Logging giant Canfor announced Wednesday that it would close its sawmills in Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year.

It’s the latest blow to the beleaguered B.C. forestry sector, which has seen a wave of mill closures over the last few years.

Last year, numbers from Statistics Canada showed B.C. had lost more than 40,000 forest-sector jobs since the early 1990s.

Canfor blamed the mill closures, which it says will affect around 500 employees, on “increasing regulatory complexity, high operating costs and the inability to reliably access economically viable timber.”

Softwood lumber is pictured along the Fraser River in Richmond in April 2017. Canfor blamed the closures, in part, on increasing U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

The company also said recent “punitive” tariff hikes by the U.S. — which saw the country nearly double the duty on softwood lumber imported from Canada —  meant carrying on would have put other Canfor operations at risk.

“We are devastated by the decline in our province’s foundational forest industry, and we recognize the impact these closures will have on our employees and their families, as well as our First Nations partners, contractors, suppliers, communities and customers,” Canfor CEO Don Kayne said in a statement.

“We are committed to supporting our employees and will work with our union partners on an employee transition plan, including severance.”

Kayne said that the company had lost hundreds of millions of dollars in its B.C. operations in recent years.

“With the dramatic reduction in available timber supply, we will explore opportunities to divest some of our northern B.C. tenure, which may help support other B.C. forest companies facing the same significant challenges in accessing economic fibre,” he wrote.

Mayor, union president bemoan cuts

Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the city was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement.

“This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” she said in a statement.

Canfor, whose Vancouver offices are pictured here, said that around 500 jobs are affected by the latest mill closures. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Brian O’Rourke, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1-2017 in Prince George, B.C., said the job losses would hit hard for Vanderhoof and Fort St. John, communities of around 4,300 people and 21,000 people, respectively.

“In a lot of the smaller rural communities, it’s devastating because there are not really transferable jobs within the area,” he told CBC News.

O’Rourke pointed a finger for the continued mill closures at the provincial government, saying that logging was still a viable industry in B.C. even amid the continuing issue of access to economically usable wood.

“We had a forestry summit a number of months ago in Victoria where three of the largest unions, USW, PPWC and Unifor, came together, and we pointed out to the government all of the faults and things they needed to do,” the president said.

“And since that time, it’s been crickets. I have not had one call from any government officials, based on all the closures we’ve had since that point in time.”

The union president said that mill operators that close mills should not be able to sell their logging tenures — agreements that dictate areas where companies can log trees.

“That is not their tenure. That is belonging to the residents of British Columbia,” he said. “[Government officials] need to do something about that. Enough is enough.”

Forests Minister Bruce Ralston says the forest sector is a foundational part of B.C. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

In a statement, B.C. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the province was taking action to ensure there was a sustainable fibre supply for the forestry industry in B.C. following wildfires and a mountain pine beetle infestation that affected supplies.

The minister pointed to programs like the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund as ways the government is encouraging local forestry operations.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to increase punishing softwood lumber duties, on top of low prices for lumber, is hurting forestry communities,” Ralston said. “We will continue to fight unfair duties and stand up for forestry workers.”