Canadian mill closes after 70 years on Vancouver Island | CTV News Vancouver Island | April 7, 2026

>> THIS IS CTV NEWS WITH

NAFEESA KARIM.

>> THE THE HEARTBEAT OF THE

COWICHAN VALLEY FOR FOR

DECADES.

>> PUNCHING OUT ONE LAST TIME,

THE CROFTON MILL CLOSES ITS

DOORS TODAY. WHAT COULD COME

NEXT FOR THE MILL SITE.

>> I WANT TO BRING THE CITY

BACK TO LIFE AS QUICKLY AS WE

CAN, BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY

NEEDS US. WE NEED THIS IS HUMAN

BEINGS.

>> THE PLAYGROUND COMES DOWN AS

COMMUNITY MEMBERS RISES UP.

THE EFFORT UNDERWAY TO REBUILD

A BURNED DOWN PLAYGROUND IN

VICTORIA. PLUS, ADAM FINDS OUT

HOW A SOUP WOMAN DRIVING A CAR

WITH COW WARNS SAVED AN INJURED

SQUIRREL. LATER ON THE SAWATSKY

SIGNOFF. GOOD EVENING. THANK

YOU FOR JOINING US. WE BEGIN

TONIGHT IN CROFTON, WHERE TIME

HAS RUN OUT FOR HUNDREDS OF

PEOPLE AND THE INDUSTRY THEY

SUPPORT THE LAST CROFTON MILL

WORKERS ARE PUNCHING OUT TODAY

FOREVER. THE MILL NOW FULLY

SHUTTERED. CTV'S ANDY GARLAND

HAS MORE ON THE EMOTIONAL AND

TO AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY.

>> ITS THE END OF AN ERA AT

THE CROFTON MILL. TODAY IS THE

LAST DAY OF OPERATIONS. THERE

MAY BE 50 BILL. WORKERS ON SITE

WILL BE PUNCHING OUT FOR THE

LAST TIME, PROBABLY DOING A

LITTLE BIT REMINISCE. I WOULD

IMAGINE. IT'S A PRETTY SOMBRE

PLACE TO BE THE MILLS IN

OPERATION FOR 70 YEARS AND

EMPLOYED ROUGHLY 1800 PEOPLE AT

ITS PEAK. IT'S BEEN.

>> THE THE HEARTBEAT OF THE

COWICHAN VALLEY FOR FOR

DECADES. BIGGEST SINGLE

TAXPAYER HERE IN NORTH

COWICHAN. AND IT'S IT'S NOT

GOING TO RECOVER FROM

OVERNIGHT, THAT'S FOR SURE.

NORTH COWICHAN'S MAYOR ROB

DOUGLAS SAYS THE MUNICIPALITY

HAS BEEN FACILITATING SUPPORTS

FOR THE ROUGHLY 350 WORKERS

AFFECTED SINCE DECEMBER.

WHEN THE MILLA KNOWS IT WOULD

PERMANENTLY SHUT DOWN AND OR

SENT SOME OF THEM HAVE FOUND

NEW OR GET NEW TRAINING.

BUT THERE ARE OTHERS WHO ARE

WHO ARE SLIPPING THROUGH THE

CRACKS.

>> PARTICULARLY WITH THE

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS.

THE OWNER, DOUG PARR HAS BLAMED

LACK OF FIBRE FOR THE CLOSURE.

THE UNION SAYS THERE WOULD BE

ENOUGH FIBRE OF RAW LOGS WERE

NOT EXPORTED, WHICH IS

CURRENTLY BEING DONE AT THE

CROFTON MILL COULD BE PROCESS

HERE IN OUR SAWMILLS HERE AND

THE PULP MILLS COULD ACTUALLY

GET THAT REFUGE FIBRE AND THEN

THAT REFUGE 5 OR WOULD EMPLOY.

>> THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HERE ON

THE COAST AT NEXT WEEK'S

COUNCIL MEETING NORTH COUCH

AND WILL BE CONSIDERING A

RESOLUTION REGARDING RAW-BLOC

EXPORTS, WHETHER OR NOT REACH

OUT TO THE PROVINCE AND THE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO LOOK FOR

SUMMIT.

>> SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS SOME

OF THE CHALLENGES WITH THE ROLE

OF EXPERTS. A SMALL MAINTENANCE

CREW WILL STAY ON AFTER TODAY

TO TAKE CARE OF ANY

ENVIRONMENTAL OBLIGATIONS.

WE ARE HOPING THAT SOMETHING

DOES HAPPEN WITH IT, WHETHER

IT'S, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER POLL,

PAPER OPERATION OF SOME AND

OTHER INDUSTRIAL USE. THE MAYOR

ADDS THAT HAD DOZENS OF

POTENTIAL INVESTORS INTERESTED

IN THE CRAFT OF MILL SITE,

ENDING THEIR OWN CTV NEWS

CRAFTED.

