Ontario Supporting Sawmill in White River
Province Partnering with Local Business to Create and Maintain 176 Highly Skilled Jobs in White River
Ontario is supporting White River Forest Products to upgrade and modernize its sawmill in White River, helping to create and maintain 176 highly skilled jobs and boost economic growth.
White River Forest Products sawmill has brought good jobs to the community — not only those at the sawmill itself, but local spinoff jobs in transportation, forestry and retail. White River Forest Products operates in partnership with Pic Mobert First Nation. Today, approximately 25 per cent of the mill’s employees are from the First Nation community.
Through funding from Ontario’s Jobs and Prosperity Fund, the company will be able to increase production by 30 per cent and support new product development in this competitive sector. This will increase production capacity and boost competitiveness while ensuring resources are managed sustainably. The project will maintain 161 existing jobs and create 15 new positions at the mill in White River.
Ontario is continuing its support for the forestry sector to help the industry boost innovation, increase production capacity, increase competitiveness and expand into new markets, while ensuring resources are managed sustainably.
Supporting the forestry industry is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.
QUICK FACTS
- Ontario is investing $1.9 million over four years in White River Forest Products’ infrastructure project as part of the province’s Jobs and Prosperity Fund.
- By generating over $15.3 billion in revenues and supporting approximately 172,000 direct and indirect jobs, the forestry sector is a significant industry in roughly 260 communities across the province.
