Mill licence

Overview

By law, you need a mill licence if:

• you want to construct and/or operate a mill, and
• your mill consumes more than 1,000 cubic metres of forest resources in one year (regardless of the source)

If you have a mill licence, you will need to get a new one before your mill:

• changes ownership
• changes productive capacity
• is converted to another mill type

A mill licence is not a guarantee of wood supply for a mill.

Source law

You can find the legislation related to mill licences in the:

• Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994
• Ontario Regulation 167/95

How to apply for a mill licence

To apply for a mill licence, you need to:

Step 1: Contact a ministry Forestry Specialist

Applicants should begin by discussing their facility proposal with ministry staff.

A ministry Forestry Specialist can be contacted via an email sent to tals@ontario.ca.

Step 2: Submit a business plan to your ministry Forestry Specialist

• discuss the development of your business plan with ministry staff to ensure that all the business plan requirements are addressed
• your business plan is required to:
  • demonstrate your ability to finance, operate and, manage the facility
  • include an analysis showing the source, species and volume of the forest resources that will supply the facility

Step 3: Submit the business plan, along with an application form and licence fee to your ministry Forestry Specialist. The submission will be evaluated by the ministry and you will be informed of the decision.

See a sample mill licence.

Facility Annual Returns

If you have a mill licence, you need to complete a Facility Annual Return.

The Facility Annual Return provides information on:

• the use of all forest resources, regardless of source, for each licensed mill
• the sharing of forest resources between mills
• the products manufactured by each mill

This information helps the ministry to:

• maintain a record of how Ontario wood is utilized and manufactured
• monitor the capacity of Ontario mills
• support and promote a healthy forest industry in Ontario
• track trends, wood flow and the products manufactured in Ontario

How to submit a Facility Annual Return

You can submit your Facility Annual Return by using the electronic Facility Annual Return (eFAR) web based application:

Step 1: Get a user account for eFAR by contacting your ministry Forestry Specialist.

Step 2: Login to the eFAR application and fill out all sections of the electronic Facility Annual Return. Contact your ministry Forestry Specialist if you have any questions while filling out the Facility Annual Return.

Step 3: Electronically submit the completed Facility Annual Return to the ministry for review.

If this is your first time filling out a Facility Annual Return, you need help or you are unable to submit your Facility Annual Return electronically, please contact your ministry Forestry Specialist.

Deadline

September 30^th for the previous fiscal year (April 1^st to March 31^st) of operations.

Privacy Statement

Information contained in a Facility Annual Return is considered confidential and commercial in nature. Requests for information from Facility Annual Returns will be reviewed to determine whether disclosure should occur under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.