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EXHIBIT 31.1

CERTIFICATION REQUIRED BY RULE 13A-14(A) OR RULE 15D-14(A)

PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Louis P. Gignac, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this report on Form 40-F of Cambior Inc.
  (the "Company");
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not
  contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
  fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
  under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the
  period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial
  statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly
  present in all material respects the financial condition, results of
  operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented
  in this report;
4. The Company's other certifying officer and I
  are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
  procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
  Company and have:

> (a)
>       designed such disclosure controls and
>       procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
>       under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
>       Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
>       within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
>       being prepared;(b)
>       evaluated the effectiveness of the
>       Company's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
>       conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
>       the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and(c)
>       disclosed in this report any change in the
>       Company's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
>       the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is
>       reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial
>       reporting; and

1. The Company's other certifying officer and I
  have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
  financial reporting, to the Company's auditors and the audit committee of the
  Company's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

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> (a)
>       all significant
>       deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control
>       over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company's
>       ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and(b)
>       any fraud, whether
>       or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
>       significant role in the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

|      |                |                                          
|----- | -------------- | -----------------------------------------
|Date: | March 29, 2005 |                                          
|      |                |                                          
|      |                |                                          
|      |                |                                          
|      |                |                                          
|      |                | /s/ Louis P. Gignac                      
|      |                | Louis P. Gignac                          
|      |                | President and Chief Executive
    Officer
|      |                | Cambior Inc.                             

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