PRINCE ALBERT, SASK. (From news reports) -- Timber allocations for a new mill in Prince Albert have been approved by the Saskatchewan government.

The timber will support the proposed One Sky Forest Products Oriented Strand Board (OSB) in the city.

"Forestry is northern Saskatchewan's largest sector and supports nearly 8,000 jobs and hundreds of businesses," said Bronwyn Eyre, energy and resources minister, in a statement. "The One Sky project will help achieve the ambitious goal in our growth plan to double the province's forestry sector by 2030 and further strengthen Saskatchewan's economy."

The $250 million One Sky mill plans to have to the ability to produce 600 million square feet (3/8-inch basis) of OSB annually. That capacity would require approximately 845,000 m3 of timber. The province allocates timber through the Ministry of Energy and Resources under the Forest Resources Management Act.

The province announced it is allocating the majority of the timber required for this project, while the remaining balance will be secured by the company through commercial agreements negotiated with other mills, Indigenous timber allocation holders and private landowners.

"We are extremely pleased with today's announcement from the Government of Saskatchewan awarding One Sky Forest Products and our partners the fibre tenures necessary to move our project forward," said One Sky founder and chair of the board Brian Fehr. "We have been working with our Saskatchewan investors and First Nations partners for over a year to get to this point and are eager to move to the next phase of project development. We thank the Government of Saskatchewan and look forward to developing this important project for Prince Albert, our First Nations partners and the people of Saskatchewan."

One Sky aims to enter the market producing performance-rated OSB sheathing, which is a wall, roof and sub-floor sheathing material.

This timber allocation will also support the growth of other, value-added manufacturing in the forestry sector in the province.