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Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper is discontinuing its newsprint mill operations due to a decline in demand.
The company made the announcement Thursday morning, saying 150 people will be affected by the closure.
“Essentially there will be 150 fewer employees in the mill,” Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper CEO Norm Bush told CBC News on Thursday. “However, there will be a number of people whose jobs that will have been eliminated that will have bumping rights to other jobs in other locations in the mill.”
In a media release, Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper said North American demand for newsprint has fallen 40 per cent since the company was purchased by Atlas Holdings in 2022; there was an 18 per cent decline in North American newsprint demand in 2025 alone.
“The decline in the newsprint market is really the insurmountable factor that’s leading to this decision,” Bush said, adding that another “double-digit” decline is expected in 2026.
“That’s the fundamental reason for exiting the business,” he said. “The market is very soft and we’re not able to cover our costs of production.”
“We see absolutely no potential for a resurgence in newsprint,” Bush said. “Electronic substitution is carrying on unabated, and so we just see a a systemic decline in newsprint for the long term.”
The company says it’s working closely with local unions and all levels of government to ensure affected employees have access to employment transition supports.
“This is bad news, but our primary focus right now is to provide those support services for our employees who are impacted by this decision,” Bush said. “That’s what we’re going to be working on over the next couple of months.”
Company to operate as single-line Softwood Kraft mill
“This was a very difficult decision, and we know how deeply it affects our employees and their families. After more than 100 years of operating in the Thunder Bay community, we also understand that the impacts extend beyond the mill, affecting local businesses, Indigenous partners, and the broader region,” said Bush.
Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper will continue to operate as a single-line Softwood Kraft mill at its Neebing Avenue location in Thunder Bay and generate renewable energy for sale to the Ontario grid.
We will continue working with Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper to support their ongoing Kraft pulp production and the 300 workers at that facility.– Kevin Holland, Ontario’s associate minister of forestry and forest products
The company says in the months ahead, it will work with the federal and provincial governments to refine its plans for new investments in the Softwood Kraft Pulp mill. The paper machine will also be shuttered in a condition that could enable future conversion.
“We do have excellent paper machine facilities here,” Bush said. “They’re amongst some of the best in North America.”
“We are going to investigate whether it makes sense economically to produce something like liner board, which is like cardboard, or another product,” he said. “However, that is a long-term process, likely to take three or four years and several hundreds of million dollars.”
“I would say at this point we have no plans currently to do that, but we are planning to study that potential.”
Kevin Holland, MPP for Thunder Bay—Atikokan and associate minister of forestry and forest products, said his government is disappointed by the company’s decision to idle its newsprint facility.
“Ontario is ready to support affected workers, their families and the community, including setting up a Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response Centre to provide impacted workers with immediate access to wraparound supports,” reads a statement from Holland.
“We will continue working with Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper to support their ongoing Kraft pulp production and the 300 workers at that facility.”
In his statement, Holland said his government is calling on the federal government to deliver Ontario’s fair share of federal support announced for the sector last summer.
Thursday’s announcement follows a number of recent mill closures across northwestern Ontario.
The Ignace sawmill, owned by Domtar, is the latest mill in the region to face an impending shutdown. The facility is expected to begin idling in March and displace between 19 and 25 workers, according to the township.
Meanwhile, Interfor’s sawmill in Ear Falls has been shut down since October.
U.S. tariffs and a flat market have been cited as the reasons behind the indefinite shutdown of regional mills.
