Forests provide a bounty of economic, environmental, and social benefits. We are committed to being leaders in responsibly maximizing fibre value and embedding sustainable practices across all our operations, ensuring these benefits are available to our customers, employees and communities today and in the future.
We are committed to providing a safe workplace, and to developing and maintaining respectful relationships with all our stakeholders, including our employees, customers, communities, and First Nations of the traditional territories on which we operate.
The Mill
The White River sawmill complex is centrally located within the White River Forest in White River, Ontario, and is known for its ability to produce high quality lumber products sourced from forests in the local and surrounding region. The company’s objective is to produce approximately 160 million board feet of FSC certified Random Length, stud and value added products.
Equipped with the latest technology including a COMACT automated line, the new line began operation in the fall of 2015 and is currently operating at a 50% higher production rate than the 2 decommissioned lines combined.
The mill also has a modern Hewsaw equipped to process small diameter sawlogs. We have installed two high-speed A-8 Nicholson debarkers.
We are currently in the process of installing additional drying capacity using the latest technologies.
The mill also has a 40,000 pound per hour biomass boiler to provide steam and heat energy for the kilns and mill.
An additional 10 Million dollars in capital expenditures are currently underway to make the mill one of the lowest cost mills in Eastern Canada. The mill site currently employs 160 people and an additional 250 more are indirectly employed via contractors, suppliers and support services. The mill injects approximately 50 Million dollars per year into the regional economy.
Forestry
The woodlands we manage are audited and certified by independent third parties. Most of the area we manage in Ontario is public land. The use of public land in Ontario is governed by long-term forest management arrangements that include a public input process and regular, periodic government auditing.
We are committed to certification for our managed timberlands in order to continue meeting market demand for a diversity of credible certification options. We have been, and remain, a supporter of FSC certification standards, both in terms of responsible forest management certification and chain of custody certification.
Our group of companies holds several certifications for responsible forest management through international certification and labelling systems, specifically the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) and the Rain Forest Alliance.