Province chips in $10M for Englehart wood processing mill

After Georgia-Pacific announced last summer that it’s spending $191 million to upgrade and modernize its wood processing mill it owns in Englehart, the Ontario government said Tuesday it will provide $10 million for the project, drawing from the province’s Forest Biomass Program. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

The Ontario government is expressing its confidence in the future of the oriented strand board mill in Englehart.

After Georgia-Pacific announced last summer that it’s spending $191 million to upgrade and modernize the wood processing mill, the Ontario government said Tuesday it will provide $10 million for the project, drawing from the province’s Forest Biomass Program.

“We will help the sector adapt to changing global conditions and we will grow investment markets and demand for Ontario wood,” said Kevin Holland, Ontario’s Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products, at a Tuesday morning news conference in Earlton.

Georgia-Pacific acquired the mill in 2010 from Grant Forest Products and chose to modernize operations. The mill opened in 1982 and produced its first board a year later.

“In a highly competitive global market, efficiency is only part of the equation,” said Tammy Mazzetti, Georgia-Pacific’s fibre manager.

“Productivity is what keeps our doors open and our people working.”

The mill will help the company remain competitive as new mills open in the southeastern U.S.

“Early construction is now underway,” said David Newton, Georgia-Pacific Englehart mill’s project manager.

Estimated to increase production by 14 per cent while more low-grade wood from Crown forests can be used, the upgrades surround what’s called the ‘Green End,’ a new 70,000-square-foot facility.

It’s the part of the mill where the logs are brought in and prepared for chopping and turned into oriented strand board. This type of wood is used for new home construction.

“By automating and upgrading the raw material handling and flaking, we are transforming how we manage our wood fibre right from the start,” Mazzetti said.

The mill ships 70 per cent of its products to the U.S., which are not affected by softwood lumber tariffs, since they fall under the current CUSMA trade agreement.

George Pirie, Ontario’s Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth, said the long-term future of CUMSA is still up in the air.

“The future is unknown right now with President Trump,” Pirie said.

Future tariff concerns

“I don’t know that anybody really knows exactly what’s going to happen next with tariffs. But right now, we’re OK with this plant.”

A third of the mill’s equipment will be upgraded with new technology. The investments will help protect more than 220 jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs in the surrounding region.

“Forestry has always been a major part of life in Englehart and in an area (where) the impact of the sector goes far beyond the mill itself,” said Englehart Mayor Doug Metson.

“It supports truck drivers, contractors, equipment operators, mechanics, local businesses and retailers.”

The mill is considered Georgia-Pacific’s flagship facility and is responsible for more than 25 per cent of its overall production.

The processing system in an oriented strand board mill includes sorting logs, debarking and cutting them into strands to prepare them for drying.

Georgia-Pacific will also acquire a thermal energy system to use wood byproducts for heat and power, supporting sustainable forest management by maximizing fibre value.

“This partnership is a game changer for us,” Mazzetti added.

It’s expected that the expansion will be complete in early fall of 2027.

The forestry sector in Ontario generates almost $21 billion in revenue while supporting close to 155,000.