NOMA, FONOM urge Ottawa and Queen’s Park to move “at lightspeed” on softwood dispute; U.S. tariffs intensify pressure on Northwestern Ontario communities

EAR FALLS / THUNDER BAY — The political fallout from Interfor’s indefinite shutdown of the Ear Falls sawmill deepened Friday, with Unifor calling for immediate tri-level government talks and Northern municipal leaders urging a rapid, united response to safeguard jobs across Northwestern Ontario.

The decision to shut down the Interfor sawmill in Ear Falls is seen as a dangerous precident for what has increasingly been an economic pillar in Northwestern Ontario for generations. The forest sector has provided good paying jobs for a long time, and while the pulp and paper sector has struggled as the world shifts from newsprint to digital news the softwood lumber market has still remained fairly strong.

“We’re well beyond warning signs in the forestry sector and are now seeing widespread job loss in response to the economic warfare waged by the United States,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “We are calling on municipal, provincial and federal governments to sit down with us immediately to develop a plan forward for our forestry workers, their families and the many communities that can only thrive if the forestry sector survives.”

The shutdown follows Washington’s new 10% Section 232 “national security” tariff on lumber, layered atop existing anti-dumping/countervailing duties that often push effective border costs for Canadian shipments into the mid-40% range. NetNewsLedger flagged this risk in late September when the White House confirmed the tariff action effective October 14, 2025.

Unions, Northern mayors: “No wait-and-see”

Unifor says recent closures—including Kap Paper in Kapuskasing—are compounding losses across rural Ontario.

“We can’t continue with a wait-and-see approach with the attacks on Canada’s forestry sector,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi. “If the Ear Falls sawmill isn’t safe, no forestry operation in this province is safe and we can’t sit and watch while Ontario loses a sector that provides more than 128,000 good-paying jobs.”

Unifor Local 324 represents 160 members at Ear Falls. The union wants a coordinated industrial strategy for tariff-exposed sectors that defends Canadian jobs, contests U.S. duties, and modernizes mills to compete long-term.

NOMA & FONOM back federal support, press for a durable deal

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) welcomed the statement from Minister Patty Hajdu (Jobs and Families; FedNor) reaffirming federal support for Kap Paper workers and families—calling it recognition of the forestry sector’s central role in the North’s economy.

“We appreciate Minister Hajdu’s leadership and the federal government’s continued attention to the challenges facing Kap Paper,” said Rick Dumas, NOMA President and Mayor of Marathon. “The North’s workers, businesses, and communities have proven time and again that when governments step up, they deliver.”

But both associations say urgency is paramount after Ear Falls:

“Now more than ever, we need the Government of Canada—led by Prime Minister Mark Carney—and the Province of Ontario, under Premier Doug Ford, to work at lightspeed to secure a fair and durable trade agreement with the United States that protects, strengthens, and rebuilds lasting economic viability for sawmills like Ear Falls and mills like Kap Paper,” said Dave Plourde, FONOM President and Mayor of Kapuskasing. “The people of Northern Ontario deserve stability and certainty—and we cannot afford to lose another cornerstone industry.”

NOMA and FONOM are urging federal, provincial, municipal, and Indigenous partners—alongside labour and industry—to build a long-term plan that safeguards jobs and fosters innovation across the North.

Why Ear Falls matters to the regional economy

With a 2021 population of 924, Ear Falls is a forestry-anchored township on the Highway 105 corridor, closely linked to the service and labour market of Red Lake (pop. ~4,094). Forestry and mining dominate the local economy, with tourism growing but still secondary.

The Interfor Ear Falls Division—a modern dimensional-lumber mill—has been a primary employer and purchaser of harvesting, hauling, maintenance, fuel, and fabrication services in the area. Curtailments ripple through contractors and retailers from Ear Falls to Red Lake, Dryden, and beyond.

The tariff squeeze: what’s changed

• Section 232 tariff (10%) now applies to lumber imports, justified by Washington as necessary to strengthen domestic wood-products capacity and “national security” supply chains. The White House

• This stacks on AD/CVD that the U.S. has levied on Canadian softwood for years—raising total border costs that many Canadian mills cannot absorb in a volatile market. NetNewsLedger’s September report warned combined charges could exceed 45% for some shipments.

What governments could do next (near-term options being floated)

• Crisis supports for workers & towns: expedited EI, income top-ups, skills/retraining, and bridge financing for small suppliers to prevent business failures during downtime.

• Trade & diplomacy: accelerate negotiations toward a durable softwood framework while pursuing legal challenges to U.S. duties.

• Cost relief & diversification: freight/logistics supports; incentives for value-added wood products; and market diversification (including Europe) paired with investments in the traceability/certification systems required by evolving EU rules.

• Mill modernization: targeted funding for energy efficiency, automation, and product diversification to weather price swings and meet new building-code markets.

The bottom line for Northwestern Ontario

Interfor’s shutdown in Ear Falls is more than a single-mill story—it’s a stress test for the North’s entire forestry value chain. Unifor, NOMA, and FONOM are aligned on one point: policy speed matters. Without swift, coordinated action, the region risks deeper job losses and long-term erosion of a pillar industry that has sustained Ear Falls, Red Lake, and surrounding communities for generations.

For context on how the new U.S. tariffs escalated the situation, see NetNewsLedger’s September analysis: “A Tariff Too Far: U.S. Slaps Section 232 Duties on Canadian Wood.” netnewsledger.com

Sources: White House Section 232 proclamation; Reuters tariff coverage; Statistics Canada 2021 Census; Chukuni/Red Lake–Ear Falls economic indicators; Interfor Ear Falls Division.