Delivered to members of the Timmins Chamber on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.
It's time for Timmins to tell our story – clearly, confidently, and on our own terms.
You'll see we're doing so through fresh, new marking materials like this video, increased media coverage, elevated provincial and federal advocacy, and even with a grassroots community campaign that ‘hit it all the way to’ a national stage.
The story we’re telling is simple: Timmins is growing, and evolving.
We have the Timmins Advantage and we’re ready.
To my colleagues on Council, our senior leadership team and the hundreds of Timmins employees who serve this community each and every day – thank you for your professionalism, your dedication and your deep commitment to public service. I am proud every day to get to work alongside you.
That dedication was on full display over the holidays when Timmins experienced the worst snowfall in half a century. While many gathered with family and friends, our city staff were out on the streets making sure that the city kept moving, and the city was safe for everyone. Your service does not pause and it certainly does not go unnoticed.
My plan to share how we’re doing, where we’re going and how we plan to author the next chapter of our story.
Let's start with our local contractors and suppliers. Without you, the City couldn’t accomplish any of what we do. Think back to the most recent example: the massive storm that dropped roughly a month’s worth of snow on Timmins in just two days. ‘Snowmageddon’ had the potential of crippling us, but once the snow stopped falling and the ‘Big Dig’ started, it became obvious to me that we would get ourselves out of this – as a community.
With the help of about 20 different contractors, our crews have removed 15,926 loads of snow so far this year – that’s in just the past month, from January 4th to February 2nd. That amount is roughly equivalent to the volume required to fill the entire Roman Colosseum.
And, that doesn’t include the approx. 5,000 loads that crews had already removed at the tail end of 2025.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to everyone that stepped up for our community. Because I know you can all appreciate the scale and magnitude of the task we had on hand – that these were not our usual snow removal operations. Believe it or not, during those two days – and in the days to follow – I thought about all of you and the snow removal you had to organize for your own operations. Our local businesses and agencies had to sort out the logistics of having their own properties cleared, needing parking for employees, clients and customers; car dealerships had to clean their lots, retailers had to open up road access, and some restaurants even had to be literally dug out to reopen.
And I hoped – though I think part of me already knew – that our business community would be patient and understanding as City crews tackled the snow, not just at our own facilities and parking lots, but also on the 485 lane kms of road and 210 sidewalk kms we maintain in the wintertime. I truly believe that our City crews were able to keep the airport runways open and emergency vehicles rolling, all throughout, thanks to the cooperation and collaboration of our residents. What could have been some really gloomy days in Timmins were instead filled with warm, impactful stories of neighbour helping neighbour, all across the community. For that, give yourselves a round of applause.
What else has Team Timmins been doing for you?
- Last year, City crews repaved approximately 18 kms of road – just shy of a half-marathon (and we plan to do another 17-18 kms of ‘Shave and Pave’ again this summer).
- Road crews filled 21,049 potholes in 2025. That’s like filling every seat in the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa or the BMO Field in Toronto – except instead of sitting and cheering, people were driving over smoother pavement.
- We distributed over 6.5 million m3 of clean water from the Timmins Water Filtration Plant. That’s the equivalent of roughly 2,700 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- We treated over 9 million m3 of wastewater between our two plants – the equivalent of 1.5 billion toilet flushes in one year.
You’ve heard me say that the City of Timmins is planning for long-term growth by strengthening this kind of core infrastructure that residents rely on every day. We’re doing that by leveraging every dollar of provincial and federal funding that we can. And, trust me – we’ve proven we can. In 2025 alone, City staff secured nearly $37M in grants.
And when we think of the expenditures related to all of the work I’ve mentioned so far and more, there’s another impressive number that punctuates the question, “What is Timmins doing for you?”
I’ve been asked a few times before what the City’s local spend is – how much do we spend on local goods and services?
Well, it was no easy feat – this is not something easily tracked, but thanks to some of our exceptional staff, we were able to put a rough, unaudited, number on it. Of the nearly $200M that the City of Timmins spent in 2025, over $65M (that’s almost 33% or one third) went directly into our local economy. We spent locally for things like snow removal to road work and traffic projects, waste management to water systems upgrades, equipment and material purchases, or from simple maintenance in our buildings to the complete redevelopment of the Golden Manor.
