Plans for OSB mill in Prince Albert still underway despite market uncertainty

“For more than 18 years the Sask. Pary has been telling the people of Prince Abert ‘a vote for the Sask. Party is a vote for the mill.’ It’s been nothing but a pack of lies.”

However, a source inside the OSB mill project told paNOW while they were in somewhat of a holding pattern because of the trade uncertainty with the United States, the board of directors of One Sky Forest Products had a meeting last week and made the unanimous decision not to cancel or shelve the project, but instead look at ways to move it along.

OSB is a versatile engineered wood panel, which is similar in strength and performance to plywood and is commonly used in home construction for roof, wall and floor sheathing.

Last September, the province issued a nearly 1.2 million cubic meter timber allocation to One Sky – which was formed in 2020 by several First Nations and partners. Shareholders include Montreal Lake Business Ventures, Meadow Lake Tribal Council, Big River First Nation and Tatanka Oyate Holdings. Those groups created a unified entity called Indigenous Forestry Investments (IFI) to represent their collective interest in the project.

The timber allocation meant the project could access the fibre necessary to go ahead, however, it was announced about five months prior to Canada’s trade war starting with the United States and things have only become more uncertain. On Monday, President Donald Trump hit Canadian lumber producers with an additional 10 per cent tariff. The ongoing battle of softwood lumber has made the market harder to predict going forward; the United States is the primary market for Canadian-produced OSB and U.S. housing starts have slowed significantly. While the mill project has been in a ‘holding pattern’ waiting for the trade war to settle, investors say it will continue.

“The decision could have gone either way last week…we could have decided to shelve the project or cancel it and we explicitly did not do that,” a spokesperson for One Sky investors told paNOW.

They added the timing of the project that was supposed to be completed in 2027 and provide 700 jobs, will depend on whether they can tap into financing support sooner rather than later.

Robert Fincati, CEO of Tatanka Oyate Holdings, which is the business arm of Wahepton Dakota Nation, said they are fully committed to the project.

“We think that there is a real need for a mill like this, and there are plenty of reasons to use residuals from the forest, so we’re here for the long term and we want to see this through.”

In an email on behalf of Minister of Energy and Resources Colleen Young, the government said it will continue to work closely with One Sky and remains committed to attracting a major forestry facility to Prince Albert.

“The timber allocations issued to One Sky to support their OSB mill remain valid; however, as with all timber allocations, there are requirements to proceed with construction and operations.

The lost, reckless, and dishonest NDP who had no mention of our resources in their last election platform only show up when it can score them political points.”

According to the Sask. NDP, Premier Scott Moe has one of the worst job creation records in Canada. In the last year, Federated Co-operatives’ renewable diesel facility and their canola crushing project in partnership with AGT has been put on hold, indefinitely. Viterra’s new canola crush plant is also now classified as “in limbo as of 2024” the NDP pointed out.

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teena.monteleone@pattisonmedia.com

by Teena Monteleone

Plans for OSB mill in Prince Albert still underway despite market uncertainty

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