Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the

Northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timisk ...

region with a population of 41,145 at the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

and an estimated population of 44,819 in 2023. The city's economy is based on natural resource extraction. It is supported by industries related to lumbering, and to the mining of gold, zinc, copper, nickel, and silver. Timmins serves as a regional service and distribution centre. The city has a large

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

community, with more than 50% of the residents bilingual in French and English.

History

Early history

Archaeological evidence indicates that the area has been inhabited for at least 6,500 years. The first inhabitants were nomadic peoples of the Shield Archaic culture. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited primarily by the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

peoples. The first Europeans to make contact with the local Indigenous peoples were

French explorers French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in the late 1600s. The first attempt at a permanent European presence in the area did not come until 1785, nearly two decades after Great Britain defeated France in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

and took over its territory in North America east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Philip Turnor, a surveyor and cartographer for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

, established a trading outpost at Fredrick House Lake, about north-east of present-day downtown Timmins. Although beaver fur was plentiful and still in demand in Europe, the trading post was not successful. Nearby competition, and the difficulty of navigating the Abitibi and Fredrick House rivers by canoe, often resulted in the post being unsupplied. Frederick House Post was functionally abandoned in 1812, when a man named Capascoos killed all 12 of the trading post's staff, as well as looted and damaged the building. Capascoos was never caught, and the building was never rebuilt. However, temporary log shelters were put in place nearby to facilitate fur trading until 1821, when the post was officially declared closed by the Hudson's Bay Company. More than a century later, in 1906,

Treaty 9 ''Treaty No. 9'' (also known as ''The James Bay Treaty'') is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905–1906 between Anishinaabe ( Algonquin and Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the gov ...

was signed between

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

( Algonquin and Ojibwe), Omushkegowuk Cree communities, and the Canadian Crown. It required the

Mattagami First Nation The Mattagami First Nation is an Anishnaabe First Nations in Canada, First Nation band government - mainly Ojibwe, Oji-Cree and some Odawa people, Odawa - in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario situated along t ...

to move to the north of Mattagami Lake and to cede territory.

Porcupine Gold Rush

The presence of gold in the area was long known to the local indigenous people, and the few Europeans who had settled nearby. Outcroppings of gold-bearing quartz were a familiar sight in the region, but there was little commercial interest due to the area's inaccessibility. The extension of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway to Cochrane in 1907, allowed prospectors to more easily access the area. This sparked an interest in the region's natural resources, leading to the Porcupine Gold Rush. The first known prospectors were a team led by Reuben D'Aigle. They set out for Porcupine Lake in 1907 and dug several test pits in the surrounding area, but none of them had near the amount of gold which D'Aigle's team was seeking. They eventually abandoned their tools in the last pit they dug, approximately 8 km west of Porcupine Lake, and returned home. Two years later in 1909, a prospector duo consisting of Benny Hollinger and Alex Gillies arrived in the Porcupine region. They met up with another group, led by Jack Wilson. Earlier in the season he had found a "dome" of quartz that contained large veins of gold stretching several hundred feet in length and in width. This section was later exploited and developed as the

Dome Mine Dome Mine is situated in the City of Timmins, Ontario, Canada; and was developed during the Porcupine Gold Rush. Last operated by Canadian company Goldcorp, before it became a subsidiary of American company Newmont, it is one of three mines ( ...

. Wilson advised Hollinger & Gillies that all the good sites in a radius had been claimed, so the duo went slightly further west. There they stumbled upon D'Aigle's abandoned test pits and tools. While Gilles was inspecting the abandoned pits, Hollinger pulled a bit of moss from a nearby quartz outcropping and revealed a large vein of gold. Gillies later noted that he had found a boot print pressed into some moss covering the gold vein. This print was believed left by one of D'Aigle's team two years before. They had departed unaware of the large vein under their feet. Two Mattawa shopkeeper brothers, named

Noah Timmins Noah Anthony Timmins (March 31, 1867 – January 22, 1936) was a Canadians, Canadian mining financier and developer who is now counted among the founding fathers of Canada's mining industry. Early life and family Timmins was born Noé-Antoine, in ...

and Henry Timmins, arrived in the area in 1910. They began purchasing shares of local mines, and bought Benny Hollinger's share from him. Around the same time, Scottish businessman Sandy McIntyre discovered the McIntyre Mine near Pearl Lake, four miles away. Hollinger Mines was incorporated later that year with five equal partners consisting of Noah and Henry Timmins; Duncan and John McMartin (also brothers); and Mattawa attorney David Dunlap.

