08/28/2026
And so it starts! Bombs and bullets.
$2-BILLION FOOTPRINT
N.B. picked as site for explosives factory
The Guardian (Charlottetown)28 Aug 2026 ADAM HURAS
New Brunswick has been picked as the location for the largest explosives plant in Canada since the Second World War. Slated to be built near Belledune, the factory will have a $2-billion economic footprint.
New Brunswick has been picked as the location for a massive explosives plant.
It’s a project slated to now be built near Belledune with a first phase valued at $600 million, taking 500 workers to build and needing 250 employees once in operation, with the goal to later expand becoming Canada’s largest explosives factory since the Second World War with a $2-billion footprint.
At that time, it could need roughly 1,000 workers, according to its proponents.
The project, a partnership between new Canadian firm Nalagx and France’s Eurenco, Europe’s top producer of propellants and explosives, is something the Holt government has courted for much of the year.
It’s been framed as a plant built to meet NATO member country demand, most of which face severe shortages of munitions.
In an interview with Brunswick News, Nalagx head and former Quebec MP Patrick Gagnon confirmed that the province has committed to provide 1,500 acres of Crown land west of the Port of Belledune to become the home of the facility.
He suggested it could anchor an entire industrial defence opportunity zone putting northern New Brunswick on the map. That’s also with Base Gagetown, Canada’s largest military facility in Eastern Canada, in the same province.
“This would really put Belledune, at least northern New Brunswick, on a similar footing as aerospace is for Montreal, as the naval maritime business is for Halifax or Nova Scotia,” Gagnon said.
“This all came together based on the merits of the province.”
The companies landed on New Brunswick after a yearlong process that heard pitches from multiple provinces, Gagnon said.
“Of course, there’s other jurisdictions across Canada, and the U.S. that expressed interest in this, but over the past two and a half months, we’ve been focused very much on Belledune,” he said.
“We spent considerable sums on analysis, and now we’ve come to the decision that, yes, this is where we’re headed.”
It was the availability of a port, rail corridor, expansive land, and a workforce that could be trained at community colleges in Bathurst and Campbellton that led to the decision, he continued.
Gagnon said he’s also had conversations with local First Nations, the Village of Belledune, and neighbouring jurisdictions, as well as extensive talks with the Holt government, including several of its ministers.
“And then we also conducted a Deloitte study plus an engineering study of the area to make sure that it would fit the needs and the requirements of building such a facility, or at least a campus,” he said.
“And when I say a campus, it will expand.”
Gagnon said the factory would manufacture explosives, but also potentially propellants and other derivatives. It also wouldn’t have a purely military purpose, but also supply the mining and construction industry.
The company plans to next announce the identity of an operating partner in the next few months and begin engineering work before Christmas.
There’s then a consultation period and an environmental impact assessment to take place.
Gagnon said that process will see the company address concerns over “red water treatment,” water effluent containing iron oxides from the plant, using a German technology by biotechnology company Bayer.
The goal is to see construction begin in mid-2027.
A construction phase will take three years.
“We’re looking at 2029-30,” Gagnon said of a factory opening.
It will be financed by a combination of private equity and debt from commercial banks, with the potential aid of federal government programs, he said.
The Holt government didn’t immediately comment on Tuesday evening.
Brunswick News first reported that Luke Randall, minister responsible for Opportunities NB, met with Nalagx in March.
That was after two companies announced last November a partnership to build “an industrial campus in Canada, including the construction of energy materials plants.”
“This industrial facility will be dedicated to the production of a range of energetic materials essential for military applications, including various types of munitions such as shells and heavy artillery, as well as for civilian needs such as mining,” the companies said in a statement at the time.
The companies noted that it would be exporting largely to Europe’s NATO countries, which are rebuilding their arsenals after decades of underinvestment.
It meant they were looking for a location near an eastern port.
It was then a key focus of Premier Susan Holt’s trip to Europe in April where she met with officials from Eurenco in France.
Port of Belledune CEO Denis Caron was also at that meeting.
“We would like them to choose Belledune,” Holt told Brunswick News in an interview at the time.
“I think we’re still competing, although I think we have an inside edge on it, and trips like this one helps show that we’re serious and interested.
“And if this is something where all of the partners are on board and we agree that these are the right people that we want to do business with and that the need is there from the federal government level, then we believe Belledune is absolutely the right place for this and has a competitive advantage that makes the project attractive.”
In subsequent trips to Ottawa, Holt said she raised the project with Prime Minister Mark Carney while again meeting with defence officials at CANSEC, Canada’s global defence and security trade show, that brings together hundreds of Canadian defence, security, and cybersecurity companies.
