Letter In Support IPP Parking Lot Application
January 16, 2025
To: Saint John Common Council and Planning Advisory Committee,
Subject: In support of Irving Pulp and Pater, Limited – Application to add a parking lot
As Chair of the Saint John Region Chamber’s Board of Directors, I would like to submit this letter in support of Irving Pulp and Paper, Limited’s application to add a parking lot at the JDI-owned Wolastoq Park.
This project is an integral step to ensure the company’s $1.1-billion Project NextGen moves forward. Billion-dollar, private-sector investments aren’t an everyday, yearly or even once-in-a-decade occurrence for cities like Saint John. When the project was announced last spring, it signaled a belief on behalf of Irving Pulp and Paper of long-term, sustained growth in the Saint John region.
It was a message our members – small business, the backbone of our economy – needed to hear.
To put it frankly, the last five years have not been easy for the region’s business community. First it was the pandemic and its ongoing spillover effects. Now we face even more uncertainty as we prepare for the possibility of tariffs.
In the face of these headwinds, Project NextGen promises to generate infusions of property tax to the city and province, create jobs and spur on spending at businesses region wide. At local restaurants alone, the household spending generated by Project NextGen is estimated to come in at $18.8 million. The project will place Saint John on the map as home to a company that is a world leader in environmental performance and kraft pulp production. This in turn will draw the eyes of more world-class industrial players to come set up and invest in our region.
In November, the Chamber was thrilled to award Irving Pulp and Paper with a Sustainability Award at the Outstanding Business Awards. The honour recognized the company and its Project NextGen as playing a “critical role for business in creating prosperity while minimizing harm to the planet through innovative and effective business practices.”
We need to work together to overcome recent challenges in the business sector. Helping Project NextGen move forward by approving the parking lot project does just that. Once-in-a-generation transformational projects like this are critically important to the long-term economic success of our region, so we ask Saint John Common Council and the Planning Advisory Committee to rally behind one of the biggest opportunities this city has seen in decades.
Sincerely,
Fraser Wells
Chairperson
Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce