J.D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, Irving Group of Companies, along with

Irving Oil Refinery The Irving Oil Refinery is a Canadian oil refinery located in Saint John, New Brunswick. It is currently the largest oil refinery in Canada, capable of producing more than of refined products per day. Over 80 per cent of the production is exported ...

, Canaport, Irving Tissue

Irving Equipment Irving Equipment, a division of J. D. Irving, J.D. Irving, Limited, can trace its roots back to 1958. The division was created to support various construction industries in the Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada area incl ...

Kent Building Supplies Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

New Brunswick Railway The New Brunswick Railway Company Limited (NBR) is currently a Canadian non-operating railway and land holding company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the J.D. Irving ...

New Brunswick Southern Railway The New Brunswick Southern Railway Company Limited is a Canadian short line railway owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company Limited, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglo ...

, Eastern Maine Railway,

Maine Northern Railway The Maine Northern Railway Company Limited is a U.S. and Canadian short line railroad owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglomerate ...

, Brunswick News,

Acadia Broadcasting Acadia Broadcasting Limited is a Canadian radio broadcasting network that operates 5 FM radio stations in Northwestern Ontario and 10 in the Atlantic Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is owned by Ocean Capital Investments whi ...

, Irving Shipbuilding,

Cavendish Farms Cavendish Farms is a Canadian food processing company and subsidiary of the J. D. Irving group of companies. Its headquarters are in Dieppe, New Brunswick and potato processing plants in New Annan, Prince Edward Island, Lethbridge, Alberta, and ...

. It is involved in many industries including forestry, forestry products, agriculture,

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

, transportation, and shipbuilding. JDI company forms, with Irving Oil, Ocean Capital Investments and Brunswick News, the bulk of the Irving Group of Companies, which groups the interests of the Irving family.

History

J.D. Irving Limited (JDI) traces its roots to a sawmill operated in Bouctouche, New Brunswick by its namesake,

James Dergavel Irving James Dargavel Irving (1860–1933) was a Canadian business person based in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. He was the patriarch of the Irving family. Born in 1860 in Bouctouche to immigrants from Dumfries, Scotland, James was colloquially referred ...

. J.D. Irving's operations were entrusted to his children, one of whom, Kenneth Colin Irving, assumed majority ownership and used JDI as a springboard for expanding into

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...

and other forestry-related businesses between the 1920s and 1940s. In the post- war years, JDI took control of pulp mills in Saint John and upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as well as sawmills throughout New Brunswick. During the 1950s, JDI took control of a shipyard in Saint John and started several trucking companies and heavy industry companies like

to satisfy the growing needs of the company. From the 1960s-2000s, JDI expanded to become the largest forestry company in the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

and northern Maine and the region's largest industrial player, with extensive land holdings, tree nurseries, pulp mills (plants producing

kraft The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

pulp, supercalendered paper, tissue products, and corrugated medium), sawmills, a retail chain of home improvement stores (

), modular home construction (

Kent Homes Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

), industrial construction, wallboard manufacturing, marine towing and dredging (

Atlantic Towing J.D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, Irving Group of Companies, along with Irving Oil Refinery, Canaport, Irving T ...

), prefabricated concrete (StresCon), steel fabrication (Ocean Steel), frozen food production (

), fertilizer and agri-services ( Cavendish Agri-Services), railways (

), and manufacturing of personal care products including tissue and paper towels ( Majesta and Royale) as well as diapers (Irving Personal Care). In the 1970s and 1980s, JDI expanded into trucking with its

Scot Truck The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who foun ...

subsidiary based in Debert, NS. Now called Midland Transport and based in Dieppe, NB, it is joined by sister companies

Midland Courier Midland may refer to: Places Australia * Midland, Western Australia Canada * Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick * Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick * Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador * Midland, Ontario India * Midland Ward, Kohima, Nagal ...

(Dieppe), Sunbury Transport (

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

) and

RST Industries RST may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Renault Sport Technologies, a former name of the motorsport vehicle division of Renault * Rhodesian Selection Trust, a former Northern Rhodesian mining company * Rosetta Stone (company) (NYSE stock ...

(Saint John). JDI is also the largest shipbuilder in Canada with ownership of shipyards in Halifax, Liverpool, Shelburne, and Georgetown.

Incidents

As a large regional industrial conglomerate, J.D. Irving Ltd. subsidiaries have been the focus of several notable incidents: * In 1970 an oil barge named ''

Irving Whale ''Irving Whale'' is a Canadian barge that sank off the north coast of Prince Edward Island, while en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Bathurst, New Brunswick, with a cargo of Bunker C oil in a rich fishing area. It is "one of Canada's most n ...