"Moss slip" story

A popular

founding myth An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place a ...

of Timmins and the Porcupine area states that a man named Harry Preston slipped on moss and uncovered gold. In some versions of the story, he is responsible for triggering the Porcupine Gold Rush. However, historical records contradict both claims. Harry Preston arrived in the Porcupine area as a part of a team led by Jack Wilson in June 1909, where they discovered a large "dome shaped quartz outcrop". Wilson was said to have been the first to notice gold as the Sun struck the quartz. The only comparable mention of moss comes from Hollinger and Gilles, who arrived in the area two months after Wilson's team. According to Gilles's report, while he inspected D'Aigle's abandoned work, Hollinger was looking at some nearby quartz when he peeled back a bit of moss, revealing a large vein of gold. Additionally, historians generally agree that expansion of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, which connected

Central Ontario Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The population of the region was 1,123,307 in 2016; however, this number does not in ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

, was instrumental in triggering the Porcupine Gold Rush because it made the area accessible. The Canadian Pacific Railway expansion to was also critical, as it enabled travellers from Toronto to go directly north instead of taking a time-consuming detour around

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...

Settlement and company towns

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

was founded near modern-day Gillies Lake, to house Hollinger Mines employees. Mine manager Alphonse "Al" Paré named the growing mining camp "Timmins", after his uncle,

, who was then the President of Hollinger Mines. Two more settlements were founded by competing mines: The "Porcupine/Dome" camp was situated on Porcupine Lake, and owned by Dome Mines. "Schumacher" camp was situated on Pearl Lake, and owned by McIntyre Mines. Joe Torlone noted in his dissertation that Timmins was never truly a company town. The combined mines behaved more like a "very influential industrial citizen", rather than a single company that dominated all aspects of civilian life. As the worker population grew, these camps started to mesh together as a single town. (Torlone later served as the municipal Chief Administrative Officer.)

Great Porcupine Fire

On July 10, 1911, unusually hot and dry temperatures caused small fires to ignite at the Porcupine settlement. These were initially described as a series of "bushfires", but strong winds spread them into the dry forest and they expanded. Evacuation efforts began on the morning of July 11, with women and children being ferried to the opposite end of Porcupine Lake. The small fires eventually merged, and grew into a single wall of fire, estimated to be at least wide. The fire destroyed the Porcupine mining camp at around 3:30pm, and continued as far north as Cochrane. The total number of deaths remains uncertain, with the lowest estimates being 73 and the highest suggesting there were more than 200 dead. A number of people drowned after fleeing into the lake in an attempt to escape the heat and smoke; others were killed by smoke while still trapped underground in the mine. The executives of the Dome Mine held meetings about reopening within two days of the fire. The camp was quickly rebuilt with help from various communities around Ontario, and operations soon resumed. The fire burned the thin layers of moss and soil characteristic of a

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

landscape. This revealed previously unknown veins of gold and other minerals, which helped facilitate economic recovery efforts.

Incorporation, growth, and World Wars

Given the fire, and the need to replace housing as well as serve newly arrived refugees from the Porcupine camp, Noah Timmins to began planning a townsite at the Timmins camp. The first lots went up for sale on September 4, 1911, ranging in price from $5 to $10 ($135–$265 in 2024) for residential lots, and from $75 to $1,000 ($2,000–$25,000 in 2024) for commercial lots. Migrants were attracted to the new lands for sale, and the Timmins camp quickly surpassed the Porcupine and Schumacher camps in population. Timmins was incorporated as a municipality on January 1, 1912. In November 1912, 1,200 members of the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into ...

