Canadian Pulp and Paper Association : On March 8, 1913, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association (CPPA) was formed. This is when representatives from fourteen pulp and paper mills convened at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. The meeting had been organized by A.G. Macintyre, the editor of the Pulp and Paper Magazine of Canada, and spurred on by Macintyre's persuasion, the industry representatives voted to have an association whose aims were "the consideration of matters of general interest to the pulp and paper industry, the promotion of its welfare, and the social intercourse among the members of the association." Previous to this, the voice of the industry had been the Pulp and Paper Magazine of Canada (http://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/) which had been publishing from Toronto since 1903.
From 1913 onwards, the Association was directly tied to the field of research, via both academia (and specifically at McGill University) and via the federal government (and specifically the Forestry Branch of the Department of the Interior). Thus the association was influential in getting the federal Forest Products Laboratories established at the Department of Chemical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal.
The goal of the "laboratories" was to "conduct research on the scientific and technical problems" related to the pulp and paper industry, and was to be a location for students of chemical engineering to get practical experience in pulp and paper investigations and processes. By the 1920s, however, this collaborative approach became uncertain, with the federal government phasing out direct subsidies towards a proper research program. Also, one research section of the laboratory devoted to the study of wood moved to Ottawa, while the section devoted to the study of pulp and paper remained at McGill. The research for this latter section was coordinated by the CPPA .
In the late 1920s, a bequest from a private company (E.B. Eddy of Ottawa) combined with new funding from the federal government was able to help the CPPA and McGill to create the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada. The funding went towards a new building, and an education program headed by leading research scientists. Thus in 1927, a new building for the Pulp and Paper Research Institute was constructed, designed by the architect Percy Nobbs . This well-built, three-storey stone structure would house the Cellulose Chemistry Department of McGill, the Pulp and Paper Division of the government's Forest Products Laboratories, and the research labs of the Pulp and Paper Association, all involved in the advancement of study of wood fibers.
From 1915 onwards, there was also technical section relating to the CPPA, entitled the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC), and this related association celebrated its own centennial in 2015. In the 1970s, a second research institute was formed, entitled the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIIC).
The CPPA has also been responsible for keeping documents related to other organizations, namely the Newsprint Association of Canada and the American Newsprint Publishers Association.
The CPPA:
¿ engaged in the Second World War effort;
¿ commissioned in the late 1940s and early 1950s high-profile artists - particularly the Group of Seven - to produce paintings that interpreted the operations of the pulp and paper industry;
¿ submitted in the 1950s a report to the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects;
¿ promoted the forest industry at Expo 67 with its own pulp and paper pavilion.
At some point between the 1960s and the 1980s, the CPPA moved its offices from McGill University to the Sun Life Financial building on Metcalfe Street in downtown Montreal. In 1988, historical records indicate that 84 staff worked on the 19th floor of this building.
Today, the CPPA is called the Forest Products Association of Canada and has offices located in Ottawa.
