About 500 people are being laid off at cedar mills on Vancouver Island due to the impact of US softwood lumber duties.
The layoffs at Port Alberni, to take effect from October 7 and lasting for a month, affect Weyerhaeuser‘s Somass mill and several smaller plants with which it works.
The Somass mill, which exports half of its red cedar to the US, expects about 250 workers to be laid off. It says the US duties totalling 31.2% have had a “devastating” impact on western red cedar operations.
Weyerhaeuser and Norske Canada are the town’s two biggest employers.