Local 145 held a strike at all three mines in response to a proposal to lower their wages. Mine operators hired gun thugs, who fired on the picket line and were ordered out by the provincial government. After months without work, many men chose to leave the settlement; only 500 miners returned to work in July 1913. The strike won the men a nine-hour workday and a pay increase. In 1917, a dam was built at Kenogamissi Falls, downriver from Mattagami Lake, to provide power to Timmins and the surrounding area, Mattagami Lake was consequently flooded. A recruitment campaign for soldiers during the First World War was successful in enlisting around 600 men out of the less than 2,000 total residents at the time. The miners were coveted by the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

for their ability to dig trenches, and experience with handling explosives. News of the war and letters from soldiers abroad were frequently published in the town's local newspaper, ''The Porcupine Advance'' (TPA). After receiving news of

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, major celebrations were held all around the Timmins area, as described by a journalist for TPA: The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

did not adversely affect the economy of the area, and jobs were available in mining and lumber. During the Second World War, around a third of the city's population were enlisted into the armed forces. Timmins had its own bomber squadron known as "Porcupine Squadron No. 433", a heavy bomber unit of

No. 6 group RCAF No. 6 Group RCAF was a group of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) heavy bomber squadrons in Europe during the Second World War, between 1942 and 1945. The group operated out of airfields in Yorkshire, England. History No. 6 Group was a Royal Cana ...

Skipton-on-Swale Skipton-on-Swale is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Catton, North Yorkshire. It lies on the A61 road, abo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Timmins' economy suffered slightly during this period as women were prohibited from working in mines under the Ontario Mining Act, leaving no one to replace the enlisted miners.

Decline and recent history

In the 1950s, Mattagami 71, the reserve of the

was once again relocated, this time to its present day location, south of Mattagami Lake. Gold-d79a

By the mid 1960s, the majority of the original mines had depleted their gold content and mines began to close. Hollinger Mine was closed in 1968, having produced nearly 20 million troy ounces of gold. Twenty years later in 1988, the McIntyre mines ceased operations having produced around 11 million troy ounces of gold. Dome Mine 2

In 1973, 35 townships covering , including

Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

South Porcupine The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

, Schumacher, and Timmins were organized into the City of Timmins. The city's population peaked in the mid 1990s, when the city became a regional service and distribution centre for Northeastern Ontario. However, with the exception of a slight bump in 2011, the population has been consistently declining. Rail service to Timmins was discontinued in 1990, but is expected to return within the next decade. The last of the original three mines to close was the Dome Mine, which was closed in 2017, after 107 years of operation, and about 17 million troy ounces of gold produced.

Climate

Timmins is near the northern periphery of the

hemiboreal Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic (or boreal) zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of climates and ecosystems. Botany A hemiboreal forest has some characteristics of a boreal forest to the north, an ...

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

). Timmins has cold and snowy winters, being located in

. Temperatures in late summer and autumn tend to be among the coolest for any non-coastal major city in Canada. During the late spring and summer, temperatures can rise considerably, sometimes accompanied by high humidity and unstable air masses. The highest temperature ever recorded in Timmins was on July 12, 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on February 1, 1962.

Demographics

In the

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Timmins had a population of 41,145 living in 17,886 of its 19,390 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 41,788. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Language

In Timmins, according to the 2021 census, 60.26%% of the population reported English as their

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

(

Anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

), 34.25%% reported French (

) as their first language, and 5.49% reported a non-official language, neither English nor French, as their first language (

Allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plos ...

). 50.8% of the population is bilingual in English and French.

Jewish community

From the foundation of the city, Jewish

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

, mostly from Russia and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

came to the town in order to work in the mines industry. In 1917 Rabbi Yaakov Schulman arrived in the city and was in charge of religious needs, such as

kosher meat In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher b ...

. In 1925 there were 200

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

living in the city. In that year the Jewish community was officially established. The community was not isolated and maintained good relationships with non-Jews, especially emigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe, who spoke the same languages they did. Only in the 1930s were actual community institutions built, such as a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and a school. Since 1928 the Jewish community has held an annual

Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...

ball. The ball was mixed: Jews and non-Jews, men and women. Part of the ball was a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

named ''malkat

Ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distin ...

''. The Jewish population peaked around the 1950s, when it included around 160 families. In the early 1970s the Timmins synagogue was closed due to a decrease in the town's Jewish population.

