Horne Smelter: A ‘balance that respects social acceptability’

Horne Smelter at Rouyn Noranda, 600 kilometres northwest of Montreal, has poured $500 million into Quebec’s coffers each year. (CTV W5)

The new concessions granted to the Horne Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda regarding its pollutant emissions represent a “balance that respects social acceptability,” according to the CAQ government, despite warnings from the Public Health Directorate.

This plant, owned by the multinational Glencore and a major employer in the Abitibi region, has regularly made headlines in recent years due to its arsenic emissions, which far exceed the standards in force in Quebec, and due to its requests to postpone the new requirements.

This time, an amendment to a bill has led to the granting of further extensions to meet reduction targets for emissions of arsenic, as well as lead, cadmium and other metals, as reported by La Presse in its Thursday edition.

The current ministerial authorization, granted from 2023 to 2028, would be extended until 2033.

The government is underestimating “the real health risk in an environmental context unique to Quebec,” wrote the Regional Public Health Directorate.

“Glencore has been poisoning the people of Rouyn for decades; the people there have to fight to breathe without getting cancer,” denounced Quebec Solidaire (QS) MNA Sol Zanetti during Question Period.

“Poisoning children and blackmailing the government is their business model. (...) Will we have to bring the poisoned children from the Notre-Dame neighbourhood (in the centre of Rouyn-Noranda) to Parliament, before the eyes of the CAQ ministers, to awaken their hearts and minds in the face of Glencore’s dollar sign?”

Environment Minister Benoit Charette accused QS of engaging in “fear-mongering.”

He argued that the government, since coming to power in 2018, has tightened standards and “a significant reduction has been observed over the years.”

Speaking to the press, Economy and Energy Minister Jean Boulet pointed out that 600 jobs must be safeguarded.

“We need to strike the right balance; I believe we have found it,” he argued. “I am fully convinced that this balance respects social acceptability. The City of Rouyn-Noranda has confirmed that it is compatible, as has the National Public Health Directorate.”

In 2023, the Legault government issued a ministerial authorization for Glencore in Rouyn-Noranda.

The smelter was required to meet a target of 45 ng/m³ by 2024 and comply with a target of 15 ng/m³ from 2027 onwards, which is the benchmark value set by the Quebec Public Health Institute (INSPQ), though this is still above the 3 mg/m³ threshold of the Quebec standard.

The smelter was also required to submit an action plan aimed at meeting the Quebec standard.

Last July, Glencore’s General Manager for the North American copper division, Vincent Plante, stated that the company considered the 3 ng/m³ target “technically impossible” to achieve.

Last December, the government was open to granting Glencore an additional 18-month extension to meet its arsenic reduction targets, in exchange for which the company committed to investing $300 million, according to reports by Legault.

In February, Glencore had hinted at the possibility of closing the smelter.

The company was seeking financial assistance from the government and, in the event of a refusal, a reprieve to meet the maximum annual average of 15 ng/m³ that was to be required from 2027.

The government had then indicated that it was prepared to grant Glencore seven years of regulatory predictability, i.e. a commitment not to change the rules until 2033.

The smelter produces 210,000 tonnes of copper and precious metals per year.

In February, Boulet emphasized that the smelter played a key role in Quebec’s copper sector, which employs a total of more than 3,000 people and also includes Glencore’s CCR refinery in Montreal East.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 26, 2026.