Province Issues Demolition Order For Pictou County Pulp Mill.

August 30, 2026 nnpress

Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman has issued an amended Ministerial Order allowing for the decommissioning, abatement and demolition of buildings and other infrastructure at the former Northern Pulp mill site in Abercrombie, Pictou County. Abatement means safely removing and disposing of any hazardous materials that may be inside the buildings before they are torn down.

The amended Ministerial Order was issued today, August 27, to Northern Timber Nova Scotia Corp. The company has informed the Minister that it expects to begin this work as early as September.

The amended Ministerial Order is specific to the company’s closure plan activities and includes stringent terms and conditions to ensure that the company’s closure activities mitigate impacts to the environment. As part of the company’s requirement to continue to be in compliance with the Environment Act, the updated Ministerial Order also requires the company to determine if any upgrades are needed to its surface water management process. The Department’s large industrial file team will monitor the site during and after the demolition to ensure that the company is in compliance with the Environment Act.

The amended Ministerial Order is available at: https://novascotia.ca/nse/issues/northern-pulp.asp

The original Ministerial Order, issued on May 28, 2021, requires the company to monitor surface water and groundwater, collect surface water for testing and dispose of leachate at an approved facility. The company must continue these activities under the amended Ministerial Order.

Next steps for the site will be determined as the company continues to go through its creditor protection process.

Quick Facts:

the Northern Pulp mill entered cold-idle state in February 2020 with the closure of the Boat Harbour effluent treatment facility; the company subsequently made a decision to permanently close the Abercrombie site and placed it into care and maintenance mode
the company has been under creditor protection under the federal Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act since June 18, 2020
on April 27, 2026, the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved an order to amalgamate Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation and Northern Timer Nova Scotia Corporation
as part of the Court-approved settlement plan, the company was required to develop a closure plan for the site and to allocate $15 million from sale of the timberlands to fund the closure plan. The decommissioning of the Abercrombie site, and the abatement and demolition of all buildings and physical infrastructure on the site is part of the company’s court-ordered closure plan
in Nova Scotia, the environmental reclamation process is a separate, regulated process from building demolition projects and has its own regulatory requirements. Reclamation work typically requires Industrial Approvals and is regulated under the Environment Act through the Contaminated Sites Regulations. It is also guided by Nova Scotia’s Guidelines for Management of Contaminated Sites.