Government of Canada supports the forestry sector through an investment in new innovative and environmentally friendly products and processes

Investment will help develop innovative pulp and paper products and usage while creating and maintaining 743 jobs in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Brompton, Quebec

CORNER BROOK, NL, May 23, 2019 /CNW/ - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Environmental leadership and economic growth go hand in hand. The Government of Canada recognizes the opportunities offered by clean technologies in Canada's forestry sector. Investing in the use of clean resources to produce bio-based products helps secure good middle-class jobs, while protecting the environment for future generations.

Today, Gudie Hutchings, Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced an investment of $13.8 million in Kruger Inc., for work in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Brompton, Quebec. The company transforms renewable wood resources into sustainable, high-quality products, such as newsprint and specialty paper for food and other packaging.

This announcement will support Kruger's investment of over $27.5 million. In Corner Brook, the company will install a new system to dry low-quality biomass, usually sent to landfills, and use it to produce energy for the plant, thus limiting the use of fossil fuels it needs to operate. In Brompton, it will implement a state-of-the-art facility to produce the first-of-its-kind, biodegradable, 100% recycled paper approved for direct food contact that restaurants could use—for example—to wrap hamburgers.

This project will help create and maintain 743 jobs, and it will create 176 new co-op positions in post-secondary institutions. It will also generate new opportunities, facilitate access to new markets, reduce waste sent to landfills, and reduce water use by 50%. Thanks to this investment, Kruger will avoid burning 48,000 barrels of oil each year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25,000 tons annually.

This federal investment is being made through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a program designed to attract and support high-quality business investments in Canada's most dynamic and innovative sectors.

Quotes

"I am proud that our government supports a Canadian company working to make its plants more sustainable and environmentally friendly. I am proud that our workers right here in Corner Brook and the outlying areas can contribute to these efforts while having a well-paying middle-class job and contributing to their community."
– Gudie Hutchings, Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains

"Our government's investment in Kruger is helping to advance greener production that will reduce the industry's carbon footprint and create good middle-class jobs in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks to this project, we will transform how we harness the bio-economy and use clean resources to make innovative pulp and paper products."
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

"Thanks to the support of the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund, these investments will have a positive, long-term impact in terms of providing opportunities for future development in growing markets, consolidating hundreds of existing jobs while creating new ones, and reducing our carbon footprint very significantly. We're very proud to be investing in Canada's circular economy."
– Stéphane Lamoureux, Vice President, Operations, Publication Papers & Specialty Papers, Kruger Inc. 

Quick facts

• Founded in 1904 and based in Montréal, Kruger is a fourth-generation family company that now operates 13 production facilities across Canada and owns 38 green energy power plants. The company is a North American leader in the recycling of paper and paperboard. It is also a major player in the market of bathroom and facial paper.
• The Corner Brook plant is the last pulp and paper mill in Newfoundland and Labrador.
• The Strategic Innovation Fund includes a $100 million envelope focused on providing support to the forest sector.
• In addition to the Strategic Innovation Fund, there are hundreds of programs and services to help businesses innovate, create jobs and grow Canada's economy. With its simple, story-based user interface, the Innovation Canada platform can match businesses with the most fitting programs and services in about two minutes.

Associated links

• Strategic Innovation Fund

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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Dani Keenan, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic, Development, 343-291-1710; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]