Culture and contemporary life

Tourism

Some of the main tourist attractions within the city include: The Timmins Museum and National Exhibition Centre, Cedar Meadows Wilderness Tours, Mount Jamieson Resort (formerly known as Kamiskotia Snow Resort), Porcupine Ski Runners Cross-Country Trails and Chalet, Hollinger Golf Club, Spruce Needles Golf Club, the Sandy Falls Golf Club, the McIntyre Community Building and the Timmins Snowmobile Club.

Snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

impacts the Timmins economy, as tourists travel from all over North America to explore area trails. Hollinger Park is one of the city's main recreational spaces. The park is divided in two sections, the north side being the public park area, with the south side having a regulation sized baseball diamond and two soccer fields for more organized outdoor recreational endeavours. The baseball park has been home to the Timmins Men's Baseball League since 1985. Former Timmins resident

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

played a concert at Hollinger Park on July 1, 1999. An estimated 22,000 people attended the outdoor concert. The Pioneer Museum is located northeast of the city centre in

Connaught Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine ...

, a community of 400 people. Nearby communities include Barbers Bay, Dugwal, Finn Road, Hoyle, Ice Chest Lake, McIntosh Springs and Nighthawk. Local history in the area dates back over 300 years. La Galeruche Art Gallery, located at 32 Mountjoy Street North (Centre Culturel La Ronde), provides local francophone artists with a venue to exhibit and sell their work. The building has since been torn down, but plans to rebuild are underway, as of March 2022. The Porcupine Miner's Memorial tribute is a statue of the miner, head frame and tablets bearing the names of 594 miners killed in mining accidents were unveiled in 2008. The following year, the statues of a mother and two children were unveiled to commemorate those families left behind. The Timmins Public Library was constructed in 2005 with locally manufactured products, using wood as the main structural material, making efficient use of natural resources while reducing construction waste. The eco-friendly design was recognized by the

Green Building Initiative The Green Building Initiative (GBI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that owns and administers the Green Globes green building assessment and certification in the United States and Canada. It was established in 2004 and is headquartered in Por ...

, and the building achieved a 3 Green Globes rating for its efficient use of resources and sustainable development.

Sports

The

Timmins Rock The Timmins Rock are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior "A" ice hockey team from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). History The Timmins Golden Bears became members of the NOJHL in 1991 ...

of the

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Junior ice hockey league with eleven teams in Northeastern Ontario and Upper Michigan. The league is a constituent member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and is governed by the ...

represent Timmins in hockey. They are the city's junior A team. And their affiliate, Timmins Majors, of the Great North Midget League, are the Midget AAA team. They both play at the McIntyre Community Building.

Media

In 1952, broadcast pioneer J. Conrad Lavigne launched CFCL, the first French-language radio station in Ontario. Prior to the introduction of cable television to the Timmins area in the latter part of the 1970s, the city's available TV channels consisted of English-language channel 3 broadcast out of Sudbury and CFCL's channel 6 (in English) and channel 9 (in French) broadcast from CFCL's studio located at the north end of Pine Street. The ''

Timmins Daily Press The ''Timmins Daily Press'' is a newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, which publishes six days a week. It is notable as the first paper founded by press baron Roy Thomson in the 1930s, who would eventually own more than 200 newspapers including ''The ...

'' is the main English publication, publishing six issues per week. Other French-language media include newspapers ''Le Voyageur'' and ''Le Journal L'Express de Timmins''.

Government

The city's current mayor is Michelle Boileau. Eight

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s serve with the mayor to complete the municipal government. Those eight councillors are elected to one of five areas of the city through a ward electoral system; rural parts of the city elect one councillor each, while the urban core of the city is in a multi-member ward that elects four councillors (through

Plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...

). Councillors are elected to a four-year term.

Timmins City Council

*Rock Whissell, Ward 1 Councillor *Lorne Feldman, Ward 2 Councillor *Bill Gvozcanovic, Ward 3 Councillor *John P. Curley, Ward 4 Councillor *Michelle Boileau, Ward 5 Councillor *Andrew Marks, Ward 5 Councillor *Kristin Murray, Ward 5 Councillor *Cory Robin, Ward 5 Councillor

Provincial

The city was represented in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

by MPP

Gilles Bisson Gilles C. Bisson (born May 14, 1957) is a Franco-Ontarian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 until his defeat in the 2022 Ontario general election. From 1999 to 2022 ...

from 1990 until 2022, when he was defeated by Pirie.

