Powell River Paper Mill

 paper mill  Add category

 Upload a photo

Now owned by Catalyst Paper, it began operation in 1912 as the Powell River Company and was the first newsprint mill in Western Canada. In those early years, the division produced 109 tonnes of newsprint a day on two machines for newspaper publishers in Vancouver and Seattle. The mill grew over the years and by the 1950s had become the world's largest newsprint mill, producing over 1800 tonnes a day (representing 5% of the world's newsprint production) with 8 paper machines. A sawmill (called a woodroom) and Kraft pulp mill were also in operation for many years. At its peak, the mill employed over 2000 workers.

Powell River Division is now a leading producer of high-quality newsprint (30,000 tonnes annually) and uncoated mechanical specialty papers (449,000 tonnes). Specialty papers are used in catalogues, magazines, newsletters, inserts, flyers and high-volume weekend newspaper magazines in North America, Latin America and Asia. The mill had 381 employees at the end of 2009.

www.catalystpaper.com/about/our-facilities/powell-river