Our History
Founded in 1955, West Fraser has grown far beyond our founders' original vision, driven by a team committed to building something exceptional. Throughout the company’s history, we have focused on efficiency and sustained growth, continuously reinvesting to ensure we continue to thrive in the dynamically evolving wood products sector. We invite you to explore our history. Discover what makes West Fraser unique, and chronicling the key milestones that have grown us to who we are today.
A Proud Heritage
Nearly seven decades ago, the hard work of our three founders and a group of trailblazing employees established West Fraser, a company that continues to thrive today. Since that time, we have expanded from a 12-person crew to become one of the world’s largest softwood lumber and wood products producers.
Timeline
In the spring of 1955, the Ketcham brothers—Sam (25), Bill (30) and Pete (33)—purchased Two Mile Planing Mills Ltd. in Quesnel, B.C., for $60,000.
Two Mile was one of the few deals the Ketcham brothers could finance and expectations were modest. With Sam at the helm, and a $45,000 purchase balance due by the end of the year, work quickly began to fine-tune operations. The mill turned a $5,000 profit in its first month. The seeds of what would grow into West Fraser were now planted.
The quick success of Two Mile fueled an early period of phenomenal growth.
This expansion started in 1957 with the purchase of 55% of Wright Lumber in Williams Lake, which had a sawmill and planer.
This also included timber holdings to the west of town, in the Chilcotin region, which were strategically significant in ensuring the future growth of the company.
In 1958, Wright Lumber was renamed West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., a nod to the timber supply west of the Fraser River that fed the mill’s operations.
By 1966, this name was adopted company-wide with the amalgamation of the Ketcham brothers’ forestry acquisitions under the West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. banner.
Sam was determined to acquire timber supply to feed operations. In fact, his talent for purchasing small mills in the region earned him the nickname “Bushmill Sam.”
By 1961, the company had firmly secured our timber supply with the acquisition of the remaining 45% of the Swetnam assets, along with several more purchases in Quesnel and the surrounding areas.
In 1963, the company made a deal that many say secured West Fraser’s future.
The Ketcham brothers agonized over the decision to spend $600,000 to purchase Brownmiller Brothers Lumber Company—one of the largest lumber companies in the Cariboo region and the largest sawmill in Quesnel. Ultimately, the opportunity to increase the company’s capacity by nearly 2 million board feet per year and gain additional timber supply licences was too attractive to pass up.
The decade between 1968 and 1978 was marked by rapid growth of West Fraser’s B.C. manufacturing base.
In 1968, West Fraser acquired one of the oldest mills in the Cariboo, and diversified into the retail building supply business. In 1970, West Fraser built an innovative new mill in Quesnel—one of the first successful small wood mills in B.C. In the ensuing years, West Fraser went on to purchase mills in Smithers, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser, Dawson Creek and Chetwynd, and built three new mills in Smithers, Fraser Lake and Chetwynd.
Since the beginning, West Fraser has been committed to reforestation to grow healthy new forests for the future. Sam planted West Fraser’s one millionth tree in 1975 in Quesnel. Sam’s wife, Janet Ketcham, would go on to plant the company’s 10 millionth seedling only five years later, in 1980.
Today, we are beginning to harvest from second-growth forests around Quesnel. These areas were planted following West Fraser’s initial harvests in the 1950s, reflecting the company’s proud history of reforestation and sustainability.
On November 8, 1977, West Fraser’s world was turned upside down. During a one-hour flight from Prince George to Quesnel, the helicopter carrying company President Sam Ketcham, Chief Forester Phil Bodman and pilot Ken Waines crashed.
More than 300 ground searchers—including townspeople, neighbouring sawmills and nearly every local West Fraser employee—assisted with the three-day operation. Three military planes, 20 helicopters and two corporate jets, covering a 5,000 square kilometre search area. Three days later, on November 11, the wreckage was found. There were no survivors.
West Fraser became a more integrated business when, building on our core solid wood strength, the company diversified into pulp. This enabled West Fraser to secure a home for our chips.
To accomplish this, West Fraser entered into a joint venture with Daishowa Paper of Japan to build an $80 million, Quesnel-based thermo-mechanical pulp mill – the largest in the world at the time.
