Corporate-history timeline for the pulp & paper mill at Woodfibre, BC

A view of the pulp and paper mill at Woodfibre, BC. Date unknown. — Image courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives

The pulp & paper mill at Woodfibre, BC survived for almost a century, under the ownership of several forestry companies. Here is a brief timeline of its corporate history.

• In the early 1900s, a small sawmill is built in the area referred to as Mill Creek.

• 1910: British Columbia Sulphite Fibre Company begins construction of a pulp plant

• 1912: The pulp mill begins operations.

• 1925: L.W. Killam formed B.C. Pulp & Paper Limited which took over the site from Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills.

• 1951: Alaska Pine Co. and Abitibi purchase B.C. Pulp & Paper and form a new company, Alaska Pine & Cellulose Limited.

• 1958: Alaska Pine & Cellulose closes the Woodfibre mill. Many residents are forced to move away. The mill is eventually purchased by Rayonier Canada Ltd., which begins the process of phasing out the town.

• 1980: Rayonier is taken over by a consortium of forest companies including BC Forest Products, Doman Industries and Whonnock Industries, and is renamed Western Forest Products.

• 1985: The mill is modernized and upgraded.

• 2006: Western Forest Products closes the pulp mill.