And, it’s not as if we have a ‘Buy Timmins’ policy. We couldn’t legally if we wanted to. That’s just the Timmins Advantage in action. A robust, well-established industry-driven ecosystem featuring hundreds of companies offering specialized services and supplies to a variety of sectors.
It’s pretty good when you can procure almost a third of what you need right here in Timmins.
That’s what I’m talking about when I’m speaking to interested investors or funding partners: a resilient, flourishing economy with vast potential.
Let’s look at mining for a moment.
Though 2025 started off with the long-anticipated, bitter news of Glencore’s closure of the Kidd assets, the year closed out with a ‘nation building’ announcement. We still lack clarity around what the direct impact of the Kidd closure will be, or where the hundreds of remaining employees will land, but we’re encouraged by the ‘Post-Closure Land Use’ discussions that continue to take place between our leadership teams.
It’s hard not to be encouraged in the ‘City with the Heart of Gold’ when the price of gold is just under US$5,000 per ounce and “business is booming”, so to speak.
Like everyone here, I welcomed the announcement of Discovery’s acquisition, bringing local expertise back to the Timmins Camp to breathe new life into the Porcupine Complex. I’ve also already alluded to the fact that Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project is set to become one of the world’s largest nickel-cobalt mine developments and has been fast-tracked by both federal and provincial governments for its critical role. And when Lake Shore Gold (sub. of Pan American Silver) wasn’t busy with their robust exploration program this year, they were partnering with the City and Province to build a key segment of one of the by-pass routes we’re all striving to implement. And the drills haven’t stopped boring in the area, with promising results for other operations like Galleon Gold’s West Cache and McEwen’s Fox West projects, to name a few.
Since we last met, the city completed our Infrastructure Needs Study, and will finally be wrapping up the Growth Management Study in the coming weeks. These plans map out our path forward, and will help us make smarter, more sustainable decisions.
And the planning doesn’t end there. We will be undertaking two more plans this year: a Transit Master Plan and a Waste Management Master Plan.
Last year, at the State of the City luncheon, Mr. Tom Faught Sr. asked me a question about the City’s plans to transition our fleet – particularly our bus fleet – to clean energy. Well, Mr. Faught, I’m hoping these master plans will explore and present solutions that can help get us there.
One of the most important ways we’re preparing Timmins for the future is by investing in the infrastructure that keeps our city running every day. First, I must reiterate our profound gratitude to the Province for their support, providing over $23 million dollars to go to the construction of the Timmins Tisdale Reservoir, which has a total project cost of $26 million dollars.
Reliable water service is the foundation of public health, safety, and economic development, and this project strengthens that foundation. The new water tower will be capable of storing up to 10 million litres of potable water, significantly enhancing the reliability of our system – particularly for residents and businesses in the East End. Through smart design, this project will also lower energy use, improve system reliability, and strengthen water distribution, pressure, and fire protection for existing neighbourhoods. I do want to express my appreciation to the team at what was then Newmont, now Discovery, for their contribution to this project. It’s thanks to their initiative that an opportunity to collaborate was identified and here we are today.
This is such a good news story, that I’m going to share it with you quickly: As Newmont was redeveloping the Pamour Open Pit Mine, it planned to store its tailings at the Dome site. I’m told further raises were required there to accommodate additional tailings deposition that would increase the footprint of the existing TM, and the expansion was going to encroach onto the City of Timmins water line corridor. Initially, our teams looked at encasing the water line in concrete for the area under the tailings wall expansion. Of course, some practical considerations crept in - how would we ever deal with a break in a quarter mile concrete sleeve? That, and the age of the existing reservoir led us to opt instead for building a new reservoir, with a contribution from Newmont/Discovery that would be equal to the expected cost of the initial idea to construct the concrete sleeve (which they would have to do anyway). So, on behalf of the City of Timmins, thank you again for exemplifying with us how industry and the municipality can work together for the betterment of our community.
Continuing on infrastructure, in 2026, we will continue making record investments in road work, helping us fix more roads and improve our transportation network. Along the Connecting Link, you’ll see crews working on Segment 9 (the ‘no man’s land’ stretching from Brunette Rd. to Highway 655), and they’ll also finish Segment 13 (last year’s segment from Lawrence St. to the Porcupine Bridge).