This entry into the pulp business kicked off a period of further diversification.
In 1981, diversification was furthered with the purchase of a 40% interest in Kitimat-based Eurocan Pulp & Paper. By 1993, West Fraser had complete ownership. The purchase brought with it access to a large fibre resource through consolidated timber tenures west of Prince George, as well as a linerboard and kraft paper mill, two sawmills and a partial interest in two joint venture sawmills in B.C.’s northern Interior.
On January 31, 2010, after ongoing efforts to reduce the operating costs and improve results, West Fraser announced that it would permanently close the operation.
In 1985, Hank Ketcham was appointed CEO and President. His leadership style was defined by his vision, drive and competitiveness.
As a second-generation Ketcham having grown up working in the family business—first as a sawmill machine operator in 1973—Hank was surrounded by many coaches and mentors. As the company’s leader, he worked to keep the three founders’ vision alive: invest in the business and its people while never losing sight of West Fraser’s humble beginnings.
Hank served in this role until his retirement in 2013. He became Chair of the Board in 1996
West Fraser debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in May 1986 with an initial price of $20.50 per share. Our strong earnings history, solid asset base, proven business ethics, experienced management and loyal employee base served us well.
The IPO was a boon to the company. Together with West Fraser’s long-held business strategy of low-cost operations, a solid balance sheet and reinvesting profits, going public helped deliver a new level of success and positioned West Fraser to realize our boldest visions.
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West Fraser continued our strategy of reinvesting back into the business, and in 1989, entered Alberta – the company’s first expansion outside of B.C.
West Fraser, together with Whitecourt Newsprint Co. Ltd. Partnership, formed the Alberta Newsprint Company to construct and operate a newsprint mill in Whitecourt, Alberta. West Fraser owned a 50% interest.
The joint venture was very profitable.
To preserve the area in perpetuity, West Fraser made the historic gesture of voluntarily, and without compensation, relinquishing our sole harvesting rights to the Kitlope—the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest on earth. At 317,500 hectares, it remains the largest relinquishment of harvesting rights in North America.
The Kitlope was the first major portion of the Great Bear Rainforest to receive protection. Lying within the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation, it encompasses a rich diversity of cultural and natural heritage values, . Known as “Hushuwashsdu,” or “Source of the milky blue waters,” the Haisla used the area to harvest plants, animals and fish.
West Fraser’s preservation of the Kitlope is an example of long-held commitments to sustainability and environmental stewardship. Now called the Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees (or, Kitlope Heritage Conservancy), future generations will be able to enjoy this beautiful, pristine wilderness area.
In 1995, West Fraser purchased Alberta Energy’s Forest Products Division.
These assets included Slave Lake Pulp, the Blue Ridge sawmill, and Ranger Board MDF, which took waste fibre from neighbouring West Fraser sawmills and used it to produce medium-density fibreboard (MDF). This integration of West Fraser’s product lines enabled our local operations to achieve the optimal utilization of sawmilling residuals.
Construction of the WestPine MDF plant in Quesnel was completed in 1996, making it the first of its kind in B.C.
Pete Ketcham sadly passed away in 1996. While Pete is recognized for co-founding West Fraser and driving our exponential growth, he is most remembered for his community spirit and helping others to achieve what they thought were impossible goals.
As a tribute to Pete’s legacy of generosity and his commitment to helping others reach higher, in 1997 West Fraser established the Pete Ketcham Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund helps post-secondary students located in our operating communities reach their academic goals by distributing annual grants to eligible candidates.
Given the size and importance of the U.S. market—and the emerging threat of mountain pine beetle in B.C.—West Fraser had been exploring opportunities to establish lumber manufacturing operations south of the border. This would help us grow while adding more product and geographic diversity.
West Fraser had assumed a dominant position in the Canadian home improvement retail market with the acquisition of Revelstoke Building Supply Stores in 1988, later rebranded as Revy. Revy grew to be the second-largest Canadian retail home improvement and garden centre chain. In 2001, West Fraser sold the business to RONA Inc. in 2001, a bittersweet closing to this successful chapter.
