For Immediate Release:

RICHMOND, BC – Paper Excellence Canada announced today that it plans to restart the number 3 paper machine at its Catalyst Paper mill in Crofton, British Columbia in early January 2021. The restart reflects the strong performance being delivered by Catalyst’s paper sales force and paper operations making both existing printing and writing grades with new food and packaging papers.

The machine was curtailed in the spring of 2020 after the impacts of an external malware attack, a forest fibre shortage, and the COVID-19 pandemic simultaneously impacted paper production as well as global paper demand. Approximately 58 jobs will return with the startup of the paper machine at the Crofton facility bringing its total employee count to about 560. Crofton is one of Canada’s largest pulp and paper mills responsible for injecting almost $3 million into BC’s economy daily.

“We’re very excited to return to full production at Crofton.” said Patrick Corriveau, VP of Paper and Packaging at Paper Excellence. “We’re one of only a few companies that’s actually resuming paper production so it’s a testament to the hard work of our salespeople and the quality of our products and papermakers.” Paper Excellence continues to work on production of the new food and packaging papers while remaining committed to its traditional printing and writing grade customers.

Paper Excellence’s Catalyst Crofton mill manufactures both pulp and paper products. The mill uses 87% renewable energy and has reduced its carbon emissions by 71% since 1990.

-30-

Paper Excellence, headquartered in British Columbia, is a diversified manufacturer of pulp and specialty, printing and writing, and packaging papers that operates 9 facilities in Canada producing over 3.0 million tonnes annually with a workforce of over 3,000 strong. Paper Excellence is poised to continue to grow with its strategy of operational excellence and high-quality, cost-effective products.

Media Contact: Graham Kissack, VP, EHS and Communications | media@paperexcellence.com | Mobile: (250) 732-7991