TLA’s Statement on Domtar’s closure of Crofton Pulp Mill

Dec 3, 2025

Yesterday, Domtar’s announcement of its Crofton pulp and paper mill closure was a major and far-reaching loss to its workers, the North Cowichan community, and the broader forest-industry supply chain across the BC Coast. It is especially difficult knowing that this closure was preventable.

Industry, labour and municipal governments have been warning the BC government about the risk of mill closures for many months.  The government was given numerous recommendations, solutions, and opportunities that could have helped avoid this outcome, but has largely failed to act with the urgency that was required.

Approximately 350 direct mill jobs have now been lost, but the closure also impacts many local Vancouver Island businesses that have supported the Crofton mill for many years. The TLA’s Vancouver Island members, the independent timber-harvesting and forestry contractors that supply fibre, will be hard hit by the closure and this will create significant financial strain on small business owners, their families and the communities that rely on a healthy forest sector.

This closure underscores the many challenges facing BC’s coastal forest sector: ongoing constraints on access to economically viable fibre, an uncompetitive business cost structure, and regulatory uncertainty. For TLA members, these pressures threaten the stability of their operations and the forestry-dependent communities they support. The TLA remains committed to working with government and industry partners to stabilize the sector, improve fibre access, and ensure contractors, their employees and communities are supported.

The TLA extends its deepest compassion to the mill workers and their families who are facing this uncertain time.