Youbou Was a Mill Community, and What Remains of That

Youbou was a mill community for 73 years, and understanding that explains almost everything about how the place looks and who lives here. The Youbou sawmill closed on 26 January 2001, ending continuous production that had run since 1928 and putting 220 people out of work.¹²

It was the last sawmill on Cowichan Lake. The equipment was auctioned in June 2001 and what remains of the site now is wharf remnants and wood pilings along the shoreline.²

That closure is 25 years ago and it is still the fact that shapes this community, including the housing stock you will be buying into.

How the Community Came to Exist

Logging around this end of the lake dates to approximately 1907, and the Empire Lumber Company built a small mill at Cottonwood, which became Youbou, in 1913 after the E&N Railway reached Lake Cowichan.²

The name is a compression of 2 surnames. Youbou is Yount and Bouton, after the mill owners of the Empire Logging Company. It is one of the more literal place names on Vancouver Island.

The modern mill was constructed in 1927 and was possibly the oldest fresh water sawmill in British Columbia. At one point it had the longest craneway in the British Empire.²

The Community That Grew Around It

A mill this size builds a community around itself. Youbou had a church and a community hall built in 1937, both of which still stand, and Yount School opened in September 1935 and was expanded by 1939.

In 1929 an 8 mile stretch of highway connected Youbou to Lake Cowichan, which is the road you still drive today.

That is the shape of the place you see now. A strip of housing along the shoreline below Mount Holmes, built for people who worked at one end of it.

The Closure, and Why It Still Matters

TimberWest closed the mill in January 2001. The company said it was unprofitable, a claim that was widely contested locally, and raw logs continued to be exported to mills in the United States and Asia.¹

It produced something unusual. Sawmill workers and environmentalists, who would normally be on opposite sides, formed an alliance against the closure and against raw log exports, and the Youbou TimberLess Society came out of it.¹

The site is now recognised for its historic, cultural, social and economic significance to the history of South Asian Canadians in British Columbia, because the mill and its community employed many South Asian Canadian immigrants.³

What That History Means for the Housing

A mill community produces a specific kind of housing stock. Modest homes built for workers, built in eras when insulation standards were different, alongside summer cabins built later by people who came for the lake rather than the work.

That is what you are choosing between in Youbou. Original mill era housing, cabins that were never designed for year round occupancy, and a smaller number of newer builds and renovations.

None of that is a problem. It does mean the heating system, the insulation and the windows deserve more attention here than they would in a subdivision built in 2010.

What Replaced the Mill

Nothing did, in the sense of a single employer. What happened instead is that the community became residential and recreational, and the people who live here now largely work elsewhere, work remotely, or are retired.

That transition is still happening. Electoral Area I, covering Youbou and Meade Creek, grew 18 percent between 2016 and 2021, from 1,206 to 1,423 residents, the fastest growth in the valley.⁴

So the community is not shrinking after the mill. It is becoming something different from what it was.

What Remains on the Ground

The wharf remnants and pilings along the shoreline are the visible part. The church and the community hall from 1937 are still standing. The road from 1929 is still the road.

And there is a memory here that is worth respecting. A lot of people in this community either worked at that mill or are related to somebody who did, and 2001 is recent enough that it is a live subject rather than a historical one.

Why This Matters If You Are Buying Here

Because it tells you what kind of place this is. Youbou is not a resort that grew around a lake. It is a working community that lost its work and is finding a second life, and the people who have been here longest remember the first one.

That gives it something a purpose built recreational community does not have, and it is worth understanding before you arrive. My Cowichan Lake area guide covers how it compares with the rest of the lake.

Youbou Mill History FAQ

When did the Youbou mill close?

The Youbou sawmill closed on 26 January 2001, ending 73 years of continuous production and putting 220 people out of work. It was the last sawmill on Cowichan Lake, and the equipment was auctioned in June 2001.

Where does the name Youbou come from?

It is a compression of 2 surnames, Yount and Bouton, after the owners of the Empire Logging Company that established the mill. The original small mill was built at Cottonwood in 1913, and the modern mill was constructed in 1927.

What is left of the Youbou mill?

Wharf remnants and wood pilings along the shoreline. The community's church and hall, both built in 1937, still stand, as does the road built in 1929 connecting Youbou to Lake Cowichan. The site is recognised for its significance to the history of South Asian Canadians in British Columbia.

Sources

1. Mill closure date, worker numbers and the alliance that followed: Ancient Forest Alliance, 2011. ancientforestalliance.org
2. Mill history, community history, name origin and site remains: Town of Lake Cowichan, accessed 2026. cowichanlake.ca
3. Heritage significance of the Youbou Mill site: Canada's Historic Places, accessed 2026. historicplaces.ca
4. Population and growth figures for Electoral Area I: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, compiled by BC Stats. northcowichan.ca