West Fraser Timber was founded in 1955 by three brothers—Sam, Bill, and Pete Ketcham—when they pooled resources to purchase a small planing mill in Quesnel, British Columbia. Over ensuing decades, the company steadily expanded through acquisitions, reinvestment in mill capacity, and extension into pulp and engineered wood domains. It later went public (in 1986) and evolved into one of North America’s leading vertically integrated forest products firms.
In its operations, West Fraser is a diversified wood products company converting raw timber into a broad portfolio of building and pulp products. Its main product lines include lumber, oriented strand board (OSB), engineered wood products (such as laminated veneer lumber, medium-density fiberboard, plywood), as well as pulp & paper, wood chips, and related byproducts. West Fraser operates through a network of more than 50 facilities across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, including sawmills, OSB mills, engineered wood mills, pulp & paper plants, and distribution/logistics infrastructure.
In terms of positioning, West Fraser emphasizes its identity as a large, efficient producer of renewable, value-added wood products with integrated operations. Its strategy balances scale, geographic diversification, product mix diversification, and vertical integration (from forest supply to final product distribution). The acquisition of Norbord in 2021 further bolstered its OSB and panel capacity, strengthening its competitive depth in engineered wood products. As global demand for sustainable construction materials and engineered wood grows, West Fraser aims to serve both commodity and higher-margin segments while leveraging its forest stewardship and manufacturing footprint.