Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by a check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

As of January 29, 2021,31, 2022, there were 80,813,61976,816,243 shares of Resolute Forest Products Inc. common stock, $0.001 par value, outstanding.

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed within 120 days of December 31, 2020,2021, are incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in response to Part III, Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

We are a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products and paper. We own or operate some 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets in the U.S. and Canada. Marketing our products in over 5060 countries, we have third-party certified 100% of our managed woodlands to at least one internationally recognized sustainable forest management standard.

We also operate two remanufactured wood products facilities that manufacture bed frame components, finger joints, and furring strips, two engineered wood products facilities that manufactureproduce I-joists for the construction industry, and one wood pellet facility, all of which are located in Quebec and Ontario.

The following table lists the sawmills we owned or operated as of December 31, 2020. The table presents our total 20202022 mechanical capacity, and 2021 production, reflecting the impact of any downtime taken, in 2020, andof our 2021 mechanical capacity.sawmills by region for the year ended December 31, 2021. We do not have access to enough fiber to operate all of the

enough timber to operate all of the sawmills at their total mechanical capacity. Total capacity is based on the best yearly production by mill from the last three years on an hourly basis, multiplied by the standard operating hours in an operating schedule of approximately 355 days.

The following table lists the remanufactured wood, engineered wood, and wood pellet products facilities we owned or operated as ofduring the year ended December 31, 2020,2021, and their respective 20212022 capacity and 20202021 production. Total capacity is based on an operating schedule of approximately 355 days.

We sell green power produced from renewable sources and wood-related products to customers located in Canada and the U.S. Sales of these other products are considered a recovery of the cost of manufacturing our primary products.

Steam and electrical power constitute the primary forms of energy used in pulp, tissue and paper production. Process steam is produced in boilers using a variety of fuel sources, as well as heat recovery units in mechanical pulp facilities. All of our pulp, paper and tissue operating sites generate 100% of their own steam requirements. In 2020, the2021, Alma, Calhoun, Coosa Pines, Dolbeau, Gatineau, Kénogami, Saint-Félicien and Thunder Bay operations collectively consumed 61%58% of their electrical requirements from internal sources, notably on-site cogeneration and hydroelectric dams. We purchased the balance of our electrical energy needs from third parties. We haveAs of December 31, 2021, we had six sites that operateoperated cogeneration facilities and all of these sites generategenerated primarily green energy from renewable biomass. Following the indefinite idling of the Calhoun pulp and paper operations, we now have five sites that operate cogeneration facilities.

In general, our products, other than tissue, are globally-traded commodities. The markets in which we compete are highly competitive and, aside from quality specifications to meet customer needs, including designations to globally recognized forest management and chain of custody standards, the production of our products does not depend upon a proprietary process or formula. Pricing and the level of shipments of our products are influenced by the balance between supply and demand as affected by global economic conditions, changes in consumption and capacity, the level of customer and producer inventories, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates.rates and freight costs. Prices for our products have been and are likely to continue to be highly volatile.

We produceAs of December 31, 2021, we produced six major grades of market pulp (NBSK, SBSK, NBHK, SBHK, RBK, and fluff), for which we compete with a number of major market pulp producers, primarily with operations in North America. Market pulp

being a globally-traded commodity, we also compete with other producers from South America (eucalyptus hardwood and radiata pine softwood), Europe (northern hardwood and softwood), and Asia (mixed tropical hardwood). Price, quality, service, and fiber sources and freight costs are considered the main competitive determinants. Following the announcement of the indefinite idling of the Calhoun pulp and paper operations, we now produce four major grades of market pulp (NBSK, NBHK, RBK, and fluff).

We are an integrated manufacturer of tissue products and compete with several major competitors in the North American tissue market. The key competitive attributes in this market include price, product quality, service, and customer relationships. Competition is also significantly affected by geographic location, as freight costs representrepresents a material portion of the costs. We compete with branded and private-label products within North America.

In 2020, the five largest North AmericanOur newsprint producers represented 88% of North American capacity, and the five largest global producers represented 32% of global newsprint capacity. We facefaces competition from both large global producers and numerous smaller regional producers. Price, quality, freight costs and customer relationships are important competitive determinants.

As with other global commodities, the competitive position of our products is significantly affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For additional information, see Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk – Foreign Currency Exchange Risk,” of this Form 10-K.

Form 10-K.

Our long-term competitiveness is tied to the ability to recruit candidates with key competencies, and develop and retain top-quality employees. We are committed to implementing new human resource practices to retain employees with the right skills.and renew our workforce. We are building a strong corporate culture that attracts results-driven and action-oriented employees and allows natural leaders to grow. WeIn 2021, we hired 9701,450 new permanent and temporary employees, raising our employer profile through targeted recruitment practices.

While recruitment is important, we are equally committed to ensuring that our current employees are consistently motivated and engaged by promotingengaged. Our human resources teams work hard to promote individual professional development goals, support sharing of knowledge and resources across the Company, and create opportunities for growth and learning wherever possible.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a vigilance committee has been set up to collect and analyze continuous relevant information through the appropriate public health authorities where we operate, and more than 30 pandemic crisis management protocols have been implemented and maintained/updated in 2021, as well as implementing COVID-19 vaccination hubs in Quebec to ensure the safety and health of employees and contractors working at all our sites, helping to mitigate disruptions of operations.

In addition, the board has adopted a board-levelformal written diversity policy striving to maintain a minimumboth at the board and executive levels. The board and the human resources and compensation/nominating and governance committee advocate diversity in the broadest sense, including diversity of 25%experience, expertise and personal characteristics, such as the representation each of men and women on our board of directors, as well as an executive leadership-level diversity policy acknowledging diversity as a key factor in the Company’s talent management strategy. Currently there are two women onat the board representing 29%level. Diversity is important because we believe a range of its membership.perspectives contributes to a more effective decision-making process.

The outbreakWe are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties related to pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by COVID-19 has had,its resulting variants, illnesses, and could continue to have a negative impact on financial markets, economic conditions and portions of our business. While we are unable to predictrelated impacts, the extent, nature, intensity and duration of these impacts at this time, the global COVID-19 pandemic couldwhich are uncertain and difficult to predict. These risks are expected to continue to negatively affect our business, and results of operations as well as theand market price of our securities, in a number of ways, including the following:following as described below.

If necessary, to preserve liquidity, we could suspend or defer capital projects, as well as other strategic initiatives. Strategies to increase earnings power or generate additional cash flow, including capital projects, acquisitions, divestitures and other transactions could be delayed or not materialize given the current economic uncertainty. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we could decide to permanently shut down machines or facilities and be required to record significant closure costs, remediation costs, long-lived asset impairment or accelerated depreciation charges.

We compete with numerous forest products companies, some of which have greater financial resources. The trend toward consolidation in the forest products industry has led to the formation of sizable global producers that have greater flexibility in pricing and financial resources for marketing, investment, research and development, innovation, and expansion. Because the markets for our products are highly competitive, actions by competitors can affect our ability to compete and the volatility of prices at which our products are sold. For example, favorable market price conditions of wood, pulp or paper products could attract investments from competitors, including the reopening of plants in markets where we compete, which in turn could have an impact on our sales, profitability and cash flows.

Our corporate strategy is focused on continuing to transform the Company away from mature product markets and products in structurally declining demand toward a more profitable and sustainable organization over the long run. This includes maximizing value generation from structurally declining paper,creation by growing in wood and pulp and wood products, integrating our pulp into value-added quality tissue, and investing in product innovation, and maximizing cash generation from our paper assets, while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation.

