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Aid package prompts companies to resume harvesting on Quebec’s North Shore

On the last day of August, three forest products companies reached an agreement with the Quebec government which ends the so-called forestry crisis in Quebec’s North Shore region. For most of the summer, several companies operating in the area had removed their equipment and ceased logging, citing higher costs.

The Quebec government has announced a package of aid measures to the three companies to compensate them for the economic consequences and loss of value attributed to a spruce budworm infestation. The assistance is said to include operational measures, technical support and financial aid, for Resolute Forest Products, Boisaco and Arbec (Port Cartier).

Quebec’s minister of forests, Laurent Lessard, says the deal “decreases the competitive gap between the North Shore and other regions.”

Resolute’s president and CEO, Richard Garneau, told media the aid package will allow the company to put certain logging areas back into production more quickly.

One of the aid measures is a temporary rebate on electricity rates for Resolute’s paper mills in Baie-Comeau and Clermont, Que.

Over the longer term, the government will assist forest products operations in Quebec’s North Shore region to modernize and diversify.