Image Credit: Canadian Press

By Cheryl Jahn

Port strike impacting the local economy

Jul 12, 2023 | 3:14 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Canfor’s Northwood Pulp will be on curtailment as a direct result of the strike on BC’s ports. What does that mean? “And that means that all of the production will be stopping and will we only have a skeleton crew on, on staff at the facility,” explains Michelle Ward with Canfor. “So they’ll just be making sure that the facility is safe and being maintained. But the majority of the approximately 475 people that work at Northwood will be impacted by this curtailment, unfortunately.”

In a news release, Canfor noted the curtailment was due to “limited storage space for pulp products that cannot be transported overseas as a result of the ongoing labour dispute at B.C. ports. The downtime is expected to remain in place for the duration of the labour dispute.”

“About 70% of our pulp goes overseas through the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.” Canfor says, even if the port strike were resolved today, it would be challenging. For each day of the strike, five to seven days of backlog is created. And Canfor is just one company impacted by the port strike. Eventually, there will be a trickle-down effect, especially in a region like this where much of the goods we consume come by ship and/or truck.

“Imports and exports together make up more than half of our economy.”

Charles Scott says imports and exports together make up more than half of Canada’s economy and a protracted closure will soon be felt. “So if you’re turning around and all of a sudden discovering that those food items you’re used to that have always been there, that came from Chile aren’t there anymore because the ship couldn’t dock, you’re going to notice it.”

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In the meantime, Canfor will continue to bring in chips to stock up while the mill is shut down. I think it’s mostly a direct impact. Our hope is that the dispute is resolved quickly and that we can then decide when we can get back up and up and running. If it was a protracted dispute, I think the indirect impact would grow.

And the long-term impacts of the port strike could also impact Canada’s reputation with overseas customers, particularly Asian customers.