Our operations and performance depend significantly on worldwide economic conditions. During periods of weak or weakening global economic conditions, we would expect any increase in unemployment or lower gross domestic product growth rates to adversely affect demand for our products as our customers delay or reduce their expenditures. For example, during an economic downturn, end consumers may reduce printed newspaper and magazine subscriptions as a direct result of their financial circumstances, contributing to lower demand for print advertisements and for our products by our customers. Advertising demand in printed magazines and newspapers may also decline. Lower demand for print advertisements leads to fewer or smaller pages in, and may lead to less frequent publication of, printed newspapers, magazines and other advertisement circulars and periodicals, decreasing the demand for our products. In addition, demand for our market pulp products is generally associated with the production rates of paper producers, as well as consumption trends for products such as tissue, toweling and absorbent products.

An economic downturn in the U.S. or Canada could also negatively affect the U.S. or Canadian housing industry, which is a significant driver of demand for our lumber and other wood-based products. For example, a decline in housing starts or in the repair and remodeling segment could create a low level of primary demand for our lumber and other wood-based products, which we would expect to result in our wood products business operating at a lower level until there is a meaningful recovery in new residential construction demand or in the repair and remodeling sector. In addition, with less lumber demand, sawmills could generate fewer wood chips that we use in our pulp and paper mills, which could lead those mills to increase their supply from the open market, where prices can fluctuate with market conditions. WeThis could also have lesslead to reduced availability of wood residue tofor internal use, internally, which would increase our fossil fuel consumption and, as a result, our costs and environmental impact.

Wood fiber is the principal raw material we use in our business. We primarily use wood chips and logs for our pulp tissue, and paper mills. Our wood products business is also dependent on our timber supply.

In addition, regulatory developments, activist campaigns and litigation advanced by Indigenous groups or other stakeholders have caused, and may cause in the future, significant reductions in the amount of timber available for commercial harvest in Canada, or that meet standards required for third-party certifications. Future regulation, particularly by Ontario, Quebec, or the federal Canadian government, as well as litigation, changes in forest management certification standards, and actions taken by activists to influence the availability of timber for commercial harvest could focus on any one or more of the use of timberlands, forest management practices, forest management and chain of custody certification standards, consultation with Indigenous groups, protection of habitats and endangered or other species, including the woodland caribou, promotion of forest biodiversity, and the response to, and prevention of, catastrophic wildfires.

Our access to timber may also be affected by factors such as fire and fire prevention, insect infestation, disease, ice storms, wind storms, drought, flooding, climate change effects and other natural and man-made causes, which could potentially reduce supply and increase prices.

Though timber is our primary source of fiber, wood fiber is a commodity and we also buy a significant portion of our fiber requirements on the open market. Prices for wood fiber are cyclical and subject to market influences, which could be concentrated in one or more regions due to market shifts. The timber requirements

Following the indefinite idling of our pulp and paper operations at Calhoun, we may have greater difficulty sourcing the pulp required for our U.S. sawmills are met mostly by purchasing timber from timberland owners.operating tissue facilities at comparable costs, which could impact the profitability of our tissue operations.

Our operations consume large amounts of energy, such as electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and wood residue, a substantial proportion of which we buy on the open market. The main raw materials we require in our manufacturing processes are wood fiber and chemicals. The prices for raw materials and energy are volatile, affected by inflation, and may change rapidly, which impacts our manufacturing costs, directly affects our results of operations and may contribute to earnings volatility. We also rely on service providers and contractors in our operations, the costs of which have also increased due to workforce shortages and inflation.

