FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Campbell River, B.C. — Atli Chip LP has announced the imminent closure of the Beaver Cove Chip Facility in March 2026. The facility processed wood chips and supplied mills throughout Vancouver Island and Coastal British Columbia.
Following the December 2025 closure announcement of the Domtar Crofton Pulp Mill, the flow of fibre across coastal British Columbia was altered, removing the market for Atli Chip LP’s processing services. Unfortunately, this is another sign of the crisis facing BC forestry, after nearly 10 years of NDP policies that have left the industry on the brink of collapse.
“This is just incredibly heartbreaking. My heart goes out to the employees of the Atli Chip Plant in Beaver Cove, just outside Port McNeill, who will be losing their jobs less than a month after Christmas,” MP Gunn remarked. “I know the workers at Atli are frustrated and angry. I am angry too. These job losses and this mill closure are a direct result of the NDP’s failed policies. The chip plant was producing chips for the recently closed Crofton Pulp Mill – now that the pulp mill is gone, forced into closure by NDP permitting delays and fibre restrictions, the chip plant had no option but to shut down. Another example of the interconnectedness of BC’s forest sector that is reeling due to a series of ideological NDP policies, and a federal government that has done nothing but sit back and watch as the industry teeters toward collapse.”
Aaron Gunn, MP, continues to be a fighter for the coastal BC forestry industry. Most recently, in November 2025, MP Gunn joined Jeff Kibble, MP, in signing a letter urging the Eby government to act to support the forestry industry.
In September 2025, he held a press conference on the steps of the BC Legislature with Anna Kindy, MLA, mayors, and municipal councillors, urging Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby to save the coastal BC forestry industry. In response, the Hon. Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, said, “To further support fibre supply and forest sector jobs, we have launched new fibre recovery projects. This includes work with the Atli Chip Plant in Beaver Cove, through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), recovering thousands of truckloads of fibre that would otherwise be wasted.” However, today’s closure announcement shows that this effort was no more than empty words and another failed NDP forestry policy.
The federal Liberals have failed to secure market access for our forestry products, while the provincial NDP have introduced land title uncertainty, permitting delays and activist-driven, anti-forestry policies. If the Liberal and NDP governments do not change course, the coastal BC forestry industry faces the possibility of total collapse.
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Media:
Joshua Kroker, Chief of Staff
(613) 992-2503