Canada announced up to $11 million for modernization work at Conifex Timber Inc.’s Mackenzie sawmill, a project intended to lower production costs as the company faces reduced output and U.S. lumber duties.
The package comprises a $10 million repayable contribution and $1 million in non-repayable support through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI), delivered in British Columbia by Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan). Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson announced it on Oct. 28. Conifex said each portion is capped at those amounts and the company may receive some or none of the funding.
Planned spending covers modifications to transfer systems, upgrades to five kilns and added automated production machinery. The government says the work is intended to make production more efficient, improve product quality and lower costs.
The government says the Mackenzie facility supports hundreds of jobs, but its Oct. 28 announcement gave no estimate of positions the project would preserve. A Sept. 18 release from the Department of Finance Canada put Conifex’s direct employment at 260 jobs.
In its second-quarter 2026 report, Conifex said the mill’s curtailment began May 19 amid a shortage of available sawlogs during seasonal spring breakup. The company said the curtailment lasted beyond the roughly seven weeks first planned. Output reached 14.1 million board feet in the quarter, about 23% of annualized capacity.
Conifex also reported expensing $3.7 million in countervailing and anti-dumping duty deposits during the quarter, alongside a separate 10% U.S. Section 232 tariff on its lumber exports. U.S. Department of Commerce notices published Oct. 19 for the 2024 review period placed Conifex Fibre Marketing Inc. in the non-selected-company category. That category’s anti-dumping and countervailing rates were 10.64% and 14.11%, respectively.
The Department of Finance Canada highlighted a separate $30 million loan on Sept. 18. Conifex described it as up to $30 million through the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility. Canada expects to release its Forest Sector Strategy in November 2026; the mill announcement gave no completion date for the upgrades.
