Ottawa lends lumber company $100M to cope with tariff impacts

The federal government is extending a $100-million loan to help a lumber company in Western Canada cope with tariffs and trade uncertainty.

Finance Canada says it’s offering the funds to Millar Western Lumber Products, a company operating three lumber mills across Alberta and British Columbia, to help the company with near-term needs like rebuilding its log inventory.

Canada’s forest sector has been hit directly by steep U.S. tariffs but Finance Canada also says the domestic softwood lumber industry is struggling under the weight of global trade disputes.

Millar is primarily an exporter and employs some 420 workers and supports hundreds more through maintenance and consulting work.

Ottawa says the loan will help the company protect those jobs and adapt to changing market conditions.

Millar is one of just a handful of companies which have received money through Ottawa’s Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility — a $10-billion fund that’s also helping Ontario’s Algoma Steel retool its products away from customers in the United States.