Weldwood of Canada Limited was incorporated in British Columbia in 1964. Champion International Corporation, a New York Corporation with its head office located in Stamford, Connecticut, currently own 100 per cent of Weldwood. The company's head office is located at 1055 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia. The company holds significant interests in other companies and in joint ventures.
Weldwood's manufacturing operations in British Columbia began in 1945 when a predecessor company, Western Plywood Company Limited started operating its Vancouver plywood plant, providing principally fir and poplar plywood. This plant was originally supplied from logging operations in the vicinity of Quesnel, B.C. The success of the veneer manufactured from interior logs led Western Plywood to construct a plywood plant at Quesnel, which commenced production in 1951. In 1961, Western Plywood was purchased by United States Plywood Corporation (a predecessor of Champion International).
In 1969, the company's product lines were significantly diversified when Cariboo Pulp & Paper Company was formed in a joint venture with Daishowa-Marubeni of Japan. Further expansion in 1988 saw the acquisition of Champion International's timber holdings in Hinton, Alberta. Operating successfully in British Columbia are three joint ventures in the solid wood sector: Houston Forest Products, Babine Forest Products and Decker Lake Forest Products. Weldwood also has joint venture ownership in CanWel, the largest building materials distributor in Canada.
One of the keys to success in the forest products industry is developing
a strong financial base with competitive manufacturing facilities and a
secure fibre supply. Using a return on capital performance measurement,
Weldwood consistently ranks in the top quartile in the industry.