For our commodity products, the relationship between industry supply and demand, rather than changes in the cost of raw materials, determines our ability to increase prices. Consequently, we may be unable to pass along increases in our operating costs to our customers. Any sustained increase in energy, chemical, or raw material prices without any corresponding increase

Our operations and the operations of our suppliers are subject to climate variations, which impact the productivity of forests, the frequency and severity of wildfires, the availability of water, the distribution and abundance of species, and the spread of disease or insect epidemics, which in turn may adversely or positively affect timber production and availability. Over the past several years, changing weather patterns and climatic conditions due to natural and man-made causes have added to the unpredictability and frequency of natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, hailstorms, wildfires, drought, flooding, snow, ice storms, the spread of disease, and insect infestations. Any of these natural disasters or other conditions could also affect woodlands or cause variations in the cost of raw materials, such as virgin fiber. Changes in precipitation could make wildfires more frequent or more severe, and could adversely affect timber harvesting or our hydroelectric production.generation. The effects of global, regional and local weather conditions, and climate change, including the costs of complying with evolving climate change regulations and transition costs relating to a low carbon economyany related litigation could also adversely impact our results of operations.

While we intend to renew collective agreements, there can be no assurance that we will be able to renew agreements on satisfactory terms, or that we will maintain continuously satisfactory agreements with all of our unionized employees. Should

we be unable to do so, it could result in strikes, work stoppages, or disturbances by affected employees, which could cause us to experience a disruption of operations and affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

The success of our businesses is largely contingent on the availability of, and direct access to, raw materials, as well as our ability to ship products on a timely and cost-efficient basis. As a result, any event that disrupts or limits transportation or delivery services or the operations of our suppliers, including workforce shortages and economic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, could materially and adversely affect our business.business, including increasing our inventory levels. In addition, our operating results depend on the continued operation of our various production facilities and our ability to complete construction and maintenance projects on schedule. Interruptions of operations at our facilities, including interruptions caused by the events described below, could materially reduce the productivity and profitability of a particular manufacturing facility, or our business as a whole, during and after the period of such operational difficulties.

We are currently in the process of replacing certain legacy system applications with an integrated business management software platform. Prior to the completion of this upgrading process, we may not have supplier or third-party support for legacy systems in the event of failure or required updates, and such legacy systems may be more vulnerable to breakdown, malicious intrusion, and random attack. Prior to the completion of this upgrading process, weWe may also experience difficulties maintaining or replacing the hardware infrastructure required to operate these legacy systems. Such legacy systems, if not properly functioning prior to their replacement, could adversely affect our business.

We compete with producers from around the world, particularly North America, Europe, and South America, in most of our product lines, with the exception of wood products and tissue, where we compete primarily with other North American producers. We sell our products mainly in transactions denominated in U.S. dollars, but we also sell in certain local currencies, including the Canadian dollar, the euro, and the pound sterling. Changes in the relative strength or weakness of these currencies, particularly the U.S. dollar, could affect international trade flows of these products. A stronger U.S. dollar might attract imports, thereby increasing product supply and possibly creating downward pressure on prices. On the other hand, a weaker U.S. dollar might encourage U.S. exports but also increase manufacturing costs in Canadian dollars.

As of December 31, 2020,2021, we had net pension obligations of $1,440$1,041 million, of which approximately 78%75% relates to our registered pension plans in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and approximately 22%25% of which relates to our U.S. qualified pension plan. See Note 16, “Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans,” to our Consolidated Financial Statements, for a description of our pension plan funding obligations, including our unfunded pension obligations.

The amount by which our pension plans are funded or underfunded varies depending upon the return on pension fund investments, the level of interest rates used to determine minimum funding levels, the payments of benefits, and other actuarial assumptions and experience. Variations from our assumptions would cause the actual amount of our required contributions to vary from our current estimates. Any additional contributions to our pension plans to fund potential deficit increases would be required to be paid over a period of time ranging from seventen to 1115 years depending upon the laws applicable to the funding of the specific pension plan. Any change to laws and regulations applicable to the funding of our pension plans could also increase or decrease our future funding obligations. Similarly, because we make our Quebec and Ontario pension plan contributions in Canadian dollars, the amount of our contributions as stated in U.S. dollars can be subject to the potentially significant effect of foreign currency exchange rate variations. Any such variations could materially affect our cash flows and financial condition, in each case either positively or negatively depending on the direction and magnitude of the variation. In addition, an increase in our net pension obligations could make it more difficult to obtain financing on favorable terms.

A breach of the covenants under the ABL Credit Facility, the Senior Secured Credit Facility, the 2026 Notes or the Loan Facility could result in an event of default, which could allow holders and lenders, as the case may be, to accelerate the

repayment of their debt and could result in the acceleration of the repayment of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. An event of default under the ABL Credit Facility, the Senior Secured Credit Facility or the Loan Facility would also allow the lenders to terminate all commitments to extend further credit to us under those facilities. If we were unable to repay amounts due and payable under the ABL Credit Facility, the Senior Secured Credit Facility or the Loan Facility, the lenders would have the right to proceed against the collateral securing the indebtedness. In any of these events, we may seek to refinance our indebtedness, but be unable to do so on commercially reasonable terms. As a result, we could be: limited in how we conduct our business; unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns; unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities; or forced to sell assets.

The higher the inflation rate, the more interest rates are likely to rise, which could affect our borrowings and capacity to borrow. In addition, our borrowings under the ABL Credit Facility and the Senior Secured Credit Facility bear interest at variable rates, primarily based on LIBOR as the reference. LIBOR is subject to national and international proposals for reform that maywill cause LIBOR to cease to exist after 2021 or to perform differently than in the past.2023. While we expect that reasonable alternatives to LIBOR will be available, such as Secured Overnight Financing Rate, we cannot predict the consequences and timing of the development of alternative reference rates, and the transition to an alternative reference rate could result in an increase in our interest expense. The indefinite idling of our Calhoun pulp and paper operations impacts the value of the mill’s assets, which secures our obligations under the Senior Secured Credit Facility; as a result, we may grant additional security under the Senior Secured Credit Facility to compensate for the change in value and maintain the full amount of the credit facility.

As part of our transformationcorporate strategy andor in response to changing market dynamics and structurally declining demand for some of our products or productivity issues, it may be necessary to further curtail production, indefinitely or permanently shut down machines and facilities, restructure operations, or sell non-core assets. In addition to the potential loss of production, curtailments, and shutdowns or divestitures could result in long-lived asset or goodwill impairments, accelerated depreciation, inventory write-down and closure costs for the affected facilities, including restructuring charges, exit or disposal costs, and remediation and other environmental costs, which could negatively impact our cash flows and materially affect our results of operations and financial condition. The closure of machines or facilities could also trigger the payment of severance, additional pension contributions or wind-up deficiencies.

We recorded significant deferred income tax assets relating to our Canadian operations in our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2020.2021. If, in the future, we determine that we are unable to recognize these deferred income tax assets as a result of sustained cumulative losses in our Canadian operations, we could be required to record additional valuation allowances for the portion of the deferred income tax assets that is not more likely than not to be realized. Such valuation allowances, if taken, would be recorded as a charge to income tax provision and would adversely impact our results of operations.

We produce products in the U.S. and Canada, and we sell products worldwide. Under international agreementstrade and theinvestment treaties and domestic trade laws, of many countries, trade remedies are available to domestic industriescustom duties (also called tariffs) can be imposed by national governments where imports are alleged to be “dumped” or “subsidized” and such imports are alleged to cause material injury, or an imminent threat of injury, to a domestic industry. Under such laws, dumping generally involves selling for export a product at a price lower than that at which the same or similar product is sold in the home market of the exporter, or where the export prices are lower than a value that typically must be at or above the full cost of production (including sales and marketing costs) and a reasonable amount for profit. International trade laws also generally provide that subsidies fromnational governments may be subjectcan adopt countervailing measures, including countervailing duties, with regard to trade remediesimported products that are subsidized through foreign government programs under certain circumstances. A trade remedy investigation or proceeding may involve allegations of either dumping, subsidization, or both.both, which are generally initiated at the request of local producers. Where injurious dumping is found, the trade remedy is typically an anti-dumping duty order. Where injurious subsidization is found, the trade remedy is typically a countervailing duty order. In principle, a dutytariff equal to the amount of dumping or subsidization, as applicable, should be imposed on the importer of the product. However, whetherTariffs can be legally challenged before local or not consistent with treaty obligations or other applicable law, authorities have imposed assumed or estimated rates on products that may not be related to actual dumping by a particular producer or may not be based on subsidies actually received by the producer. Anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders do not prevent the export or import of the product,international review bodies, but rather require the importer of the product to pay to the government an anti-dumping duty or countervailing duty, or a depositnational governments will generally continue levying deposits on estimated anti-dumpingcustoms duties during the pendency of such review proceedings, which can span over many years. Legal rules applicable to tariffs could also be modulated should certain national governments amend their legislation or countervailing duties, as applicable.withdraw from international treaties on tariffs, or should such international treaties be renegotiated or terminated. The imposition of additional anti-dumpingcustoms duties countervailing duties,or deposit requirements in respect of estimated duties or any other trade remedy on one or more of our products could materially affect our cash flow, and the competitive position of our operations relating to the affected product.

We are subject to a variety of foreign, federal or national, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations dealing with financial reporting and disclosure obligations, corporate governance, antitrust, customs and trade, employees, contractors, transportation, taxes, timber and water rights, pensions, benefit plans, workplace health and safety, the manufacture and sale of consumer products, including product safety and liability, the environment, and Indigenous peoples, among others. Many of these laws and regulations are complex and subject to differing interpretation, and the requirements of laws and regulations of different countries and jurisdictions in which we operate, have sales or otherwise do business, or in which our securities trade or in which our security holders reside, may differ or be inconsistent with one another. Compliance with these laws and regulations, including changes to them or their interpretations or enforcement, or introduction of new laws and regulations, has required in the past, and could require in the future, substantial expenditures by us and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, noncompliance with laws and regulations especially those related to the environment and Indigenous peoples, could significantly damage and require us to spend substantial amounts of money to rebuild our reputation.

We become involved in various legal proceedings, claims, governmental inquiries, investigations, and other disputes in the normal course of business. These could include, for example, matters related to contracts, transactions, commercial and trade disputes, taxes, environmental and climate change issues, activistactivist’s claims for damages, employment and workers’ compensation claims, grievances, human rights complaints, pension and benefit plans and obligations, health and safety, product safety and liability, asbestos exposure, intellectual property, financial reporting and disclosure obligations, corporate governance, Indigenous peoples’ claims, antitrust, governmental regulations, and other matters. In addition to claims against us and our consolidated subsidiaries, these matters may involve claims asserted by others against unconsolidated partnerships, and joint venturesinvestments in whichcompanies where we have an interest.significant influence or joint ventures. Although the final outcome of these matters is subject to many variables and cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty, we regularly assess the status of the matters and establish provisions (including legal costs expected to be incurred) when we believe an adverse outcome is probable, and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Legal proceedings that we believe could have a material adverse effect if not resolved in our favor, or that we believe to be significant, are discussed in Item 3 of this Form 10-K and in Note 18, “Commitments and Contingencies – Legal matters” to our Consolidated Financial Statements. However, our reports do not disclose or discuss all matters of which we are aware. If our assessment of the probable outcome or materiality of a matter is not correct, we may not have made adequate provision for such loss and our financial condition, cash flows, or results of operations could be adversely impacted.

In addition, if a loss resulting from an adverse outcome in connection with a matter were to affect the solvency of certain of our subsidiaries or remain unpaid for certain periods, it could result in a default under the ABL Credit Facility, the Senior Secured Credit Facility, or the indenture governing the 2026 Notes andor the Loan Facility. For additional information, see “Financial Risks – The terms of our ABL Credit Facility, our Senior Secured Credit Facility, the indenture governing our 2026 Notes and our Loan Facility could restrict our current and future operations, and changes relating to LIBOR could impact our borrowings under some of these facilities” above.