Federal

The Member of Parliament for Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk is

Gaétan Malette Gaétan Malette is a Canadian politician from the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected Member of Parliament for Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk in the 2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held o ...

Education

Post secondary education

The two main Post secondary institutions in Timmins is Northern College, a College of Applied Arts and Technology and

Collège Boréal Collège Boréal d’arts appliqués et de technologie is a French-language college of applied arts and technology serving the Northern and Central Southwestern Ontario area. It is the youngest of the 24 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology ...

, which also has a sister campus of

Université de Hearst Université de Hearst (formerly Collège universitaire de Hearst) is a public French-language university with its main campus in Hearst, Ontario, Canada. The university has additional campuses in Timmins and Kapuskasing. For most of its history ...

Algoma University Algoma University, commonly shortened to Algoma U, is a Canadian public university in the province of Ontario, with campuses in Brampton, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, and Timmins. Algoma U offers bachelor's degrees, master's degre ...

also offers degrees in Social Work and Community Development on the Northern College Campus in South Porcupine.

School boards

Four school boards serve the City of Timmins: *

District School Board Ontario North East District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1; DSB Ontario North East; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 1 prior to 1999) is an Ontario English public school board serving Northeastern Ontario from Hearst to Temagami. It ...

Northeastern Catholic District School Board The Northeastern Catholic District School Board (NCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 30A prior to 1999) is a separate (Catholic) school board in the Canadian province of Ontario, with jurisdiction for the operation ...

* Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières *

Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario The Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario (CSPNE, formerly the Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario or CSDNE), also known as Ontario District School Board #56, manages the French-language schools in the north-east regi ...

High schools

* O'Gorman High School * École Publique Renaissance *

École secondaire catholique Thériault École secondaire catholique Thériault is a secondary school located in Timmins, Ontario. It is a Francophone Roman Catholic school administered by the Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières with some 1000 students. The sc ...

Timmins High and Vocational School Timmins High and Vocational School is an English-language public secondary school in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, part of the District School Board Ontario North East. See also * Education in Ontario *List of secondary schools in Ontario The follo ...

* Roland Michener Secondary School

Healthcare

Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) is an accredited referral and teaching hospital that serves Timmins, Cochrane District, Temiskaming, Sudbury and Algoma Districts. Weeneebayko Area Health Authority also use TADH to transfer patients requiring more advanced care not available in their community health care centres. The 134-bed hospital was formed in 1988 from the merger of St. Mary's General Hospital and Porcupine General Hospital, now Spruce Hill Lodge, a retirement home. The two former hospitals were replaced in 1996 and 1993, respectively, when the current site was built.

Transportation

Timmins Victor M. Power Airport is the main regional airport for the Timmins area. Regional ground transportation is provided by

Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services is an intercity bus service operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency of the government of Ontario, Canada. Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services operates passenger and par ...

operating out of the Timmins Transit Terminal. The nearest communities with train service are more than away. They include Foleyet to the west and

Gogama Gogama is a Northeastern Ontario community that is situated on Lake Minisinakwa, 580 kilometres north of Toronto, 191 km north of Sudbury, and 114 km south of Timmins. In the Canada 2011 Census, a population of 277 people was recorded ...

to the south, which are served by ''

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

'',

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's transcontinental passenger rail service. To the north of Timmins, Cochrane is the southern terminus of the

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...

's ''

Polar Bear Express The ''Polar Bear Express'' is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Northern Ontario. Service was introduced in 1964. While designated as a passenger train, the Polar Bear Express also carries freight and is eq ...

''. Matheson and Porquis Junction were formerly the closest stations to the city. Local transit is provided by Timmins Transit.

Notable people

Alfred Aho Alfred Vaino Aho (born August 9, 1941) is a Canadian computer scientist best known for his work on programming languages, compilers, and related algorithms, and his textbooks on the art and science of computer programming. Aho was elected into ...

, computer scientist, member of US National Academies, professor at Columbia University,

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...

winner *

Charlie Angus Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...

