at risk.
These operations have long been important components of the Sunshine Coast and coastal forest economy. The TLA’s contractor and supplier members and other businesses that harvest, transport and supply fibre will feel the effects of this decision, creating further uncertainty for small business owners, their employees and the communities they support.
For years, industry has raised concerns about the growing pressures facing BC’s forest sector, including declining access to economically viable fibre, high operating costs and an increasingly difficult business environment. Domtar has also cited weak global pulp markets and a decline in affordable domestic fibre as key factors in its decision. While global markets are outside government’s control, BC must urgently address the challenges within its own control so more jobs, businesses and manufacturing capacity are not lost.
The TLA continues to call on all government to take decisive action to improve access to economically viable fibre, address BC’s high-cost operating environment and create the conditions needed to sustain forestry jobs, contractors and rural communities.
Our thoughts are with the employees of Howe Sound and Bayview Fibre, and the affected contractors, local businesses, and coastal communities as they face the uncertainty ahead.
