People from across northern New Brunswick converged on Dalhousie on Sunday for a rally in support of the town's paper mill.

AbitibiBowater Inc. announced in November that the mill will close permanently by the end of January.

The shutdown will directly affect 330 people but it is also expected to lead to other job losses in the town of 3,600, where many local firms supply products to the mill.

It was important for people from different communities to show their support for the town, said Mayor Clem Tremblay, because it demonstrates the closure does not just affect those living in Dalhousie.

Even though the provincial government has signaled it can't do anything more to save the mill, people in town aren't giving up hope, Tremblay said.

"We're still hoping and until the deadline comes along, we're going to be out there being heard and seen," he said.

Approximately 600 people attended the march, including federal MPs and provincial NDP Leader Roger Duguay.

Organizers said they want the province to step in and stop AbitibiBowater from removing its machinery from the building.

The town wants to be able to keep the building and its machinery intact for at least a year while a new buyer is found.

The government did all it could to keep the mill in Dalhousie and it is now time to look at other options for the community, said Ryan Donaghy, spokesperson for Business New Brunswick.

There is already too much newsprint on the global market and there is little likelihood that anyone would want to take over the mill, said Don Roberts, a forestry industry analyst with CIBC World Markets Inc.

 "Personally I would be skeptical that there are buyers for it," Roberts told CBC News. "But one of the things you also have to look at to some extent is that this is their property so they do own the machinery."