, musician and songwriter for the band Grievous Angels, served as the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay from 2004 to 2025. *

Paul Bellini Paul Bellini (born September 12, 1959) is a Canadian comedy writer and television actor best known for his work on the comedy series '' The Kids in the Hall'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He has worked on several projects with Josh Levy and ...

, comedy writer and television actor * Anthony Del Col,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning writer *

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...

Member of Provincial Parliament from 1990 to 2022 for the provincial riding of Timmins. *

Michael Boisvert Michael "Monkey" Boisvert is a Canadian actor and choreographer. Boisvert studied business at college, but left to become a model. He later turned to acting, moving to New York City and then California to pursue work opportunities. He is a grad ...

, actor * Natalie Brown, actress * Dave and Don Carroll, country / pop / folk band

Sons of Maxwell Sons of Maxwell is a Canadian music duo who perform both traditional Celtic folk music and original compositions with a pop-folk sound. The duo consists of brothers Don Carroll and Dave Carroll, originally from Timmins, Ontario, residing in Ha ...

* Carlo Cattarello,

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and Queen's Jubilee Medal recipient * Lina Chartrand, writer * Jamie M. Dagg, film director *

Derek Edwards Derek Edwards (born 1958) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor from Timmins, Ontario. He went to Timmins High and Vocational School. In 1995, he was the winner of the Vail National Comedy Invitational in Vail, Colorado. He is the only Can ...

, comedian * John Labow, actor and television producer *

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

, comedian and voice actor * J. Conrad Lavigne, broadcasting pioneer *

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Lighting * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian s ...

(born Valerie Poxleitner), vocalist, singer-songwriter *

Cec Linder Cecil Yekuthial Linder (March 10, 1921 – April 10, 1992) was a Polish-born Canadian film and television actor. He was Jewish and managed to escape Poland before the Holocaust. In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked extensively in the United Kingdom, ...

, actor *

Frank Mahovlich Francis William Mahovlich (born January 10, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a former Liberal Senator in the Canadian Senate. He played on six Stanley Cup-winning teams and is an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame ...

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL)

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

player and Canadian Senator *

Pete Mahovlich Peter Joseph Mahovlich (born October 10, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. Known in his playing years as "Little M", as his older brother Frank was the "Big M", Mahovlich played in the National Hocke ...

, NHL player * Bruce McCaffrey,

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

MPP *

Derek McGrath Derek McGrath (born June 4, 1951) is a Canadian actor and writer. Life and career McGrath was born in Timmins, Ontario."That face on U.S. TV returns to shoot movie" by Rita Zekas, ''Toronto Star'' (20 Oct, 1987) inal EditionRetrieved from His ...

actor * Gord Miller, former Environment Commissioner of Ontario *

Alan Pope Alan William Pope (August 2, 1945 – July 8, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1990, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Bill Davis ...

, former Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPP *

Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candida ...

, former Premier of

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, former Member of Parliament from

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and federal cabinet minister *

Myron Scholes Myron Samuel Scholes ( ; born July 1, 1941) is a Canadian– American financial economist. Scholes is the Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, and co-ori ...

, Nobel Prize winning economist *

Philippe Tatartcheff Philippe Tatartcheff (born in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Origins and early life Tatartcheff's family was or ...

, Swiss-born poet and songwriter notable for writing songs in French with

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

and

Kate McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010)Obituary at CBC ...

* Gordon Thiessen, governor of the Bank of Canada from 1994 to 2001 *

Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, (5 June 1894 – 4 August 1976) was a Canadian-born British newspaper proprietor who became one of the moguls of Fleet Street in London. He first came to prominence when he was selling radios in ...

, newspaper magnate, started his empire in the 1930s with the ''

'' * Lola Lemire Tostevin, novelist and poet *

, musician * Bruce Watson, guitarist with Scottish rock band

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although they have retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music inc ...

* Preston Pablo, musician

Notable athletes

Pete Babando Peter Joseph Babando (May 10, 1925 – February 19, 2020) was an American-born Canadian ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with all four of the United States–based Original Six teams (Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Ch ...

(NHL) hockey player *

Bill Barilko William "Bashin' Bill" Barilko (March 25, 1927 – ) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League career for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over five seasons, Barilko won the Stanley Cup four times in 1947, 1948, 1949, a ...

, NHL hockey player and subject of the 1993

Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, was a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...

song "

Fifty Mission Cap "Fifty Mission Cap" is a song by Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip. It was released in January 1993 as the second single from the band's third full-length album, ''Fully Completely''. It was first played in front of a live concert audience a ...

" *

Baz Bastien Joseph Aldège Albert "Baz" Bastien (August 29, 1919 – March 15, 1983) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, head coach, and general manager. He played five games for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League in 1945 but ...

, NHL goaltender * Sharon Bruneau,

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

, fitness competitor, actress and

stuntwoman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

Les Costello Fr. Leslie John Thomas Costello (February 16, 1928 – December 10, 2002) was a Canadian ice hockey player and Catholic priest. He was born in South Porcupine, Ontario, a neighbourhood of Timmins, and played hockey as a teenager, eventually joi ...

, NHL hockey player with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

1947–49. Later became a Roman Catholic priest in Timmins while continuing to play hockey for the " Flying Fathers" *

Réal Chevrefils Joseph Maurice Roger Réal "Chevy" Chevrefils (May 2, 1932 – January 8, 1981) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings between 1951 and 1959. Playing career Chevre ...

, NHL hockey player with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

1951–59. *

Murray Costello James Murray Costello (February 24, 1934July 27, 2024) was a Canadian ice hockey player, executive, and administrator. He played four seasons in the National Hockey League and was the younger brother of Les Costello. He was a lawyer by trade a ...

, Hockey Hall of Famer, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association * Larry Courville, NHL hockey player * Shean Donovan, NHL hockey player * Paul Harrison, NHL hockey player * Alex Henry, NHL hockey player * Art Hodgins, Ice hockey player, inducted in the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame * Mark Katic, NHL hockey player *

Kathy Kreiner Katharine Kreiner-Phillips (born May 4, 1957) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Canada. Career She won the giant slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. First out of the gate on Friday the ...

, Gold medallist, giant slalom, XIIth Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck, Austria, February 13, 1976 * Laurie Kreiner, Alpine skiing, XI Olympic Winter Games, XIIth Olympic Winter Games * Jason Gervais, Athletics discus, Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics * Denis Lapalme, amputee athlete and Paralympic medallist *

Rick Lessard Rick Lessard (born January 9, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks. He was a seventh round selection by Calgary, 142nd overall, ...

, NHL hockey player * T. J. Luxmore, NHL Referee *

, NHL hockey player, Canadian Senator *

, NHL hockey player *

Jim Mair James McKay Mair (born May 15, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 76 games in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and Vancouver Canucks, and several seasons in the minor Eastern Hockey League ...

, NHL hockey player * Hector Marini, NHL hockey player * Bob McCord, NHL hockey player *

Gus Mortson James Angus Gerald "Old Hardrock" Mortson (January 24, 1925 – August 8, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks, and Detroit Red Wings, winning ...

, NHL hockey player * Bob Nevin, NHL hockey player *

Dave Poulin David James Poulin (born December 17, 1958) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. A centre, Poulin played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Washington Cap ...

, NHL hockey player *

Dean Prentice Dean Sutherland Prentice (October 5, 1932 – November 2, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 22 seasons between 1952–53 and 1973–74. He had 10 NHL seasons with 20 or mo ...

, NHL hockey player *

Eric Prentice Eric Dayton Prentice (August 22, 1926 — December 8, 2002) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played a total of 5 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1943–44 season. The rest of ...

, NHL hockey player * Dale Rolfe, NHL hockey player * Steve Shields, NHL goaltender *

Allan Stanley Allan Herbert Stanley (March 1, 1926 – October 18, 2013) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hocke ...

, NHL hockey player *

Steve Sullivan Steve Sullivan (born July 6, 1974), nicknamed "Timmins Tornado", is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played over 1000 games in the National Hockey League for the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black ...

, NHL hockey player * Walt Tkaczuk, NHL hockey player * Eric Vail, NHL hockey player

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Ontario Mining communities in Ontario Single-tier municipalities in Ontario