PRINCE ALBERT - Timber allocations have been approved for the $250 million One Sky Forest Products Ltd. mill in Prince Albert.
According to a provincial news release, the mill will have a capacity of 600 million square feet (3/8-inch basis) of oriented strand board annually, requiring approximately 845,000 m3 of timber. Timber is allocated through the Ministry of Energy and Resources under The Forest Resources Management Act.
The province is allocating the majority of the timber while the remainder will be secured by the company through commercial agreements with other mills, Indigenous timber allocation holders and private landowners. They will be producing performance-rated OSB sheathing which is a preferred wall, roof and sub-floor sheathing material.
Once completed it is anticipated One Sky's production facility will create upwards of over 700 jobs in northern Saskatchewan.
"Forestry is northern Saskatchewan's largest sector and supports nearly 8,000 jobs and hundreds of businesses," Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said in a statement.
"We are extremely pleased with today's announcement from the Government of Saskatchewan awarding One Sky Forest Products and our partners the fibre tenures necessary to move our project forward," One Sky founder and chair of the board Brian Fehr said in a statement. "We have been working with our Saskatchewan investors and First Nations partners for over a year to get to this point and are eager to move to the next phase of project development."
"Saskatchewan's growing forestry sector is supported by abundant ecosystems that cover more than half of our province," Environment Minister Warren Kaeding said in a news release. "We welcome sustainable developments and will work with industry partners to ensure that our forests continue to be well managed, healthy and sustained over the long term."
