West Fraser Timber

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
	Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway centerbeam flat loaded with West Fraser lumber in Norman, Oklahoma.
Type	Public
Traded as	TSX: WFG; NYSE: WFG
Industry	Forestry
Founded	1955; 66 years ago in Quesnel, British Columbia
Headquarters	Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
Key people	Edward (Ted) Seraphim, President & CEO,; Henry (Hank) Ketcham, Chairman
Products	Forestry products
Revenue	$4.877 billion CAN (2019)
Number of employees	8,600 (2018)
Website	www.westfraser.com

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is a Canadian forestry company that produces lumber, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp, newsprint, and wood chips^[2] based in Quesnel BC, Canada. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is a member of the Forest Products Association of Canada.^[3]

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. was twice recognized as one of Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures and five times as Canada's Top 100 Employers in 2017.^[4] Also, the company was recently named for the fourth time as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers and Canada's Best Employer for Recent Graduates for 2018.^{[citation needed]}

History[]

West Fraser was founded by three brothers from Seattle: Pete, Bill and Sam Ketcham in 1955. The three brothers decided to do business together and purchased a small planing mill in Quesnel, British Columbia. Over the years the company grew, "West Fraser has become the largest lumber manufacturer in North America with 8,600 employees globally – about 5,000 in Western Canada – at about 50 locations."^[4]

In April 2020, it was revealed that Jim Pattison had upped his stake in West Fraser to 13.8% ownership, prompting speculation that the Canadian billionaire had plans to merge the company with Canfor, of which he owns 51%. In response, West Fraser adopted a shareholder rights plan or "poison pill" in order to defend against any attempts at a takeover.^[5]^[6]