Ontario Investing More Than $5 Million to Create Good-Paying Forestry Jobs in Espanola

Provincial funding will advance work to upgrade and restart Espanola mill that could create 400 good-paying jobs and strengthen forestry supply chain

The Voice of Canada

The Ontario government is investing $5.1 million in Bioveld North to advance the engineering work needed to potentially restart the Espanola pulp mill. A successful restart would create a new regional anchor facility in northeastern Ontario, with the potential to create 400 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs. This Forest Biomass Program funding is part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario forestry workers in the face of recent U.S. tariff attacks by building a more resilient, innovative and diversified forest sector, ready to compete in global markets.

“Our government is delivering on our forest sector roadmap priorities with targeted funding to restore a critical economic engine in the region,” said Kevin Holland, Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. “Anchor mills are vital to the long-term success of Ontario’s forest sector, and this investment will help build a more competitive and resilient forest sector by unlocking new markets and new opportunities for growth in communities across the province.”

Ontario’s investment in evaluation and engineering work will help Bioveld develop a plan to restart the idled Espanola Pulp and Paper Mill and recommend efficiency and reliability upgrades to sharpen the facility’s competitive advantage. It will also advance forest sector innovation and build the facility’s resilience in changing markets by identifying opportunities to diversify mill operations into renewable fuels and other bioproducts.

“This investment reinforces our Roadmap to Protecting Ontario’s Forest Sector and commitment to the workers and communities that rely on a strong forest economy,” said Mike Harris, Minister of Natural Resources. “By supporting necessary work to begin the potential restart of the Espanola Mill, our government is helping create the conditions for job creation, stronger regional supply chains and support long-term economic growth across Northern Ontario.”

Revitalizing the mill will help anchor long-term growth in Ontario’s forest sector, with the potential to restore demand for up to 1.8 million cubic metres of sustainably sourced wood each year. Ontario’s early-stage funding for this major capital project is creating the conditions to attract private investments to modernize the forest sector and create substantial opportunities for harvesting, trucking, Indigenous businesses and regional service providers.

“Espanola has been the economic heartbeat of this region for more than a century. With Ontario’s support, we can complete the detailed design work to test the viability of bringing the mill back and reconnecting the sawmills, contractors and families who depend on it,” said Olga Patronik, Executive Project Coordinator, BMI Group. “Our vision goes beyond pulp and paper – a modernized Espanola can become a bioproduct hub that puts every part of the tree to work, from pulp and paper to biofuels, biochar, and other low-carbon products. We’re grateful to the province for backing a made-in-Ontario approach to rebuilding our forest economy.”

Investing in Bioveld North advances the Roadmap to Protecting Ontario’s Forest Sector, the government’s 10-year plan to Defend, Adapt and Grow the industry and maintain Ontario’s position as a G7 leader in making and selling forest products. The province will continue to make strategic investments that create and protect forestry jobs and ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Quick Facts

• Bioveld North Inc. (BNI) is a Canadian-owned subsidiary of the BMI Group, a company specializing in the restart and transformation of idled industrial facilities across North America. BNI acquired the former Domtar Espanola Mill in 2025 with the goal of restarting and modernizing the facility as the anchor of a new regional bioeconomy.
• The forest sector is an essential industry that generates close to $21 billion in business revenue and supports close to 155,000 jobs.
• The government released Roadmap to Protecting Ontario’s Forest Sector on April 28, setting out a 10-year plan to help the forest sector unlock new markets for next-generation forest products, protect forestry workers and ensure the sector remains strong for generations to come.
• Ontario’s Forest Biomass Program invests up to $20 million each year in projects that increase biomass usage, create forest sector opportunity and find new uses for wood in collaboration with stakeholders, industry and Indigenous communities.
• Since its 2023 launch, the Forest Biomass Program has committed more than $70 million in targeted investments to 68 projects, securing close to $260 million in additional external funding and creating more than 110 new jobs.

Quotes
“A significant investment from the province of Ontario will revitalize the community of Espanola while supporting workers, families, and the industry. Upgrades that improve efficiency and reliability will enhance competitiveness, create new opportunities, and strengthen the forestry industry’s long-term resilience.”

• Bill Rosenberg
  MPP, Algoma—Manitoulin

“The Forest Sector in Ontario is in critical need of an anchor facility such as is being proposed by Bioveld North. The Province’s investment demonstrates that Bioveld, the Town of Espanola and the surrounding region is best placed to develop that hub. The recently adopted Economic Diversification Strategy for the LaCloche Region, a project driven by the Town of Espanola, identifies the critical importance of developing a coordinated mass timber and biomass collaboration strategy, and we are very pleased and excited to see Bioveld and the Province leading this charge.”

• Douglas Gervais
  Mayor, Town of Espanola