Saskatchewan Forest Industry to Benefit from British Columbia’s Reduced Timber Basket

Despite its vast and mature forests, Saskatchewan forestlands have been under-utilized. That is until now. Over the past several weeks, the province has announced a reallocation of its forest resources, primarily located north of Saskatoon, and that will result in sizeable forest industry investments.

Those forestland reallocations are expected, over the next two years, to lead to over a $1 billion dollars (CAD) in new investments in Saskatchewan’s forest industry.

Some of the highlights in investment include huge sawmill expansion by Dunkley Lumber in Carrot River, Carrier Forest Products ramping up production in Big River, a new oriented strand board (OSB) plant for Prince Albert by new business venture, One Sky Forest Products, and the re-opening of the geographically iconic pulp mill located north of Prince Albert. The pulp mill — formerly owned by Weyerhaeuser and now owned by Paper Excellence — had been sitting idle for 16 years.

It’s worth noting that all of the investments being made in Saskatchewan are by companies headquartered in British Columbia. The devastation resulting from the mountain pine beetle infestation has severely reduced the merchantable wood basket in the B.C. Interior, forcing some companies to search elsewhere to survive and expand. Saskatchewan, with its under-utilized wood basket, is benefitting from that situation.