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EAR FALLS — It’s still uncertain times for forestry in Northwestern Ontario, but the provincial minister for the sector says his government is on the right track to help heading into the new year.

Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products Kevin Holland said international trade strife and the subsequent ripple effects continue to batter the industry.

“Forestry, we know, has got some challenges right now … with regards to some of the duties and tariffs that are coming from south of the border and the impact it’s having,” he said. “But it really goes beyond the duty and tariff rates that have been imposed.”

“It’s the uncertainty that’s being caused, not just in forestry, but in a lot of the sectors across society that is really cooling down some of the investments at a time where we’re well positioned to see tremendous growth that would support the forestry sector.”

The industry in northern Ontario saw a fair bit of bad news in 2025, with the “temporary” (according to the company) but indefinite curtailment of operations at the Interfor sawmill in Ear Falls, confirmed holiday-period pauses at facilities near Atikokan and Ignace, the announced idling of the Kap Paper mill in Kapuskasing before a provincial-federal bailout secured its short-term future, and renewed concern over any viability of the mill in Terrace Bay.

“We’re seeing people are being a little bit more cautious, a little bit more reserved on doing some of those plans and construction plans that they had,” Holland said of the uncertain state of things.

The minister said the government did put forward programs and funding commitments in 2025 to help the embattled sector.

In the Northwest, in July, Ontario announced over $6 million for eight biomass projects; two months later, a $30 million package was unveiled in Thunder Bay, with about one third of that going to Ontario sawmills while they find new markets for byproducts of their operations, like wood chips.

Earlier in December, the province announced an advanced wood construction working group to implement an action plan designed to encourage the use of wood in more types of construction.

Holland said he’s travelled thousands of kilometres “meeting with key stakeholders in the industry and our partners about what we can do to help position them to take advantage when things turn.”

“Things will get better, there will be that turn,” he said. “But we need to make sure that we’re in that position to take full advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.”

“This is the message I’ve been getting from the stakeholders and from the forestry sector all across the province is measures that we can do to make sure that the sector is in a good position,” Holland continued.

“And we’ve put in those initiatives, and I’m quite confident that they’re going to help sustain the sector moving forward.”

Asked about the future of the AV Terrace Bay mill, and whether it would be heated over the winter, Holland said that “we continue to have conversations with AV Terrace Bay on the mill there, and those conversations are ongoing.”

He said, overall, the sector will continue to face challenges, but the province will continue to work with stakeholders.

“I think we’ve done a lot of the groundwork that we need to be doing to position us well for moving forward in 2026,” Holland said.

Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Supported by the Local Journalism Initiative — a federally funded program that fosters the creation of original, independent local journalism covering important civic issues in underserved communities.