Catalyst/Domtar Powell River Mill Wharf (Tis'kwat)

Powell River (qathet), BC · Private · Domtar · Malaspina Strait (Strait of Georgia)

Historic coastal pulp-and-paper mill marine site at Powell River, BC, established by the Powell River Company in 1912 as the first newsprint manufacturer in Western Canada. The mill wharf and log pond on Malaspina Strait are protected by "The Hulks," a semicircular floating breakwater of ten WWI/WWII-era concrete ships (acquired 1948-1966) that may be the world's largest floating breakwater. The mill produced newsprint and uncoated fine paper (~469,000 tonnes/yr across three machines) and historically shipped product by sea. Operations were curtailed indefinitely in December 2021 and permanently closed/curtailed on August 16, 2023; the Tis'kwat site is now being wound down and sold (portions returned to Tla'amin Nation and the remainder sold to Cranberry Business Park Ltd. for industrial redevelopment), so marine activity is greatly reduced.