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Millar Western is a family-owned, Canadian group of companies that has been in business for more than a century.
 Millar Western was founded by James William (J.W.) Millar, a Western Canadian business pioneer. In 1906, J.W. opened a blacksmith shop in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, and was soon involved in logging in the area. By 1919, J.W. and partners had incorporated one of the first construction companies in Western Canada. In the 1920s, he expanded into logging and sawmilling in Whitecourt, Alberta, and in the 1930s, established a sodium sulphate mining and processing operation in Palo, Saskatchewan.
In the 1930s, J.W.’s sons Hugh, Allan and Keith joined the company and, in the decades that followed, oversaw the continued growth and diversification of the family enterprise, with a strong focus on the expansion of its various interests in the construction sector. Grandsons James, MacKenzie and Kenneth came on board in the 1960s and 1970s, preparing to lead the company’s next phase of growth.
The 1980s was a period of rapid expansion for the business. In 1981, the lumber, construction and chemical companies were combined to form Millar Western Industries Ltd. Five years later, Millar Western Pulp Ltd. was established and, in 1988, it opened a bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) mill adjacent to the company’s Whitecourt sawmill. The same year, a magnesium sulphate facility was added to the group’s Whitecourt operations.
In 1992, Millar Western partnered with the Saskatchewan government to build the world’s first successful zero-effluent market pulp mill. The facility was sold in 2007, after years of operation as one of the world’s most technologically advanced, environmentally responsible BCTMP mills.
In 1993, the group expanded its lumber interests by purchasing and upgrading a sawmill in Boyle, Alberta. In 1998, this facility, together with the Whitecourt sawmill and BCTMP mill, were combined to form Millar Western Forest Products Ltd.
In 2001, Millar Western launched a new sawmill at the Whitecourt site on which it had operated a series of progressively updated sawmills since 1926. The highspeed, high-efficiency facility has undergone significant additional investments since it opened, reflecting the company’s commitment to keeping its operations current and competitive.
In 2007, the company purchased an Alberta lumber operation previously owned by the Mostowich family. Based in Fox Creek, the newest addition to Millar Western’s lumber business is a two-line sawmill complex producing about 45 million board feet per year and bringing the company’s total annual lumber production to 460 million board feet.
In recent years, Millar Western has elected to focus on its core lumber and pulp businesses. In 2004, the group wound down its construction interests and, in 2007, sold its sodium sulphate plant in Palo.
Today, the group continues under the direction of Millar family members who, in the spirit of the company’s founder, pursue intelligent growth and responsible development within Canada’s progressive forest industry.
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