For decades, many traditional pulp mills faced the same reality:

👉 modernize aggressively or slowly lose global competitiveness.

J.D. Irving has chosen modernization on one of the largest scales seen in the Canadian forest sector in decades.

Its Project NextGen at the Saint John pulp mill in New Brunswick represents a $1.5 billion transformation project, supported by a $660 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).

According to the company, the project is intended to reposition Irving Pulp & Paper from the lower ranks of global kraft pulp producers back into the top tier of efficient mills worldwide.

A Generational Rebuild of a Historic Mill

The Saint John site has operated since the 1800s and became a pulp mill in the early 20th century.

While the facility underwent modernization in the:

• 1970s
• 1990s

…the company says global competitors continued investing more aggressively in:

• scale
• energy systems
• efficiency
• recovery technology

Over time, the mill reportedly slipped from a globally competitive position toward the lower performance quartile.

Project NextGen is designed to reverse that trend.

New Recovery Boiler and Green Power Generation

At the center of the project are:

• a new recovery boiler
• steam turbine
• renewable energy generator

Together, the systems are expected to generate:
👉 up to 140 MW of renewable electricity

This will:

• fully power the mill
• export surplus electricity to New Brunswick’s power grid

Environmental Performance Becomes Competitive Strategy

The project is not only about output.

Irving says NextGen will:

• cut greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of kraft pulp by roughly half
• improve air quality
• reduce sound impacts
• improve water performance

This reflects a broader shift in global pulp production:

environmental efficiency is increasingly linked directly to market competitiveness.

Jobs and Regional Economic Impact

The project is also expected to become a major regional economic driver.

Construction phase:

• ~2,200 person-years of labour
• peak workforce expected to double onsite employment

Long-term:

• ~600 additional jobs across the forest supply chain

The project is expected to support:

• sawmills
• forestry operations
• pulpwood demand
• woodchip markets
• silviculture investment

According to the company:
👉 “A strong pulp mill makes a strong forest industry.”

Why This Matters for the Global Pulp Industry

Project NextGen reflects an important global trend:

Older mills are increasingly being forced into:

• deep modernization
  or
• long-term decline

The economics of pulp production are becoming increasingly dependent on:

• energy integration
• recovery systems
• fibre efficiency
• emissions performance
• scale economics

Strategic Insight: Pulp Mills Are Becoming Energy Platforms

One of the most important structural shifts visible in projects like NextGen is this:

Modern pulp mills are no longer only fibre processors.

They are increasingly:

• renewable energy producers
• industrial infrastructure hubs
• circular bioeconomy platforms

Final Thought

Irving’s Project NextGen is more than a mill upgrade.

It is a statement about the future direction of the Canadian forest sector:

👉 competitiveness will increasingly depend on technology, energy efficiency and integrated industrial systems — not simply fibre availability alone.

For Saint John, the project may redefine the mill’s future for decades.

For the global kraft pulp industry, it reinforces a growing reality:

the mills that survive long-term will likely be the ones willing to reinvent themselves at industrial scale.

Last Updated on 19/05/2026 by Jota Machinery