Northern Ontario’s Ginoogaming First Nation Exploring Construction of Indigenous-Run OSB or LSL Mill

Northern Ontario Business is reporting (5-19-23) that the Ginoogaming First Nation wants to put some underutilized hardwood resources in northwestern Ontario to work by making building materials.

Located 40 kilometers east of Geraldton in northwestern Ontario, the Ginoogaming First Nation has plans to build an Indigenous-run oriented strand board (OSB) or laminated strand lumber (LSL) mill utilizing approximately 600,000 cubic meters of poplar, aspen, and birch from the Kenogami Forest and surrounding areas. According to a Ginoogaming news release cited in the report, the community anticipates it can manufacture 550,000 square feet of OSB or LSL for the building construction and home renovation market.

On Thursday, the Ginoogaming announced that to further evaluate the mill concept, it has netted $300,000 (CAD) in funding form the federal government’s Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) to hire consultants to do a feasibility study. The IFI provides support to Indigenous-led economic development projects in the forestry sector.

Involved in the study are Kozar Engineering, Ne-Daa-Kii-Me-Naan Inc., ArboVitae Consulting Services, and R J Knauff & Associates. The study is due to be released sometime this summer.