'' sank in the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

causing periodic oil spills until it was raised by the federal government in 1996. * In 2007 the Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. mill at

Reversing Falls The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The semidiurnal tides of the bay force the flow ...

accidentally released 680,000 litres of green liquid into the Saint John River; pleading guilty, the company received a fine of $50,000. In November 2008

Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...

investigators exercised a search warrant at Irving Pulp & Paper's head office to seek more information on this accidental spill. * In November 2008 JDI Logistics and

made the news over an accident involving the transport of 2 new turbines from

Saint John Harbour Saint John Harbour is a large Harbour#Natural harbors, natural harbour on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of New Brunswick, Canada, and within the seaport city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Harbour description The harbour includes the follo ...

to the nearby Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. The JDI subsidiaries had been sub-contracted by Siemens AG, Turbine Replacement sub-contractor for the facility's owner

NB Power New Brunswick Power Corporation (french: Société d’énergie du Nouveau-Brunswick), operating as NB Power (french: Énergie NB), is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Cro ...

. The 2 turbines were manufactured by Siemens AG in Scotland and were shipped to Saint John on a road transport vehicle aboard a cargo ship. The cargo was off-loaded from the ship onto a barge owned by Atlantic Towing Ltd., however the cargo shifted and the barge tipped, sending the turbines and the road transport vehicle into Saint John Harbour. * In late November 2008 the Atlantic Towing Ltd. dredging barge ''Shovel Master'' was being towed by the company's tugboat ''Atlantic Larch'' from Saint John to Halifax for a refit when it foundered in heavy seas west of

Yarmouth, NS Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries. History Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the region ...

. The barge crew of 3 was rescued by a

CH-149 Cormorant The AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant is the Canadian Forces designation for the AgustaWestland AW101 (formerly EH101), a helicopter used for air-sea rescue in Canada. Developed as a joint venture between Westland Aircraft in the UK and Agusta i ...

search and rescue helicopter before the barge capsized. Several ATL tugboats and commercial divers responded and a tow line was secured to the capsized, yet floating, barge by the tugboat ''

Atlantic Oak ''Atlantic Oak'' is a tug boat based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is owned by Atlantic towing Limited, which is owned by Irving Shipbuilding. ''Atlantic Oak'' was built by East Isle Shipyard Ltd. in Prince Edward Island and was commissioned ...

''. The barge was towed south of Yarmouth however it sank in , carrying of diesel fuel, as well as of hydraulic fluid and of waste oil.

Controversies

J.D. Irving’s ownership of most major media outlets in New Brunswick has led to ongoing concern regarding control of the media. A report from the

Canadian Senate The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

in 2006 on media control in Canada singled out New Brunswick because of the Irving companies' ownership of all English-language daily newspapers in the province, including the

Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' i ...

. Senator Joan Fraser, author of the Senate report, stated, "We didn't find anywhere else in the developed world a situation like the situation in New Brunswick." The report went further, stating, "the Irvings' corporate interests form an industrial-media complex that dominates the province" to a degree "unique in developed countries." At the Senate hearing, journalists and academics cited Irving newspapers' lack of critical reporting on the family's influential businesses.

Divisions

The following is a list of divisions of J.D. Irving, Ltd.

Irving Forest Products & Services

* Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. * Irving Paper Ltd. * Irving Tissue Co. Ltd. * Lake Utopia Paper * Irving Sawmill Division * Irving Woodlands Division

Irving Transportation Services

* New Brunswick Railway Co. Ltd. ** New Brunswick Southern Railway Co. Ltd. ** Eastern Maine Railway Co. Ltd. ** Maine Northern Railway Co. Ltd. * Midland Transport *

* RST Industries * Sunbury Transport * Atlantic Towing * Kent Line * JDI Logistics * Harbour Development

Irving Shipbuilding & Fabrication Services

* Saint John Shipbuilding *

Halifax Shipyard The Halifax Shipyard Limited is a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1889, it is today a wholly owned subsidiary of Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and is that company's largest ship construction and repair facili ...

* Shelburne Ship Repair *

Woodside Industries Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King * Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborh ...

Fleetway Inc. Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that mer ...

Oceanic Consulting Corporation

East Isle Shipyard

East Isle Shipyard is a shipbuilding facility in Georgetown, Prince Edward Island and owned by Irving. The small shipyard is located on Water Street with single slipway along Georgetown Harbour. It is the sole shipbuilding facility in the province. It was founded as Bathurst Marine in Bathurst, New Brunswick in 1961 before moving to Georgetown in 1965. The facility has operated in various names but with current name since the 1990s. The yard built trawlers in the 1960s, the diversified in the 1970s before it began to specialize in tugs in the 1990s. In 2010 the shipyard laid off staff due to lack of orders. Notable ships built here include: * ''Atlantic Spruce'' fireboat tug (1995) *

tugboat (2004) * Royal Canadian Navy's Glen class tugs: **

CFAV Glenevis (YTB 642) CFAV ''Glenevis'' (YTB 642) is a Glen class tug (1975), Glen class naval tugboat operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. Built at Georgetown Shipyard, Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, and launched in 1976, the ship was delivered on 9 August 1976. A ...

(1976) **

CFAV Glenbrook (YTB 643) CFAV ''Glenbrook'' (YTB 643) is a Glen class tug (1975), Glen class naval tugboat operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. Built at Georgetown Shipyard, Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, and launched in 1976, the ship was delivered on 16 December 1976 ...

