250-997-3221
BMI Group Acquires Former Mackenzie Paper Mill, Establishing Willmarck Mackenzie.
Today marks an important next step forward for our community. The former Mackenzie Paper Mill has been brought under the stewardship of The BMI Group, an award-winning Canadian company that specializes in restoring and repurposing industrial sites into new hubs of opportunity.
The 885-acre site, once the heart of our local economy, will be renewed as Willmarck Mackenzie, a new industrial hub rooted in partnership and capacity building. This project will help anchor new investment in Northern BC and connect our resource corridor to BMI’s broader network of multimodal industrial hubs across Canada.
Together, we’ll work to renew the opportunities that have supported many of our livelihoods and position Mackenzie to attract new investment, manufacturing, and processing opportunities that keep our resources at home, create employment that supports our families, and strengthen our community.
Find out more about Willmarck Mackenzie and the BMI group by viewing their media release below:
BMI Media Release (Oct. 16, 2025)
BMI Group Acquires Former Mackenzie Paper Mill, Establishing Willmarck Mackenzie, a New Chapter of Industrial Readiness in Northern BC
MACKENZIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA: The BMI Group has completed the acquisition of the former Mackenzie Paper Mill, marking a key step in advancing industrial readiness across British Columbia’s northern resource corridor.
The 885-acre property, which includes approximately 345,000 square feet of industrial buildings and direct rail access, will be re-established as Willmarck Mackenzie, a name that reflects both geography and legacy.
As a strategic site with regional potential, Willmarck represents the place where forests, waters, and industry converge to shape the future on the shores of Williston Lake.
Located in a resource-rich district with established forestry and mining infrastructure, Willmarck offers multimodal transport access through CN Rail and key highway networks. The site’s scale and connectivity position it for adaptive reuse across a range of industrial and logistics applications consistent with BMI’s readiness and renewal approach.
The property complements BMI’s national portfolio of former paper and industrial sites, including the award-winning Bioveld Niagara, Abitibi Connex in Iroquois Falls, and Norderra in Baie-Comeau, which have been repositioned as multimodal, logistics, and critical-mineral hubs serving Canada’s next-generation resource and manufacturing economy.
The project will be supported by Niagara Port Services (NPS), a BMI Ventures company specializing in multimodal logistics, warehousing, and site-readiness operations. NPS has played a leading role in the success of Bioveld Niagara, developing its logistics and tenant attraction model through partnerships with the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority and major industrial operators.
“At NPS, we know how getting logistics right can unlock new opportunities,” said Morgan Kernohan, General Manager, Niagara Port Services. “Mackenzie has the core ingredients, rail, highway access, land, and a seasoned workforce. We’re going to put our Niagara multimodal model to work up here to help get things moving again.”
With plans to work alongside local and Indigenous partners, BMI will collaborate with community and civic leadership to evaluate opportunities that align with community priorities, regional resources, and long-term goals.
“Our town has weathered its share of ups and downs,” said Joan Atkinson, Mayor of Mackenzie. “But this is a community that shows up for one another. We’re resilient and ready to work with BMI to explore new opportunities for the next generation.”
“Our work begins with listening,” said Paul Veldman, CEO at BMI Group. “The Mackenzie Mill was an important part of Northern BC’s economy, and Willmarck represents an opportunity for renewal shaped by community partnership, the land, and the people who call it home.”
About Willmarck
The name Willmarck honours Williston Lake, one of the region’s defining landmarks and reservoirs of energy, while “marck” carries an older meaning of borderlands or shared ground as places where communities met, traded, and defined their place together.
WILLMARCK MACKENZIE
Where forests, waters, and industry converge to shape the future.
www.willmarck.com
About BMI Group
The BMI Group invests in the renewal of legacy industrial properties across Canada, transforming dormant infrastructure into sites of modern productivity through its Readiness, Renewal, and Return Platform. From ports and paper mills to logistics hubs and critical-mineral infrastructure, BMI works in partnership with local communities, governments, investors and industry to create shared opportunity and sustainable growth.
Media Contact:
Olga Patronik
Executive Project Coordinator, BMI
ac.puorgimbeht@aglo
1-888-264-4258