First components arrive for Irving Pulp & Paper’s NextGen project
The first barge carrying major components for Irving Pulp & Paper’s Project NextGen successfully navigated Saint John’s Reversing Falls and arrived at Lee Cove on 13 September. The components were then unloaded by the Irving Equipment team.
Project NextGen is a CAD 1.5 billion generational upgrade of the company’s west-side pulp mill in Saint John, New Brunswick. According to Irving Pulp & Paper, it represents the largest investment in the Canadian forest-products industry in more than 30 years. Major elements of the programme include a new recovery boiler, a steam turbine and a green-energy generator. The existing oil-fired boiler will be decommissioned as part of the modernization.
The project is intended to make the mill energy self-sufficient, eliminate heavy fuel oil combustion as an energy source and reduce emissions per tonne of kraft pulp by 50%. The investment is also expected to increase production by more than 70%, positioning the mill among the world’s ten largest producers of softwood kraft pulp.
Key financing was secured in September 2025, when the Canada Infrastructure Bank reached financial close on a CAD 660 million loan supporting the large-scale modernization.
The Saint John mill produces Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) and Northern Bleached Hardwood Kraft (NBHK) pulp. Its portfolio includes NBSK fibre developed for premium tissue products in international markets.
