Paper Mill Shutdown Threatens Survival of Quebec Town Témiscaming
The indefinite closure of RYAM’s mill leaves 360 workers idle and the town’s future hanging in the balance.
Cross the Ottawa River and the paper mill dominates the skyline of Témiscaming, Quebec, a town built a century ago around the mill and surrounding pine, birch, spruce and fir forests.
After trade talks between Canada and the United States fell apart, President Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on Canadian goods, prompting American owner RYAM to announce an “economic shutdown” of the mill for an “indefinite period” in early October.
The mill, which employs about 360 workers, now runs at a standstill; most staff survive on partial pay from a government tariff‑relief program.
Local resident Nadine Suley, who plans to go moose hunting later this week, says the closure is more than a job loss, calling the U.S. tariffs “a personal attack” and noting that the town will have to rely on “free meat” from the hunt.
Property values in Témiscaming fell almost overnight, and “For Sale” signs now dot the yards of modest middle‑class homes that make up most of the community.
There is growing anxiety that essential service workers—from grocery clerks to doctors at the small local hospital—may also leave if the mill does not reopen.
“If the mill goes down, it’ll turn into a ghost town,” says longtime resident Ronnie Raymond, whose family has worked in the mill for generations.
While Canada’s overall unemployment rate has held steady around 6.5 % since the tariffs began, sectors directly hit by duties of up to 50 %—including lumber, pulp and paper—are experiencing severe strain.
The situation raises questions about the adequacy of the Carney government’s response as a broader trade deal remains elusive.
For now, the town’s future hangs in the balance, its fate tied to a single industrial heartbeat that has defined it for more than a hundred years.