>> THE TROUBLES FOR B.C.

FERRIES CONTINUED THROUGH THE

WEEKEND, LEADING ONE ISLAND

MAYOR TO VOICE HIS FRUSTRATION.

B.C. FERRIES CANCEL 6 SAILINGS

ON THE SO AWESOME TO DUKE POINT

NANAIMO ROUTE MONDAY DUE TO

VESSEL TROUBLE TO EVENING

SAILINGS BETWEEN SWARTZ BAY

AND SON WERE ALSO CANCELLED

BECAUSE OF WEATHER. AND WILL,

THE COMPANY SAYS ARE THE

OPERATING LIMITS OF THE SPIRIT

OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. BUT IT

WASN'T JUST MONDAY'S

CANCELLATIONS THAT CAUSED A

STIR WITH NANAIMO AS MAYOR.

IT'S BEEN AN ONGOING ISSUE ALL

YEAR LONG AND AFFECTS

EVERYTHING FROM BUSINESSES TO

TOURISM. THE GOODS WE CONSUME.

>> IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT PART

OF PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.

AND LET'S FACE IT, PEOPLE HAVE

DISCOVERED VANCOUVER ISLAND IN

SO LONG WEEKENDS, LET ALONE ALL

OF THE YEAR ARE VERY IMPORTANT

FOR TOURISM, LET ALONE THE

BASICS. THE DELIVERY OF THE

GOODS THAT WE CONSUME ON THE

ISLAND.

>> CROOKS SAYS HE HAS SOME

SYMPATHY FOR B.C. FERRIES,

WHICH IS DEALING WITH A CHANGE

IN GOVERNMENT SUPPORT WITH EACH

PROVINCIAL ELECTION. IN A

STATEMENT, B.C. FERRY SAYS THE

RECENT CANCELLATIONS UNDERSCORE

THE CHALLENGES OF OPERATING AN

AGING FLEET AND GROWING DEMAND.

THE CITY OF VICTORIA IS LAYING

OUT THE NEXT STEPS TO GET A

PLAYGROUND BACK TO ITS FORMER

GLORY FOLLOWING A SUSPICIOUS

FIRE LAST WEEK. THE PLAYGROUND

IN STADACONA PARK IS ONLY A FEW

YEARS OLD AND IT'S THE CITY'S

ONLY FULLY ACCESSIBLE

PLAYGROUND. NOW THE COMMUNITY

IS COMING TOGETHER TO ANNOUNCE

A FUNDRAISING EFFORT. CTV'S

ANNA MCMILLAN HAS THE DETAILS.

>> CITY OF VICTORIA WORKERS ARE

DISMANTLING PARTS OF A BELOVED

PLAYGROUND A WEEK AFTER IT WAS

MELTED AND SINGED IN A

SUSPICIOUS FIRE THAT BROUGHT SO

MUCH LIFE AND ENERGY INTO THIS

NEIGHBOURHOOD AND COMMUNITY.

>> AND IT MEANT SO MUCH FOR

THESE YOUNG KIDS. THESE YOUNG

FAMILIES ARE QUIET LIVES IN

THE FERNWOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD AND

REGULARLY WALKS THROUGH

STADACONA PARK.

>> AS THE DAMAGED EQUIPMENT

COMES DOWN, A QUIET AND A FEW

OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS STARTED

A GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN TO REBUILD.

WE WANT TO BRING THIS HIM BACK

TO LIFE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN

BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY NEEDS

SAYS THE CITY SAYS THE

FUNDRAISER WILL HELP LIMIT THE

AMOUNT OF MONEY IT NEEDS TO

PULL FROM ITS CONTINGENCY FUND.

RIGHT NOW, OUR ESTIMATES ARE

LOOKING ROUGHLY 300 TO $400,000

IN REPLACEMENT COST FOR THAT

EQUIPMENT. VICTORIA'S PARKS

DIRECTOR SAYS IT COSTS $725,000

TO BUILD THE ORIGINAL

PLAYGROUND, WHICH OPENED IN THE

FALL OF 2023. UNFORTUNATELY,

THE CITY DOESN'T ENSURE

PLAYGROUNDS.

>> WE'VE DONE SOME ASSESSMENTS

AND HISTORICAL LOSSES AND IT'S

NOT OFTEN THAT WE HAVE A

PLAYGROUND FIRES. IT WAS

VICTORIA'S NEWEST AND MOST

ACCESSIBLE PLAYGROUND. THE CITY

IS ACTING WITH URGENCY TO

CONTACT OUR SUPPLIERS TO SEE

HOW QUICKLY WE CAN REPLACE THE

DAMAGED EQUIPMENT. VICTORIA'S

FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYS 30 MINUTES

AHEAD OF LAST TUESDAY'S FIRE OR