Information regarding our owned properties is included in Item 1, “Business.”

In addition to the properties that we own, we also lease under long-term leases office and manufacturing premises, machinery, chemical equipment, office equipment, and rail cars, have water rights on certain government-owned waters, and have harvesting rights or timber supply guarantees with respect to certain government-owned land. For additional information, see Note 12, “Operating Leases” and Note 18, “Commitments and Contingencies – Commitments,” to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

We hold the properties that we own or lease, and the rights and supply guarantees described above, through various operating subsidiaries, including our principal U.S. operating subsidiary, Resolute FP US Inc., and our principal Canadian operating subsidiary, Resolute FP Canada Inc. For a list of our subsidiaries as of December 31, 2020,2021, see Exhibit 21.1, “Subsidiaries of the registrant,” of this Form 10-K.

Our common stock trades under the stock symbol “RFP” on both the NYSE and the TSX. As of January 29, 2021,31, 2022, there were 2,3772,189 holders of record of our common stock.

We declared and paid a special dividend of $1.00 per share ($79 million) on our common stock in 2021. We did not declare or pay any dividends on our common stock in 2020 or 2019.2020. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of the board of directors and will be dependent on then-existing conditions, including our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, contractual and legal restrictions, business prospects and other factors that the board of directors considers relevant. Our debt agreements contain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and repurchase shares, as further described in Note 15, “Long-Term Debt,” to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

On March 2, 2020,December 7, 2021, we announced a new share repurchase program, authorized by our board of directors, authorizedof up to ten million shares of our common stock or $100 million, whichever occurs first. No shares were repurchased under this plan in 2021.

With our repurchase of 4.6 million shares at an average price of $10.64 for a total of $48 million during the year ended December 31, 2021, we completed our $100 million share repurchase program, which was launched in March 2020 and authorized the repurchase of shares of up to 15% of our common stock, for an aggregate consideration of up to $100 million. In 2020,Under this program, we repurchased 6.9 million shares at an average price of $4.28 for a costtotal of $30 million under this program. In 2019, we repurchased 4.8 million shares at a cost of $24 million, completing our $150 million share repurchase program launched in 2012.2020.

Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products and paper, which are marketed in over 5060 countries. The Company owns or operates some 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets, in the U.S. and Canada. We produce lumber in the U.S.are a large and Canada, and we are the largestgrowing North American producer of wood products, east of the Canadian Rockies, the largest producer of uncoated mechanical papers in North America, and a competitive pulp producer in North America. We are alsoAmerica, and a leading global producer of newsprint and an emerging tissue producer.newsprint. Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards.

We report our activities in four business segments: market pulp, tissue, wood products and paper. We believe an integrated approach across these segments maximizes value creation for our Company and stakeholders.

We are guided by our vision and values, focusing on safety, sustainability, profitability, accountability, and teamwork. We believe we can be distinguished by the following competitive strengths:

Wood products

As we operate in a capital-intensive and writing demand for pulp continues to decline. We alsocyclical industry, we believe that the tissueproper allocation of capital is a top priority, and that it should be done in a disciplined manner, with a view to maximize free cash flow through the business will providecycle and to generate attractive returns for our shareholders. Accordingly, we:

Fiber from trees is renewable, reusable and fossil-free, and we believe that it can serve as a core pillar in the ongoing shift away from fossil-based materials toward renewable alternatives. With our large-scale access to high-quality fiber, our expertise in managing its value-transformation, chain and our strategically-located manufacturing facilities, we believe in investing in our business to build a competitive forest products company for the future.