(1976) **

CFAV Glenside (YTB 644) CFAV ''Glenside'' (YTB 644) is a Glen class naval tugboat operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. Built at Georgetown Shipyard Saint John Shipbuilding was a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Saint John, New Brunswick. The shipyard was ...

(1977)

Irving Retail & Distribution Services

* Chandler * Kent Building Supplies *

Universal Truck & Trailer Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

* Shamrock Truss *

Atlas Structural Systems An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

Cavendish Agri Services Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

Irving Consumer Products

* Irving Tissue (Royale, Scotties, private labels) *

Irving Personal Care Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' vide ...

(diapers, training pants) *

Cavendish Produce Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

(fresh vegetables) *

(frozen potato processing) ** Indian River Farms **

Riverdale Foods Riverdale may refer to: Buildings *Riverdale Centre, former name for Lewisham Shopping Centre, London, England *Riverdale House, a Victorian mansion in Sheffield, England *Riverdale (Selma, Alabama), a historic plantation house in Dallas County, Al ...

Construction & Equipment Division

* Irving Wallboard * Gulf Operators *

(crane rental, heavy lifting, specialized transportation, pile driving and project management services) * CFM * Kent Homes * PumpsPlus Ltd

Specialty Printing

* Plasticraft

Personnel Services

* Protrans Personnel Services Inc.

Security Services

* Industrial Security Limited

Amateur Sports

Moncton Wildcats The Moncton Wildcats are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 season, known as the Moncton Alpines for one season, and as the Wildcats ...

Brunswick News

* ''

'' ( Saint John NB) * ''

Times & Transcript The ''Times & Transcript'' is a newspaper from Moncton, New Brunswick. It serves Greater Moncton and eastern New Brunswick. Its offices and printing facilities are located on Main Street in Downtown Moncton. The paper is published by Brunswick Ne ...

'' ( Moncton NB) * ''

The Daily Gleaner ''The Daily Gleaner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the upper Saint John River Valley. The paper is published Monday through Saturday and began operating in 1880. In April 2006, the paper switch ...

'' ( Fredericton NB) * ''The Tribune'' ( Campbellton NB * ''La Voix du Restigouche'' ( Campbellton NB) * '' The Bugle-Observer'' ( Woodstock NB) * ''Le Journal Madawaska'' ( Edmundston NB) * Victoria Star (Grand Falls NB) *''L'Étoile'' (various editions) ** ''Édition provinciale'' ** ''Édition La Cataracte'' ( Grand Falls NB) ** ''Édition Chaleur'' ( Bathurst NB) ** ''Édition Dieppe'' ( Dieppe NB) ** ''Édition Kent'' ( Bouctouche NB) ** ''Édition Péninsule'' ( Shippagan NB) ** ''Édition République'' ( Edmundston NB) ** ''Édition Restigouche'' ( Campbellton NB) ** ''Édition Shédiac'' ( Shediac NB) * ''

Kings County Record The ''Kings County Record'' is a weekly newspaper serving Sussex, New Brunswick and the surrounding area. It began publication in 1887. It is the paper of record in Kings County, New Brunswick and is published on Tuesdays. See also *List of news ...

'' ( Sussex NB) * ''Miramichi Leader'' ( Miramichi NB) * ''The Northern Light'' ( Bathurst NB) * ''Here'' ( Saint John NB, Moncton NB, Fredericton NB) * ''Money Saver'' ( St. Stephen NB)

A selection of former subsidiaries

Acadian Lines Ltd Acadian Lines was a Canadian coach (vehicle), coach operator based in Moncton, New Brunswick. History The company was established in Halifax, Nova Scotia by industrialist (Fred C Manning?) Roy Jodrey on 1 August 1938 as Nova Scotia Coach Lines ...

SMT (Eastern) Ltd. Bus Lines SMT may refer to: Businesses and organisations Based in Scotland * Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE stock symbol: SMT) * Scottish Motor Traction, a defunct bus operator Based in the United States * SMT (media company), a provider of live ...

Saint John City Transit In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern O ...

* Hawk Communications * Steel and Engine Products Ltd *

Pictou Shipyard The Pictou Shipyard is a Canadian shipbuilding site located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and made famous by its use as an emergency shipbuilding facility in World War II, during which it constructed twenty-four 4,700-ton Scandinavian class freigh ...

* Commercial Equipment Limited * Maritime Tire * MITI (AKA XWAVE) *

Barrington Industrial Barrington may refer to: People * Barrington (name) * Barrington baronets, holders of a title in the baronetage of England * Viscount Barrington, a title in the peerage of Ireland Places Australia * Barrington, New South Wales * Barringt ...

* Lexitech *

Irving Industrial Rentals Irving may refer to: People * Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' vide ...

Citations

References

External links

Official website

J.D. Irving, Equipment Division
{{Irving Group of Companies Conglomerate companies of Canada Food and drink companies of Canada Pulp and paper companies of Canada Transport companies of Canada Companies based in Saint John, New Brunswick