The refocus was crucial to West Fraser’s long-term growth strategy and helped to finance the company’s expansion into the U.S.
In 2004, West Fraser significantly expanded the company with the acquisition of Weldwood of Canada from International Paper.
With the purchase, West Fraser acquired seven sawmills, two plywood plants, one laminated veneer lumber plant and two pulp mills located in B.C. and Alberta. Approximately 3,000 people were added to the West Fraser family, growing our total employee base to 7,300.
West Fraser accelerated our expansion into the U.S. in 2007, acquiring 13 mills located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas.
This long-term strategic move strengthened West Fraser’s core lumber business; gave us significant new geographic, fibre and product diversification; and established West Fraser as a major presence in the U.S. South. With this purchase, West Fraser became the largest softwood lumber producer in North America, with a combined Canadian and U.S. lumber production capacity of approximately 6.2 billion board feet.
Between 2012 and 2015, West Fraser made three key sawmill acquisitions in Alberta, each with associated timber harvesting rights.
Together, these deals further cemented our growth and industry leadership position in the province.
West Fraser continued to grow our lumber business in the U.S. South between 2014 and 2017.
In 2014, the company purchased two sawmills in Arkansas and in 2017, acquired seven mills in Florida and Georgia from Gilman Building Products. The Gilman operations employed approximately 900 people with a combined annual production capacity of 700 million board feet of southern yellow pine lumber.
West Fraser went global in 2021 when it acquired Norbord—the world’s largest OSB producer—and gained a footprint with 14 OSB mills, an MDF mill, and two particle board mills located in the U.K. and Europe.
Norbord had a well-earned reputation for cost and margin performance, and for expanding the use of OSB in new applications and industries. It also had a complementary operating culture, with common priorities of safety, sustainability and cost management.
The expansion marked a new era for us, making West Fraser a top global producer of both lumber and OSB.
On February 1, 2021, West Fraser commenced trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol WFG.
West Fraser reached an important milestone with the planting of our two billionth seedling in Western Canada in 2021.
To this moment reflected a more than 65-year commitment to reforestation and to sustainable forest management that enhances the long-term health of forest ecosystems while meeting the environmental, social and economic needs of current and future generations.
West Fraser continued our U.S. expansion in 2021 with the acquisition of two new mills including one lumber mill and one OSB mill. This furthered the growth of the company’s two largest lines of business.
Both acquisitions allowed us to better meet customer demand, particularly from large, growing end-markets in the Southern U.S.
West Fraser is committed to meaningfully reduce our carbon footprint across our operations by 2030.
As part of this process, the company joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2022. As one of the world’s largest producers of lumber and OSB, and a leading manufacturer of other engineered wood and forest products, joining the SBTi demonstrated our commitment to sustainability leadership and our contribution to global climate action.
Continually seeking opportunities to strengthen the company, West Fraser made a series of moves in 2023.
The decision to divest three of our four pulp assets was announced, effectively seeing West Fraser exit the pulp business. In November 2023, the acquisition of a sawmill in Cochrane, Alberta, was an ideal fit with our lumber and treated wood business.
These moves improve the long-term outlook of the company and align with our strategy to be a premier, low-cost, sustainable and renewable wood building products manufacturer and a key supplier to customers.
Over West Fraser’s history, we have grown from a small planer mill with 12 employees to become the largest producer of sustainable and renewable wood building products in the world.
The company’s competitive advantage from 1955 to today remains the same – our culture, values and people. The personal characteristics of the Ketcham brothers and their small team of employees created the values and strong enduring culture that carries West Fraser through today.
Today we are continuing to explore opportunities to build on our successes for today and for the next generations of employees, our communities and the wood building products industry.
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Who We Are
West Fraser is one of the world's largest producers of wood products. We employ thousands of people at approximately 60 locations in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. For nearly seven decades, the key values instilled in the company by our founders have driven West Fraser's growth and success.
How We Do It
Over the years, West Fraser has proven our value as a low-cost producer, reinvesting in the business while maintaining a prudent balance sheet and delivering on earnings. Equally so, we are an international employer of choice, living out our long-held values to ensure a safe, healthy workforce centred around a culture of belonging.