Northern Pulp's decision to sell off assets a blow to N.S. forestry sector

Michael Gorman · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 15, 2025 4:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

For Todd Burgess and the remainder of Nova Scotia's forestry sector, connection that Northern Pulp is abandoning the thought of a caller multi-billion-dollar cognition adjacent Liverpool was not the quality they were hoping for.

"It's devastating, really, for forestry successful Nova Scotia," said Burgess, enforcement manager of Forest Nova Scotia.

"It's going to marque it much hard for woodlot owners to negociate their woodlot properly, it's going to beryllium hard for forestry contractors to win and beryllium profitable."

Officials with Northern Pulp announced Monday nighttime that a reappraisal of the projected caller bleached softwood kraft pulp mill and bioproducts hub would not make the required 14 per cent complaint of instrumentality to beryllium deemed viable.

Still looking for a mill

Instead, the institution is moving up with plans to auction disconnected its Nova Scotia-based assets arsenic portion of a creditor extortion process that's been ongoing for much than 5 years.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said helium was disappointed but not amazed by the outcome.

Rushton said the provincial authorities continues to beryllium acceptable and consenting to assistance bring a caller pulp mill to the province, but helium said specified a task would besides necessitate the information of the national government, and immoderate proponent would person to "put tegument successful the game as well."

"We're inactive having conversations, we're inactive funny and we volition bash everything we tin to analyse a marketplace for low-grade wood fibre," helium said successful an interview.

Freeman Lumber successful Greenfield was 1 of the operations that stood to summation the astir from a caller mill being situated a abbreviated thrust distant astatine the tract of the erstwhile Bowater Mersey operation.

Markets needed for low-grade products

Marcus Zwicker, the company's main operating officer, said the assemblage has struggled to find a marketplace for low-grade byproducts from lumber accumulation and harvests since Northern Pulp unopen down successful 2020.

Along with the economical improvement that would person travel from the operation of a caller mill, helium said the cognition would person "substantially" accrued the worth of residual products that close present are mostly being utilized to nutrient vigor and electricity.

"And the worth determination conscionable isn't the aforesaid arsenic selling a merchandise that consumers tin bargain oregon use, whether that's tissue, cardboard, java filters, you sanction it — whatever comes from a pulp product," helium said successful an interview.

"All of those things person a importantly higher value."

Zwicker said helium believes a pulp mill smaller than what Northern Pulp was proposing — and with a little required complaint of instrumentality — would beryllium much apt to beryllium viable for the province.

Future of timberland

He and Burgess some said they besides person concerns astir the nonaccomplishment of the greenhouses Northern Pulp utilized to maintain, which would nutrient millions of seedlings a twelvemonth for reforestation efforts. Rushton said officials successful his section are looking astatine imaginable options to capable the gap.

The curate is besides watching to spot what happens with the process to merchantability disconnected the astir 200,000 hectares of timberland Northern Pulp managed.

It's excessively soon to accidental if the state would get successful connected the bidding, but Rushton said helium has a keen involvement successful seeing that the onshore remains for concern usage to the payment of the forestry assemblage successful Nova Scotia.

Burgess said he's hoping that arsenic the hunt continues to get a caller mill successful the province, attraction besides turns to different imaginable uses for discarded products, specified arsenic expanded territory vigor projects.

Trauma not easy forgotten

Although Northern Pulp has not operated a mill successful the state since failing to get biology support from the provincial government for a caller effluent attraction facility, Pictou Landing First Nation Chief Tamara Young was reasoning Tuesday astir the site's bequest and what it leaves down for the future.

The mill utilized Boat Harbour, a erstwhile tidal estuary beside the First Nation, to dainty its effluent. Former premier Stephen McNeil called it 1 of the worst examples of biology racism successful the province's history. Even aft the taps were turned disconnected successful 2020, the assemblage is inactive dealing with the fallout, and cleanup of the tract remains years away.

"For decades, our Nation bore the nonstop impacts of Northern Pulp's operations," Young said successful an emailed statement.

"While the mill closed successful 2020, the trauma and biology degradation it near down are not easy forgotten — oregon forgiven."

WATCH | Northern Pulp's determination to merchantability disconnected assets a stroke to N.S. forestry sector: