Northwood Pulp was established in 1961 when Canadian corporation, Noranda Mines Limited, diversified into the British Columbia forest industry. Partnering with the Mead Corporation of Dayton, Ohio, Noranda Mines Ltd. purchased the Sinclair and Upper Fraser Sawmills, both east of Prince George. After the purchase of these two sawmills, as well as the proliferation of others, there became an excess of waste wood products generated by milling in the central interior of British Columbia. To meet this specific waste reduction need, and to expand into a new wood fibre market, the Mead Corporation and Noranda Mines built Northwood Pulp Mill in 1964-1965. Northwood Pulp Mill was, and still is, a processing plant dedicated to the conversion of waste wood chips to pulp and paper products.

In 1980-1981 an expansion was added to the mill which effectively doubled Northwood's capacity for the making of pulp kraft paper from waste wood chips.

In 1999, the Canadian Forest Products (a.k.a. Canfor) acquired all of the shares of Northwood Inc.; a purchase which included the Northwood Pulp Mill, Prince George Sawmill, North Central Plywoods, Rustad, Houston and Upper Fraser operations, the Kyahwood Forest Products joint venture and J.D. Little Forest Centre. This acquisition gave Canfor the unique designation of being Canada's largest producer of softwood lumber and kraft market pulp.

In February 2006 Canfor effectively separated its pulp business from its wood products business; a strategic move which resulted in the transfer of its northern softwood kraft pulp and paper business, including its Northwood Pulp Mill, Intercontinental Pulp Mill and Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill, together with associated management and employees (now referred to as the “Pulp Income Trust”) to an indirectly owned limited partnership known as the “Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership”.