$10M loan from the province keeps doors open at Kapuskasing, Ont., paper mill
The provincial government says the loan saves 2,500 jobs in the region, including 300 at the mill
The last pulp and paper mill in northeastern Ontario has avoided closing its doors thanks to a $10-million loan from the provincial government.
Terry Skiffington, the CEO of Kap Paper, says the loan will let the century-old mill in Kapuskasing continue its operations while it pivots the business to rely less on selling newsprint and paper for books.
The province argues the loan will protect around 2,500 jobs in the region.
"In our paper mill, we're just over 300 people, but we also support the regional sawmills, of course Hearst, Cochrane and the Kapuskasing sawmill owned by GreenFirst," Skiffington said.
"Without us it's like a house of cards that falls to pieces. Because if we're not there to consume chips and biomass, then the lumber mills have nowhere to put their residues and then they can't operate."
Skiffington says the market for newsprint has declined over the past two decades. And while stable, the market for book paper is a smaller part of the business at the mill, formerly known as Spruce Falls.
He says Kap Paper has been pivoting to build a biomass plant, which would produce energy by burning wood that can't be used for paper production. The wood – or biomass – is burned in a boiler which produces steam that powers turbines to create energy.
"Once we make green electricity, then we can make other products such as green hydrogen through electrolysis," Skiffington said.
The province's loan will allow Kap Paper, a subsidiary of GreenFirst, to continue its regular operations while it builds its bioenergy facility.
"This financial support delivers on our government's commitment to forest sector success by protecting jobs and maintaining productivity in Kapuskasing," said Kevin Holland, associate minister of Forestry and Forest Products, in a news release.
In December 2023 the pulp and paper mill in Espanola, Ont., owned by Domtar, closed its operations. That left Kapuskasing as the final pulp and paper mill in the region.
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