Page 92 employed 57000 directly and an other 172000 indirectly 2017 in Ontario The forest sector is a critical part of Northern Ontario s economic backbone and has been support ing families and communities for generations said Jenny T allman Chair of CCSIC a committee dedicated to fostering understand ing and supporting the growth of sustainable forest management through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program across Ontario and Manitoba CCSIC adds its voice to the It T akes a Forest ini tiative to help raise awareness on the environmental social and economic wealth that public for ests ofer There are three pulp and paper mills in Northwestern Ontario Resolute Forest Products is lo cated in Thunder Bay Domtar in Dryden Ontario and A V T errace Bay Inc in T errace Bay Ontario These mills produce an array of paper products In addition Northwestern Ontario is home to composite mills like W eyerhauser in Kenora and Nor bord in Barwick Composite mills make board panels and other lum ber products from chips wafers fakes and sawdust By far the largest component of the region s forestry industry are its numerous sawmills There were 26 sawmills operating in North western Ontario as of February 2019 Among the large sawmills Resolute Forest Products oper ates sawmills in Ignace Atikokan and Thunder Bay along with sev eral contractors Eacom T imber operates in Ear Falls Sawmills operate in Kenora Longlac Fort Frances and other communities to mention a few As in the mining sector the forest ry sector has implemented innova tive agreements with Indigenous communities Nakina Lumber and the Agoke Lumber Limited Part nership ALLP developed a joint ventre to reopen the Nakina lum ber mill It has a goal of hiring 75 percent Indigenous workers The Agoke Lumber Limited Partner ship consists of the Aroland Ea bametoon and Marten Falls First Nations An innovative development in for estry is the opening of bio prod uct mills that use forest products to create electricity by cogenera tion utilizing wood and other plant waste to produce wood pellets used to generate energy The Whitesands First Nations lo cated near Armstrong Ontario has formed the Sagatay Cogeneration Limited Partnership LP and Sa gaty W ood Pellets LP facility will consume more than 5000 cubic metres of forest resources per year and will also produc e wood pellets for use in wood stoves The operations are located in an industrial park called the BioEner gy Centre In Atikokan BioPower Sustainable Energy Corpo ration plant produc es commercial grade wood pel lets which are used at the Ontario Power Generation plant nearby In May 2019 FPInnovations and Resolute Forest Products Inc opened a new bioplant in Thun der Bay with the capacity to treat 100 metric tons of bioma ss an nually The biorefnery pilot plant produces lignin and sugars for use in the development of innovative bioproducts such as wood adhe sives animal feed and compos ites I want to commend FPInnova tions and Resolute Forest Prod ucts on creating a unique partner ship that helps our city and the entire region continue to build a strong value added forestry sector as well as a green economy said Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro This project in its initial phases has created a number of jobs and has the potential to become a key employer in our region in the fu ture Mayor Mauro added The ability of Northwestern On tario to grow in mining and for estry and every other aspect of creating thriving communities is the skilled construction industry The Construction Association of Thunder Bay represents over 214 professional builders specialty trade contractors manufacturers suppliers design consulta nts and infrastructure builders active in Northwestern Ontario The con struction industry builds and main tains roads new mines and mills stores and homes that shape the communities Canadian T radeEx and its industry partners are proud to host the largest ever show case of natural resources that bring economic prosperity to Northwestern Ontario Stay tuned for more developments about a truly unique experi ence that will showcase the mining forestry and con struction sectors of North western Ontario FOREST INDUSTR Y A CRITICAL P ART OF ONT ARIOS ECONOMIC BACKBONE Page 90