Cascades has said Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer Allan Hogg plans to retire in the second half of 2027, after 36 years with the company including 16 as CFO. The succession search starts immediately, giving the board time for a candidate assessment and handover before Hogg steps down.
Why this mattersA CFO of 16 years giving about a year's notice allows Cascades a planned finance handover rather than an abrupt change.
- Allan Hogg plans to retire in the second half of 2027.
- Hogg has been with Cascades for 36 years, including 16 years as CFO.
- He joined Cascades in 1990 and became CFO in 2010.
- The succession search for a new CFO starts immediately.
- Cascades employs close to 9,000 people across 60 North American facilities.
- Cascades trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker CAS.
Cascades reported third-quarter 2026 sales of USD 900m (CAD 1,267m), up 2% year on year, and adjusted EBITDA of USD 115m (CAD 162m), against USD 113m (CAD 159m) a year earlier. Tissue beat management expectations as earlier price increases largely offset cost inflation and lower Away-from-Home volumes, while packaging earnings fell on higher raw-material and transport costs and about USD 3m (CAD 4m) of tariff effects. Net debt fell to USD 1,324m (CAD 1,863m), 3.2 times adjusted EBITDA, and management expects fourth-quarter results slightly below the third quarter.
Why this mattersAt Cascades, tissue price increases are offsetting packaging margin erosion from raw material, transport and tariff costs, leaving group earnings broadly flat.
- Q3 2026 sales were USD 900m (CAD 1,267m), up 2% year on year
- Adjusted EBITDA was USD 115m (CAD 162m), up from USD 113m (CAD 159m) in Q3 2025
- Packaging adjusted EBITDA fell to USD 90m (CAD 126m) from USD 97m (CAD 136m) a year earlier, with about USD 3m (CAD 4m) of tariff effects
- Tissue adjusted EBITDA rose to USD 33m (CAD 47m), up USD 1m (CAD 1m) year on year and up from USD 25m (CAD 35m) in Q2
- Net debt was USD 1,324m (CAD 1,863m) at 30 September, 3.2 times adjusted EBITDA, against 3.6 times a year earlier
- Management expects Q4 consolidated results slightly below Q3
Cascades has had new 2035 greenhouse gas reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions against a 2019 baseline. The targets form part of the fifth sustainability plan the Quebec-based packaging group launched in June 2026, and follow a 32.6% cut in Scope 1 and 2 emissions already achieved between 2019 and 2025.
Why this mattersSBTi validation gives customers and investors a third-party benchmark for Cascades' decarbonisation claims as scope 3 supply-chain pressure on packaging buyers increases.
- Cascades targets a 67.2% cut in combined Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2035 versus a 2019 baseline.
- The company targets a 41.3% reduction in Scope 3 emissions across purchased goods, fuel and energy activities, upstream transport and end-of-life treatment of sold products.
- Scope 1 and 2 emissions fell 32.6% between 2019 and 2025, already tracking toward the 2035 goal.
- Cascades says its 2025 emissions were 25% below the North American paper industry average.
- The targets are part of the company's fifth sustainability plan, launched in June 2026.
Rabobank estimates that about 20% of the roughly USD 15bn US-Canada plastics trade is exposed to the 50% US tariffs imposed on USD 20bn of Canadian goods since July, with polyethylene bags, closures and tableware among items listed at the 50% rate. Confusion over tariff-code classification and the war involving Iran, which has disrupted polyolefin supply and pricing since it began, are compounding margin pressure on plastic packaging converters.
Why this mattersOverlapping US-Canada tariffs and Iran-driven feedstock volatility make fixed-price contracts riskier for plastic converters and squeeze margins even as resin producers post higher profits.
- Canada's reciprocal tariffs order lists polyethylene bags, stoppers, lids, caps, closures and tableware at a 50% rate, and molds for plastic, metal and rubber manufacturing at 15%.
- Rabobank estimates about 20% of the approximately USD 15bn US-Canada plastics trade is exposed to the 50% US tariffs applied to USD 20bn of Canadian goods since July.
- Section 338 duties stack on top of base duties and apply even to goods otherwise covered by USMCA free-trade terms.
- The war involving Iran reached six months in late August 2026, with disruption and price spikes affecting polyolefins resuming after fighting restarted in July.
- North American PE and PP producers use lower-cost ethane versus naphtha used in Asia and Europe, and are increasingly exporting amid global demand for cheaper feedstock, raising costs for some US converters.
- Cascades CEO Hugues Simon said on an August 2026 earnings call that different products of the same fibre grade are treated unequally under US-Canada tariffs.
US District Judge Mary M. Rowland denied on 4 September 2026 the joint motion to dismiss and the separate motions by Packaging Corporation of America and Pratt Industries in the containerboard price-fixing class action brought in July 2025 by Artuso Pastry in the Northern District of Illinois. The 49-page decision found six of seven alleged lockstep or near-lockstep price increases sufficient to show parallel conduct, lifting the stay on discovery. Defendants must answer by 29 September 2026 and file a joint status report with discovery dates the following week.
Why this mattersThe case moves to discovery, exposing containerboard producers to damages claims and scrutiny of a market the plaintiff says five players now control with at least 85% share.
- Judge Mary M. Rowland denied the joint and the individual dismissal motions in a 49-page decision on 4 September 2026 in the Northern District of Illinois.
- Defendants must answer the complaint by 29 September 2026 and file a joint status report with discovery dates the following week.
- The case, Artuso Pastry Foods Corp. v. Packaging Corp. of America et al, was filed in July 2025 and alleges seven rounds of parallel price increases from November 2020 raising prices by about 30%.
- The court found six of the seven alleged coordinated increases plausible, including a USD 50-per-ton rise implemented on the same day after two and a half years without an industry increase.
- Ten defendants remain, including PCA, Pratt Industries, International Paper, Georgia-Pacific, Greif, Smurfit Kappa, WestRock and three Cascades entities.
- Graphic Packaging International and Smurfit Westrock were dismissed late last year, cutting defendants to 10 from 12; the court gave no reasons.
