In the small Quebec town of Témiscaming, the silence coming from a century-old paper mill has become a troubling sign of how deeply the Canada-U.S. trade war is affecting communities dependent on manufacturing. American-owned Rayonier Advanced Materials has suspended production at the facility, leaving most of its approximately 360 employees without their regular work as U.S. tariffs make an already difficult business environment increasingly unsustainable.
For residents, the consequences extend far beyond lost paycheques. The mill has supported generations of families, local businesses, and the community’s identity. Now, with no confirmed reopening date, residents are organizing an ambitious effort to regain local ownership and protect their town’s future. Their fight reflects a larger question confronting Canada: what happens when international trade disputes threaten the survival of entire communities?
A Shutdown That Was Announced, Delayed, Then Carried Out
The shutdown was not a sudden decision. In late August, Rayonier Advanced Materials, commonly known as RYAM, announced plans to suspend operations at its Témiscaming facility beginning September 15, 2026. The company cited new American tariffs and longstanding challenges facing the pulp and paper industry. Additional orders from Canadian customers provided a temporary reprieve, allowing production to continue into October. However, the final unionized employees completed their production shifts on October 4. For a community accustomed to seeing steam rising from the mill, the quiet smokestacks became a visible reminder of the economic uncertainty ahead.
RYAM described the situation as a temporary economic shutdown lasting for an indefinite period. That distinction matters because the company has not confirmed a permanent closure, but it also has not provided a restart date. Unifor reported approximately 300 workers off the job, with a smaller group remaining to maintain essential operations. The wastewater-treatment facility and one boiler were identified for continued operation. Those measures may help preserve the industrial complex, but they cannot replace the regular production work that supports so many local households. Every additional week without production raises questions about how quickly operations could eventually resume.
Hundreds of Workers Face Uncertainty in a Town of Just 2,368 People
The scale of the shutdown becomes clearer when compared with Témiscaming’s population. According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, the municipality had 2,368 residents. The BBC reported that most of the mill’s approximately 360 employees were out of work, while Unifor placed the number of workers immediately affected at around 300. Earlier industry reports used somewhat higher employment estimates, reflecting differences in which positions were counted. Regardless of the precise workforce total, the loss of production represents an enormous disruption for a community of this size, particularly when employees also come from neighbouring communities in Quebec and Ontario.
Some affected employees have received partial income support through government tariff-relief measures, while Unifor has worked with RYAM on federal Work-Sharing arrangements. Such support can ease immediate financial pressure, but uncertainty remains over how long workers will be away from their jobs. Resident Nadine Suley captured the emotional toll in an interview with the BBC, explaining that the mill represents more than employment. She described plans to participate in the local moose-hunting season, joking about the value of having meat available during financially difficult times. Beneath that humour is a serious concern shared by many households: losing the mill could eventually mean losing the community they have built their lives around.
Trump’s 50% Tariffs Strike at the Mill’s Largest Customer Base
The trade dispute intensified in August when the United States implemented additional tariffs of 50% on designated Canadian products under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The measures covered a wide range of goods, including certain wood and paper products, and applied even to covered products otherwise qualifying under the North American trade agreement. The Bank of Canada’s October assessment confirmed that the measures increased trade barriers despite most Canadian exports continuing to enter the United States tariff-free. For manufacturers whose products fall within the targeted categories, however, the financial consequences can be severe.
Témiscaming’s mill is particularly exposed because roughly three-quarters of its production is destined for American customers, according to BBC reporting. Its paperboard is used in everyday products, including frozen-food packaging and scratch-off lottery tickets. These may appear to be ordinary consumer materials, but they operate in competitive markets where substantial price increases can make Canadian suppliers less attractive. RYAM said the magnitude of the tariffs, combined with existing industry problems, left the business unable to operate under sustainable conditions. The challenge is therefore not simply finding replacement customers. It is finding enough profitable demand to support a complex manufacturing operation built around access to the United States.
The Mill Was Struggling Before the Latest Trade Dispute
Although American tariffs became the immediate trigger for October’s shutdown, RYAM’s financial disclosures show that the Témiscaming operation was already under significant pressure. In July 2024, the company suspended production at the site’s high-purity cellulose plant, a separate operation from the paperboard business affected by the latest shutdown. In early 2026, RYAM decided to permanently end dissolving wood pulp production there. Its financial filings recorded millions of dollars in related costs and asset adjustments, demonstrating that the industrial complex had been undergoing substantial changes long before the newest American trade measures arrived.
The remaining paperboard and high-yield pulp operations were facing their own difficulties. RYAM reported that sales in this business segment declined approximately 8% during the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. The company also recognized a US$13-million impairment related to its high-yield pulp assets, citing weaker market conditions and reduced cash-flow expectations. Competition from newer American production capacity and softer demand for packaging materials had already weakened the business. Tariffs added another financial obstacle to an operation that needed improved market conditions, not additional barriers.
The Economic Damage Is Spreading Beyond the Factory Gates
The financial consequences of the shutdown are not confined to employees who collect paycheques from RYAM. Forestry operations depend on an interconnected network of logging companies, trucking businesses, equipment providers, maintenance contractors, and local suppliers. When a large mill stops purchasing materials and services, businesses throughout that network can lose work almost immediately. One local contractor told the BBC that he had already laid off 13 employees. Such losses illustrate how the true number of people affected can extend well beyond the mill’s reported workforce, particularly in a region where industrial activity crosses the Quebec-Ontario boundary.
Housing and essential services are also emerging as concerns. The BBC reported homes displaying sale signs and residents worrying about declining property values, although those observations do not establish a measured town-wide price decline. Families considering relocation must weigh the possibility of finding work elsewhere against leaving behind homes that may become difficult to sell. Local businesses face a similar dilemma: fewer employed customers generally mean less spending. Residents also fear that a shrinking population could eventually make it harder to retain health-care workers and other important services. These remain potential consequences rather than confirmed departures, but the uncertainty itself is already shaping decisions.
A Remarkable Rescue in 1973 Gives Residents Reason to Hope
Témiscaming has faced an existential industrial crisis before, and its history explains why residents are unwilling to accept the present shutdown as inevitable. The town traces its origins to the arrival of Riordon Pulp and Paper in 1918. Designed partly around the Garden City concept, it developed as a company community where industrial employment, housing, and public life were closely connected. When Canadian International Paper closed the mill in 1972, workers and local leaders confronted the possibility that the economic foundation of their hometown could disappear. Rather than simply abandon the facility, they organized an effort to purchase and reopen it.
That campaign succeeded in 1973, creating Tembec, which eventually developed into an international forest-products company. Frank Dottori, an engineer who helped organize the effort and later became Tembec’s chief executive, recalled employees accepting a 10% pay reduction as part of the rescue. It was an extraordinary sacrifice, but it reflected their belief that retaining the factory was worth fighting for. RYAM later acquired Tembec in 2017, bringing the mill back under American ownership. Today’s residents see the earlier buyout as evidence that local determination can change a town’s fortunes, although the modern financial and trade challenges are considerably different.
Workers, Local Managers and First Nations Want to Buy the Mill
On October 9, Unifor announced that a Canadian coalition involving local mill managers, unionized employees, and First Nations was pursuing the purchase of RYAM’s Témiscaming facility. The proposal would return decision-making to stakeholders with direct ties to the region. Unifor national president Lana Payne endorsed the initiative, while Quebec director Daniel Cloutier emphasized the importance of preserving industrial expertise and the suppliers that depend on the operation. The announcement marked a significant shift in the community’s response, moving beyond demands for government assistance toward the possibility of a locally controlled business.
