On Thursday, the province announced it was providing $5.1 million to Bioveld North, the owners of the former mill in Espanola, to complete a study on what it would take to reopen. Bioveld North is a subsidiary of BMI Group, which purchased the Espanola pulp and paper mill in 2025. The funds will support engineering and planning work to study a full restart of the shuttered facility. The property has sat idle since Domtar left at the end of 2023. “Our investment demonstrates confidence in Bioveld North’s vision for growth and its commitment to creating opportunity in Espanola,” said Associate Minister of Forestry and Forestry Products Kevin Holland at a news conference Thursday. Bioveld North site manager Ryan Anderson said the company isn’t looking at restarting the mill and operating in the same way. “It’s a lot of modernization of some of the equipment here on the site,” Anderson said. Full modernization “It’s actually pulling out some of those -- let’s call them ‘headaches in the past’ -- and reinstalling new, modernized equipment to make sure we’re competitive in the future moving forward.” The company plans to create a full fibre bioproduct hub that “puts every part of the tree to work,” starting with premium pulp and specialty paper. Bioveld said the Espanola site would be based on a facility established at the former mill in Thorold in the Niagara Region. Holland said the provincial funding is meant to help protect Ontario’s forestry sector in the face of U.S. tariffs and would establish an anchor facility for the industry in the northeast. “Larger facilities that can take in mill residuals … it could be a sawmill; it could be pulp and paper,” Holland said. In a position to grow “It can be what Bioveld is looking to do here in Espanola, and that’s key to making sure that the sector throughout the province is in a position to grow and adapt.” When Domtar closed the facility in late 2023, 450 people were left unemployed. Once the new owners get the go-ahead to restart the mill, Bioveld North estimates it would create about 400 direct jobs in Espanola. “I hope that it can bring some people back or take them off the road, not having to commute as much for their work,” said Espanola CAO Joseph Burke. “I also believe that (Bioveld North) has the potential to bring a lot of new people to the community. And we’ve been seeing a lot of residential development in town. So, we’re ready to accommodate a lot of new people.” “When people have stable employment, they spend locally, support community organizations and help strengthen the local economy,” said Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Bill Rosenburg. “This investment also sends an important message about confidence in our region. It demonstrates that our government recognizes the value of our workforce, our industrial expertise and the important role our community plays in Ontario’s economy.” Anderson, who was part of Domtar when it closed, lives in Espanola. He said that when the company erected the large sign on the building this summer, it was “a symbol of hope” for residents. “We took down the old signage. We gave everything a nice fresh coat of paint – really looking towards the future and the opportunities that lie here on this site,” he said.
