Forest and Paper

Great Lakes Paper

4 pictures · 1965–1967

Founded: 1919 (organized; Fort William mill by 1924); Ontario incorporation 1936
Head office then: Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay)

Great Lakes Paper ran newsprint and kraft pulp mills at Fort William, now Thunder Bay, next to licensed Ontario forest. The firm was organized in 1919; a pulp mill was running by 1924. The 1960s reports cite 13,700 square miles of licensed woodland.

It was one of Thunder Bay’s largest manufacturers and a Lakehead newsprint and kraft supplier.

Why it mattered

It was one of Thunder Bay's largest manufacturers and a Lakehead newsprint/kraft supplier using Ontario licensed forest (the report cites 13,700 square miles). The mill remained a northwestern Ontario pulp and paper landmark through later owners.

Now

Renamed Great Lakes Forest Products in 1979, it amalgamated with CIP in 1988 as Canadian Pacific Forest Products, later Avenor. Bowater bought Avenor in 1998. The Thunder Bay mill was sold in 2023 to Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper, an Atlas Holdings company, and did not stay with Resolute or Domtar.

Changed hands (1988) · Now: Canadian Pacific Forest Products / Avenor / Bowater / Resolute; Thunder Bay mill now Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper (Atlas Holdings)

Still open

Sources disagree on when Canadian Pacific first took control: some archives say 1974; a widely copied timeline says Canadian Pacific Investments bought 54% in 1979 when the name changed. McGill records the 1979 name change and the 1988 CIP amalgamation, not a 1974 purchase date.
Whether executive offices sat in Fort William or Montreal under the Fox family is not confirmed from a primary report page used here.