SaskatchewanBMI Group of Ontario looks for new tenants to set up shop on former pulp and paper mill site.BMI Group of Ontario looks for new tenants to set up shop on former pulp and paper mill siteLisa Risom · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 8 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Former Weyerhauser pulp and paper mill site shuttered for nearly 20 years outside the city of Prince Albert. (Lisa Risom/CBC)The sale of a defunct Prince Albert pulp and paper mill from Domtar to the Ontario-based BMI Group has ended plans to reopen the mill and sparked a search for industrial business tenants for the site.“The site will never be a pulp mill again. That is for sure,” said Chris Rickett, BMI Group’s head of government and community relations.After eight months of negotiations, BMI purchased the former Weyerhaeuser Prince Albert pulp mill site and buildings from Domtar, Canada’s largest pulp and paper company. “Our approach is a little bit unique in that we look at how we can bring these sites back to life and bring new economic opportunities to them,” Rickett said.BMI is a development company with environmental remediation experience. Its headquarters are in Tillsonburg, Ont.The former Weyerhauser Prince Albert Pulp and Paper Mill ceased operations in 2006. Approximately 700 workers at the mill lost their jobs, with further indirect job losses in the forestry industry.The mill is about 10 kilometres east of the Prince Albert’s downtown along Highway 55. It’s within city limits and a source of taxes for the city.The 2,331 acre parcel of land runs south to the North Saskatchewan River and includes the mill’s former waste retention ponds. It also has access to the Carlton Trail Railway line.BMI said the site’s power generation capabilities could be a draw for some industries. It includes a “power island” that burns tree waste to generate power with steam.The company said it has already started consulting with the city, the province, First Nations and surrounding communities. Rickett said BMI plans to begin a “formal master planning exercise” in early 2026, with a marketing plan to follow.“When we listen to locals who know their community and know the opportunities, we often identify business opportunities for the site,” he said.BMI said it will assess the equipment on the site and see “what needs to stay, what needs to be upgraded, and what can go.”A spokesperson for the One Sky Forest Products Ltd. told CBC News it is gathering investors to build an oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing plant on the former mill site. One Sky wants to subdivide a parcel of land from the eastern part of the site to house the OSB plant.An agreement in principle was reached with the former owners to transfer ownership of the parcel to One Sky, but that deal wasn’t completed.“We all agree we are going to continue the project. We just have to have a little bit of ‘wait and see’,” said Robert Fincati, a board member of One Sky Forest Products and CEO of Tatanka Oyate Holdings.He said the threat of tariffs from the United States against Canadian wood products caused the group to slow the project.Tatanka Oyat Holdings, Wahpeton Dakota First Nation’s business development corporation, is one of the First Nations partners that make up One Sky Forest Products. Montreal Lake Business Ventures, Meadow Lake Tribal Council and Big River Cree Nation are also involved.“There’s a need. This mill will go ahead. We just need one in Prince Albert. It’s really important here for the whole health of the forest industry,” Fincati said. “It’s just a matter of timing. Any kind of rumors saying we’re not, is not true.”Fincati said a lot of the wood harvested in the area is going to waste and could be used to make pulp and OSB. The panels, used in building, are created by blending layers of wood strand with resin and then heating and pressing the compound into panels.“Once the pulp mill closed there was no place to take up any of the smaller diameter softwood or the hardwood, so there’s just all this wastage happening in the forest and big, big slash piles getting burned,” Fincati said.The exterior of the now defunct Prince Albert pulp and paper mill. (Lisa Risom/CBC)Brian Fehr, CEO of One Sky, estimated the construction costs of the OSB plant to be $500 million.“We hope that federal programs like Build Canada and programs for Indigenous investment will be useful for the project,” One Sky said in an email to CBC News.The OSB plant is expected to employ about 120 people at the mill and create another 120 jobs in harvesting and hauling wood, One Sky said. In 2024, One Sky received an allocation of 1.2 million cubic metres of timber from the province to ensure a supply of fibre for the mill.One Sky also received a permit for the plant’s construction, and the project’s environmental impact assessment was approved by the Ministry of Environment in 2022.The ministry said in a statement that it was pleased to see the purchase of the mill go through.”This is a positive development for the City of Prince Albert and the surrounding region,” the statement said.Saskatchewan has three large sawmills located in Meadow Lake, Big River and Carrot River; two oriented strand board mills located in Meadow Lake and Hudson Bay; and one pulp mill located in Meadow Lake. All of these mills are currently operating.ABOUT THE AUTHORLisa Risom has two decades of multimedia journalism experience in northeast Saskatchewan. She joined CBC Prince Albert in 2025.
Prince Albert pulp mill will not reopen, OSB plant still looking to build on the site