We’re expecting the construction and completion of the Evans Street Bridge this summer – another essential piece of infrastructure that requires renewal for both resident safety and economic productivity. In between managing these projects, the Engineering team will also be busy completing the design work for the Finn Road Bridge and the reconstruction of Fourth Ave.
One important part of being growth and development ready is ensuring that we have sufficient and appropriate housing. That’s why we’re taking action to meet the growing housing needs by encouraging new residential development. The Melrose Heights subdivision expansion will add 241 new residential lots, supported by provincial funding to deliver fully serviced, ready-to-build sites. This project will deliver a range of housing options, from single-detached homes to multi-unit buildings. We’re set to begin tree clearing throughout the month of March. We aim to tender out the subdivision sometime in February or March, with excavation and civil work expected to start in May. If all goes as planned, we hope to have the first batch of lots ready to sell in the Fall 2026 (aiming for 60, at least), with another batch in 2027 and another in 2028.
We’re also looking to further stimulate housing development by introducing grant and rebate programs under the proposed Housing Community Improvement Plan to incentivize new builds, in Melrose Heights or elsewhere in the City.
Expected to come to Council for approval later this month, the proposed Housing CIP would initially consist of three incentive programs:
- The Per Door Grant Program, which will provide a one-time grant (of up to $7,500/unit) to small-scale developments that propose a minimum of two- to a maximum of four new dwelling units.
- The Tax Increment Rebate Program, which will provide an annual rebate to reimburse a portion of the municipal property tax increase resulting from residential development on a property for up to five (5) years. For this one, only applications that propose a total of five (5) new dwelling units or greater are eligible for this Program.
- The Municipal Fee Rebate Program, which is intended to waive upfront Planning Act application fees for qualifying housing projects that result in the net increase of at least two new dwelling units.
Ultimately, our aims with this plan are to increase the overall inventory of housing stock, to develop an appropriate mix of housing, and to respond to the diverse housing needs of our current and future residents. Again, this kind of direct action to advance housing development in Timmins is yet another good chapter that we’re writing into our collective Story together.
As I mentioned earlier, we really tried to step it up this year in how we’re telling our story, and promoting what we’ve coined ‘The Timmins Advantage’. One way we’re doing this is through the launch of the City of Timmins’ new quarterly publication, Economic Insights.
Led by our Timmins Economic Development team, the report is designed to provide residents, investors, and business leaders with a clear picture of our local economic activity – bringing together key updates and highlighting how the City is advancing economic growth and community development.
This edition, representing the first to the third quarter in 2025, highlights:
- over $53 million in building permits across all classifications,
- over $71.5 million invested in infrastructure,
- 55 businesses started through The Business Enterprise Centre;
- and more than 25 thousand overnight stays resulting from Tourism activities.
It’s intended to be a tool for you to use in your business, as well. The report is available online, and the next edition which will include the final quarter of 2025 should be published in a matter of weeks. Stay tuned!
The team at Timmins Economic Development and I are also looking forward to proudly showcasing our story at a few key events this year. We’re going to have another marked presence at PDAC – the mineral exploration and mining convention – next month, with a booth near the Northern Ontario Showcase, and hosting once again the Timmins Reception on the Tuesday afternoon. We’re really excited about this. After the success of our inaugural event last year, we decided to practically double the size of the event this year, making space for more attendees, drawing in more dignitaries, and allowing even more connections to be made between our local suppliers and industry stakeholders. And, all of it being possible thanks to the overwhelming support of even more sponsors this year – so thank you in advance to our local business community. For anyone who would like to learn more about our activities at PDAC, I encourage you to reach to the TED team.
And, because we can only do so much while in downtown Toronto to showcase everything Timmins has to offer, I’ve also been inviting people to come discover Timmins for themselves. We are proud to be the host city of this year’s FONOM conference (that’s the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities) in May, as well as the annual Canadian Mining Expo in June. I wanted to make sure everyone knew it, so I asked to have little postcards made that we’ve been handing out as ‘Save the Date’ cards to anyone we feel should experience Timmins. Some people just need to see it to believe it. So, while we were in Toronto a couple weeks ago for the Rural Ontario Municipalities conference, I made sure to hand one to every Minister and their staff that we met with. Let’s hope we’ve piqued their interest enough to get them to come.
