120 full-time jobs coming for northern Sask. OSB production plant
The Government of Saskatchewan has approved a timber allocation for One Sky Forestry Products to advance the development of an oriented strand board (OSB) plant in the Prince Albert area.
The move will provide the company with timber for the plant, with the remainder of the wood sourced from other mills and Indigenous and private logging companies.
"We have been working with our Saskatchewan investors and First Nations partners for over a year to get to this point and are eager to move to the next phase of project development,” said One Sky founder and board chair Brian Fehr in a news release.
The facility will cost $250 million to build, said One Sky Forest Products vice-president of projects Erik Munck.
One Sky plans to start construction in 2022 and open in fall 2023.
Contracting opportunities for local trades will be available during construction, as well as in the ongoing operation of the OSB facility, said Munck.
Once complete, the OSB plant will have about 120 full-time positions.
Munck estimated the Prince Albert operation will create about another 700 forestry sector jobs in logging, transportation and the service industry.
He said the company has a “priority of hiring a predominantly Indigenous workforce."
The company has partnered with Peak Renewables, local investors and 12 First Nations represented by Montreal Lake Business Ventures, Meadow Lake Tribal Council together with Big River First Nation and Wahpeton Dakota Developments.
“As an investor in the One Sky Forest Products OSB Facility, Wahpeton Dakota Developments looks forward to contributing to the creation of new jobs and business opportunities in the Prince Albert region,” says Cy Standing, chair of Wahpeton Dakota Developments.
The company is also sourcing fiber through agreements with First Nations and other forestry businesses located in the Prince Albert region.
The facility will have the capacity to produce 600 million square feet of OSB per year.
One Sky said the plant will need 845,000 cubic metres of timber per year to reach its quantity production targets.
"The One Sky project will help achieve the ambitious goal in our growth plan to double the province's forestry sector by 2030,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre.
In 2020, more than $1.1 billion worth of Saskatchewan forest products were sold – an almost 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.