For example, today we manufacture wood pellets used in renewable energy production from sawmill byproducts and, in partnership with a leading industry research organization, we recently launched an innovative pilot bio-refinery plant to produce lignin and cellulosic sugars for uses such as wood adhesives, animal feed and composites.byproducts. In early 2020, we also announced the construction of a commercial plant to produce cellulose filaments, a new sustainable biomaterial derived from wood fiber that can be integrated into commercial and consumer products for many industries, including transportation, construction and energy, increasing the resistance and durability of those products. Construction of the facility is expected to be concluded in 2022, and commercial volumes should be available for sale before the end of the year. The cellulose filaments will be marketed with the help of Performance BioFilaments Inc., a joint venture established in 2014 by Resolute and Mercer International Inc., dedicated to the development of non-traditional applications for cellulose filaments.

OurAt Resolute, our business and sustainability strategies have been expressly developed to align our efforts in environmental stewardship and social responsibility with our business objectives. This approach reinforces our vision that profitability and sustainability drive our future. For information on our sustainability strategy, is based on a balanced approach to environmental, social and economic performance, designed to enhance our competitive position. It is supported by public commitments in a numbersee Part I, Item 1, “Business – Sustainability” of key performance areas, focusing primarily on:this Form 10-K.

We produce electricity at sixfive cogeneration facilities and seven hydroelectric dams. The output is consumed internally or sold under contract to third parties. This allows us to reduce our costs by generating energy internally at a lower cost compared to open market purchases, and by producing revenue from external sales.

We estimate that the approximate annualized cost savings to our operations attributable to internal consumption from our cogeneration assets and hydroelectric facilities is between $40$32 million and $45$37 million.

In December 2021, we announced the indefinite idling of the pulp and paper operations at our Calhoun mill, with an accelerated depreciationannual capacity of 147,000 metric tons of pulp and 149,000 metric tons of paper. The decision was taken due to the accumulation of significant financial losses, even with strong market conditions for both the pulp and uncoated freesheet paper it manufactures, as well as the ongoing significant production upsets. This resulted in our reassessment of the carrying value of the long-lived assets and recognition of an impairment charge of $38$124 million on fixed assets, recognition of severance and recognized additional provisionsother costs of $17 million. These charges are recorded$18 million (recorded in “Closure costs, impairment and other related charges”), as well as recognition of inventory write-downs of $29 million (recorded in “Cost of sales, excluding depreciation, amortization and distribution costs”) in our Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021. We also recognized inventory write-downsexpect to incur additional closure costs of $25approximately $32 million recordedmainly related to decommissioning in “Cost2022. Tissue manufacturing and converting continue at the site, and the adjacent distribution center remains in full operation. Pulp and paper operations ceased at the beginning of sales, excluding depreciation, amortization2022.

On February 2, 2021, we completed the private offering (or, the "Offering") ofissued $300 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.875% senior notes due 2026 (or, the “2026 Notes”) at an issue price of 100%. pursuant to an indenture as of that date. We used the net proceeds of the Offering,2026 Notes, together with cash on hand, to redeem all of the outstanding $375 million aggregate principal amount of our 5.875% senior notes due 2023, (or, the “2023 Notes”), at a price of 100% of the aggregate principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date. The redemption of the 2023 Senior Notes occurred on February 18, 2021.

On March 2, 2020,December 7, 2021, we announced a new share repurchase program, authorized by our board of directors, authorizedof up to ten million shares of our common stock or $100 million, whichever occurs first. No shares were repurchased under this plan in 2021.

Our operating income was $99$584 million during the year, compared to $17$99 million in 2019.2020. Excluding special items, we generated operating income of $757 million in 2021, compared to $169 million in 2020, compared to $46 million in 2019.2020. Special items are described below.

Our operating incomeloss was $4$101 million in the quarter, compared to operating lossincome of $69$4 million in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, we incurredgenerated an operating income of $85$70 million in the quarter, compared to operating lossincome of $39$85 million in the year-ago period. Special items are described below.

Our net loss in the quarter was $52$128 million, or $0.63$1.64 per share, compared to net loss of $71$52 million, or $0.79$0.63 per share, in the year-ago period. Our net income in the quarter, excluding special items, was $37 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared to net income of $45 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $53 million, or $0.59 per share, in the year-ago period.