A city councillor is calling on billionaire Jim Pattison to personally distribute final paycheques to roughly 300 workers losing their jobs as Canfor closes its Northwood Pulp Mill.
Coun. Brian Skakun, a former Canfor employee, made the request at a July 28 news conference, CBC News reported.
Pattison owns the Jim Pattison Group, Canfor's majority shareholder, and is worth an estimated $11.9 billion, according to Forbes figures cited by CBC News.
"If Jimmy Pattison really wants to live by his decision, then I would encourage him to come out to these mills when they're shut down and hand out the last cheques to each employee personally and say, 'I am sorry for what is going on,'" Skakun said, per CBC News.
Closure details and company response
Canfor announced the Northwood closure on July 14, 2026, per the company's second-quarter earnings release dated July 29, 2026. Operations are expected to wind down by year-end, removing about 300,000 tonnes of annual pulp capacity, the release said.
On July 28, the company also announced closure of its Fox Creek sawmill in Alberta, cutting annual lumber capacity by about 120 million board feet, per the release.
Canfor CEO Susan Yurkovich said in the release that the company "made the difficult but necessary decision to permanently close our Northwood pulp mill." In a conference call cited by CBC News, she called the closures "gut-wrenching," adding: "These are incredibly difficult decisions that impact our employees, their families, and our local communities."
Financial backdrop
Canfor reported Q2 2026 sales of $1,526.4 million, up from $1,379.4 million a year earlier, with operating income of $4.8 million reversing a $72.5-million operating loss in the first quarter, the earnings release said. Net loss narrowed to $18.5 million from $202.8 million a year earlier.
The company attributed pulp-segment weakness to soft global demand and elevated inventories, with NBSK pulp prices to China averaging US$658 per tonne, down 4% quarter-over-quarter.
Canfor also closed two Swedish sawmills in May, citing a fibre-supply imbalance, and expects to record roughly $68 million combined in restructuring costs and write-downs tied to the B.C. and Alberta closures, recognized in the third quarter.
