One of the largest lumber companies in Canada is transferring its “corporate and functional support operations” from British Columbia to Georgia amid ongoing tariffs imposed on the industry by the United States.
Interfor Corporation plans to shift most of its executive power from Burnaby to southern Metro Atlanta, according to an internal memo from the company that was obtained by the Financial Post.
The memo penned by company president and CEO Ian Fillinger announced the firm’s plans to move its primary executive, corporate, and back-office support functions from its long-time B.C. headquarters to Peachtree City, which is located on the outskirts of Georgia’s capital.
Interfor has had a location in Peachtree City for 12 years, serving as a central base for Interfor’s southern operations. Interfor has not announced a formal change to its legal corporate headquarters in Burnaby, however, despite the southward shift to that office.
The July 9 memo says the company intends to have a “continued West Coast presence” as a component of its multi-year operational strategy, and plans to manage the gradual transition to a U.S. corporate support hub primarily through attrition and future recruitment strategies.
“There are no layoffs planned as part of this announcement, and your employment with Interfor continues unchanged,” Fillinger told employees in the memo. “At the same time, this announcement does not restrict relocation, role-location, or organizational decisions made in the normal course of business, which will continue to follow existing processes.”
The memo did not indicate which jobs would be relocated south of the border and Interfor did not respond to requests for comment about whether it intends to transfer its corporate headquarters to the United States.
Approximately 75 percent of Interfor’s operations are located in the Central, Eastern, and Atlantic time zones, while British Columbia is on Pacific time.
Fillinger said the changes outlined in the memo are intended to bring the company’s support functions closer to business operations, improving service to mills and customers.
Interfor operates 28 operations and offices in North America, according to its website. The company reports having a total workforce of 4,000 employees with roughly 1,500 to 1,700 located in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.
The remainder of the employees are in the United States, which is where Interfor sells more than 80 percent of its product.
Lumber Tariffs
Interfor and other lumber companies have faced cumulative pressures due to U.S. softwood lumber tariffs and ongoing market difficulties since last spring. This includes longstanding anti-dumping and countervailing duties as well as a 10 percent Section 232 levy.
The tariffs combined with weak housing demand have led some lumber companies to cut back on operations.
Interfor idled two Northern Ontario sawmills in April, citing weak market conditions and U.S. softwood lumber tariffs, putting more than 200 forestry jobs at risk.
Canfor this week announced plans to permanently close its sawmill in Fox Creek, Alta. The Vancouver company cited ongoing weak market conditions, consistently high U.S. softwood lumber duties and tariffs, as well as fibre supply challenges stemming from recent wildfires and the end of the mountain pine beetle management strategy.
B.C. Premier David Eby has expressed frustration that support for the softwood lumber industry was not included in Ottawa’s $1.5 billion relief package for tariff-hit industries.
He said while Canada’s steel, aluminum and copper sectors received help from the government, lumber was ignored.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take really to get the bureaucrats and the ministers in Ottawa to recognize that softwood lumber employs more people in Canada than steel and auto parts combined,” Eby said during a May 4 press conference. “It is a massive industry. In British Columbia, it is being decimated by completely unfair tariffs out of the United States, which includes tariffs on value-added products.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said later that day the differing tariffs and their unique influences on industries require that the relief packages be customized to meet those specific needs, and that help was coming.
Some of that support was announced on July 28, when Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced a $60 million loan to wood processing and forestry company Arbec Bois d’œuvre Inc. through the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility.
He did not say if similar funding would be offered to other companies.
