Nova ScotiaNova Scotia government officials will know if they’re the successful bidder for the Northern Pulp timberlands following an auction Friday, but it will be a few weeks before the result is publicly known.Auction winner will remain private until paperwork goes to court for approvalMichael Gorman · CBC News · Posted: Nov 27, 2025 4:19 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Natural Resources Minister Kim Masland says the province hopes to be able to add the land to its Crown lands portfolio. (Robert Short/CBC)Nova Scotia government officials will know if they’re the successful bidder for the Northern Pulp timberlands following an auction Friday, but it will be a few weeks before the result is publicly known.“This is a very confidential process,” Natural Resources Minister Kim Masland told reporters following a cabinet meeting in Halifax on Thursday.”We would not be able to release anything until after the court decision.”The auction is part of the creditor protection process Northern Pulp, which used to operate a mill in Pictou County, has been moving through. Nova Scotia is bidding on the company’s 162,000 hectares of timberlands and a nursery and seed orchard in Debert.“This has economic benefit and certainly we want to add that to our Crown land,” said Masland.A ‘thoughtful, sincere bid’The opening bid at the auction is $104 million; that’s the amount advanced by Ontario-based Macer Forest Holdings, which would have stood up if the province or other parties did not declare their intention to get in on the action.Premier Tim Houston told reporters that he has no issue with Macer but it “wasn’t the assessment of the province” that Macer’s initial bid “should win the day.” Bids during the auction must increase by increments of at least $200,000 and Houston said the province would go into the process with a “thoughtful, sincere bid.”At the conclusion of the auction, officials from Ernst and Young, the court-appointed monitor handling Northern Pulp’s creditor protection, will work with the successful bidder to finalize a sales agreement, which would then go before a British Columbia Supreme Court judge for sign-off, said Masland. Northern Pulp is owned by the B.C.-headquartered Paper Excellence Group. Information about the successful bid would only become public as it is filed with the court ahead of a hearing date scheduled for December.Masland said her government is committed to supporting the forestry industry, and trying to buy the Northern Pulp timberlands to ensure they can continue to be used for commercial purposes is one way to do that.“The short time that I’ve [been minister], there’s been lots of conversations with foresters stopping me saying how important it is that we bid on those lands.”MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORMichael Gorman covers the Nova Scotia legislature for CBC, with additional focuses on health care and rural communities. Contact him with story ideas at michael.gorman@cbc.ca
Minister says bid on Northern Pulp lands about supporting forestry sector
