Canfor's Northwood pulpmill closure cuts 300 jobs as $4B Enbridge project seeks 1,300 workers
What's the deal? CanforDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is closing its Northwood pulpmill near Prince George–Lheidli T'enneh, cutting about 300 jobs. The closure was announced days before EnbridgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → unveiled a $4 billion pipeline project in the same region.
Why now? The two announcements land within days of each other, raising hopes among officials that displaced pulpmill workers can transition to the new project. Enbridge estimates its Sunrise Expansion Program will create about 1,300 local jobs.
What's the endgame? Enbridge's chief executive officer Greg EbelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and executive vice-president of gas transmission Matthew Akman launched the project on Monday July 20 at the BCR site. The program installs pipeline expansion loops on the existing Westcoast Transmission System, roughly between McLeod Lake and Hixon. Enbridge estimates it will add $3 billion to national GDP.
What could go wrong? Filling 1,300 roles is a challenge. The obvious local training institution, the College of New Caledonia, made more than 100 workforce cuts over the past two years.
BC minister of jobs and economic development Ravi Kahlon voiced the concern directly: "Quite frankly the thing that stresses me out most from all the economic development, is how are we going to train enough people up for those opportunities."
What's the backstory? Enbridge has struggled for traction in the region since its Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal was cancelled in 2016. In 2018, a company gas pipeline ruptured in Shelley, 15km from Prince George's city centre, producing a fireball visible for kilometres.
The company has also flagged risks tied to "man camps" — the temporary influx of male workers on industrial projects. Its Community Gender Safety Plan fosters cultural awareness, incorporates human trafficking prevention, and outlines codes of conduct.
The signal: The project moved from approval to groundbreaking in three months, a pace federal minister of energy and natural resources Tim Hodgson tied to a broader shift: "The Sunrise Expansion project has gone from approval to groundbreaking in just three months, showing how in 2026 Canada has gone from delay to delivery." For Prince George–Lheidli T'enneh, the question is whether a workforce losing pulpmill jobs can be retrained fast enough to fill the pipeline ones.
Read more: Frequency News
Image credit: npcaonline
