Vancouver Island paper mill to close indefinitely, at least 150 jobs affected
B.C.-based company Paper Excellence says it is indefinitely ceasing its paper operations at one of its Vancouver Island facilities in two months.
In an announcement Thursday, the company said its Catalyst Crofton facility, south of Nanaimo, B.C., will stop producing paper in early December, a move that's expected to affect at least 150 workers.
"Paper markets in China served by the mill have significantly weakened while there have been substantial cost escalations for chemicals, energy and wood fibre used at Crofton," said the company in a statement.
Paper Excellence says the 'indefinite curtailment' will affect about 80 Unifor employees and 70 Public and Private Workers of Canada union workers at the mill.
Pulp operations at the mill are expected to continue, according to Paper Excellence.
"We recognize the hardship this will have on both our employees and the Cowichan Valley," said the company.
"We hope to minimize these impacts through union discussions that will consider secondments, utilization of earned time off and employment insurance."
OTHER CLOSURES AND GRANTS
This is the second Paper Excellence mill to indefinitely cease operations in B.C. within the last year.
In December, the company shut down its Catalyst Paper tiskwat mill in Powell River, B.C.
The closure affected around 200 mill workers.
In June, the federal government provided a $4.5-million grant to Paper Excellence to begin producing food grade papers at its mill in Port Alberni, B.C.
The company says it will try to provide customers with products from the Port Alberni mill "where possible" as the Crofton facility winds down.
"Paper Excellence is working with both Provincial and Federal Governments while it conducts studies at the Crofton facility to consider accelerating its conversion into natural food and packaging grades," said the company Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.