Because when you look at what’s happening in Timmins right now, one thing becomes very clear: this is not the moment to think small.
In fact, this is our time to think big.
We Need to Think Big:
Like Canada Nickel, which is not only developing a singular mine but rather the first few steps on the value chain with multiple mines, two processing plants, and patent-pending carbon capturing technology, catalyzing the establishment of a net-zero carbon industrial cluster.
We Need to Think Big:
Like Stllr Gold, which is leveraging Ontario's new Recovery of Minerals regime to fast-track the reprocessing of 50-60 million tonnes of historical Hollinger taillings, cleaning up a 100+ year-old site with the potential of returning developable land back to the community.
We Need to Think Big:
Like the 400+ university students and leading experts in aerospace engineering that come onto to Timmins every August for the Launch Canada event, sending up rockets that are pushing the boundaries in launching capabilities and accomplishing first-of-their-kind flights from right here, on Mattagami First Nation territory, literally making the yet impossible possible.
We Need to Think Big:
Like a t-shirt fundraiser campaign that ‘hit it’ well beyond Timmins, all the way onto the national airwaves of Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. That collaboration between TourismTimmins, TimminsToday and Skoser Merch, with the help Jamie Campbell from Sportsnet and his Timmins-positive catchphrase, sold nearly 1,100 shirts and raised a total of $31,700 dollars for the Timmins & District Hospital’s Oncology Department.
Now that is a Timmins' Story. And, since I mentioned him, I’m happy to finally be able to officially share that Jamie Campbell has accepted our invitation to come back to Timmins to be the Keynote Speaker at the FONOM conference in May.
So, let’s keep thinking big, Timmins:
In fact, let’s think four times bigger as we continue to support the Hospital with the expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department.
Let’s think big as we keep pursuing the development of full-city bypass routes or a state-of-the-art multi-use recreation complex, even if it might seem “too big” by current day standards. Because it won’t be long before even these designs don’t seem big enough for Timmins.
And finally, let’s think big by looking beyond our boarders to see which strategic partnerships can be developed to help advance mutual interests.
As the old adage goes, “the best time to make friends is before you need them.” That’s what I had in mind when I picked up the phone last fall to call the mayors of Rouyn-Noranda and Val-D’Or, in Québec. I was glad when, following their municipal elections last November, the incoming mayor for Rouyn-Noranda reached out in turn to continue the conversation between our offices. Today, I’m pleased to welcome His Worship and his delegation of colleagues, who have joined us to announce our shared commitment to forging closer ties and establishing an economic alliance between our two municipalities. I hope that today will be the first of many meetings between ourselves, our teams and community partners.
As we look toward the horizon, these ideas of “Telling Our Story” or "Thinking Big" aren’t just slogans – they are a responsibility we owe to the future generations of this city.
But, we don’t do this work alone.
I want to extend a sincere thank you to the Timmins Chamber for hosting us today and for their tireless advocacy on behalf of our local business community. To Keitha, you have modelled being a lady boss with such confidence and decisiveness, empathy and humour, and vision. You’re leaving a legacy of lasting impact behind, and for that, I thank you.
A special thank you again to our event sponsors, Stllr Gold and Lake Shore Gold (sub. Pan American Silver).
To the team at Stllr Gold, thank you for your commitment to environmental stewardship; you’re proving that remediating our past can be an investment into our future.
To the team at Lake Shore, thank you for demonstrating how strong industry partnership can help Timmins think bigger and move forward together.
Your support makes events like this possible and our community stronger.
On a personal note, I want to express my deepest gratitude to you, the people of Timmins. Serving as your Mayor and getting to tell our story is always a great honour. Yes, we’ve faced challenges these past few years, but we’ve also seen unprecedented collaboration across our community. That’s why my belief in this city remains unshakeable.
Let’s keep pushing boundaries, let's keep building bridges, and above all, let’s keep thinking big.
Merci. Miigwetch.