A successful purchase, however, would require far more than a willing group of buyers. The coalition would need to determine the facility’s value, negotiate acceptable terms with RYAM, secure financing, and demonstrate that restarted production could become commercially sustainable. Access to American customers, the cost of maintaining equipment, and opportunities for new products would all matter. As of October 31, no completed sale, agreed purchase price, or confirmed financing package had been announced. RYAM declined to comment to the BBC about prospective buyers. The coalition remains an active rescue effort rather than a finalized transaction, but for workers confronting an indefinite shutdown, that possibility has become an important source of hope.
Hundreds Rally as Residents Demand Action to Save Their Jobs
On October 16, hundreds of people gathered near the shuttered Témiscaming mill to demonstrate that the community was not prepared to give up. The rally formed part of Unifor’s national forestry day of action, which brought demonstrations to more than 35 communities across Canada. Against the backdrop of the idle factory and the cold wind coming off the Ottawa River, workers, local leaders, and residents urged governments to respond more urgently to the forestry industry’s difficulties. Their message went beyond the immediate shutdown: preserving jobs requires protecting the industrial capacity that allows communities to survive.
Unifor Local 233 president Stéphane Lefebvre, whose father and grandfather also worked at the mill, has become one of the leading voices in the campaign. Témiscaming Mayor Alain Gauthier, Wolf Lake First Nation Chief Lisa Robinson, and Kipawa Mayor Norman Young also participated in the rally. Robinson emphasized the longstanding connections between the mill, its workers, and nearby First Nations communities. The gathering demonstrated considerable local support, but it also exposed a difficult reality. Public solidarity can bring attention to a threatened factory, yet reopening it will ultimately require negotiations, financing, and sufficient demand for its products.
Ottawa Offers Forestry Support, but Local Leaders Want More
The federal government maintains that it is responding to the forestry industry’s challenges. In June, Ottawa announced an additional $400 million for regional development agencies to support the sector’s transformation. That included $300 million through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative and $100 million for a new regional development fund. The Business Development Bank of Canada also introduced financing options intended to help eligible forestry businesses, including pulp and paper producers. A spokesperson for Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told the BBC that the government was working with the parties involved in Témiscaming to identify a financially responsible solution.
Local leaders argue that broader programs are not enough unless assistance reaches threatened operations in time to make a difference. In a September statement, Mayor Gauthier called for direct, non-repayable support for developing new products and markets, as well as financial measures from Quebec. He has also advocated Canadian counter-tariffs on competing American paperboard imports. Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire criticized what he sees as insufficient federal action. The disagreement reflects a fundamental policy challenge: governments want to support viable manufacturers without indefinitely subsidizing struggling businesses, while residents fear that lengthy assessments and negotiations could allow an economically important factory to deteriorate beyond recovery.
Winter Is Approaching, and the Window for Saving the Mill Could Narrow
The Témiscaming shutdown has become part of a broader national debate over which Canadian industries receive assistance during the trade war. On October 21, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced an $8.7-billion action plan focused on steel, automotive manufacturing, and critical minerals. The package included $2.5 billion for automotive capital projects and more than $5 billion for steel initiatives. These investments address major employment and industrial concerns, but they also highlight the scale of support available to other sectors. In Témiscaming, workers are asking whether forestry-dependent communities will receive comparable attention when their economic futures are threatened.
Time is another growing concern. Residents interviewed by the BBC worry that freezing winter temperatures could damage machinery and complicate efforts to restart production if the facility is not properly maintained. Recent American tariff exemptions for selected Canadian goods have offered some encouragement, but the changes have not covered the Témiscaming mill’s products. For the community, a sustainable rescue would ideally involve both a viable ownership arrangement and improved access to customers. Neither outcome is guaranteed. Yet the town’s history offers a compelling reminder of what organized workers and local leaders can accomplish. More than five decades after one successful rescue, Témiscaming is confronting another fight to preserve its industry, its livelihoods, and its future.
