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2013 Communities of Opportunity: Timmins

The glitter of high-grade gold has always sparkled bright for the City of Timmins. As the hub of mining and forestry, Timmins is also known for their well educated bilingual workforce and as an affordable place to do business.
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Timmins, Ontario.

The glitter of high-grade gold has always sparkled bright for the City of Timmins.

As the hub of mining and forestry, Timmins is also known for their well educated bilingual workforce and as an affordable place to do business.

Timmins is home to 46,000 people, a regional catchment area of 118,000, and has 18 operating mines within a 300 km radius.

With a sophisticated and thriving municipality surrounded by forests and more than 500 lakes, rivers and streams, the city provides breathing room and a welcoming environment for families to set down their roots.

With 100 years of history on its side, Timmins' economy is driven by resource based industries with large segments of the workforce contributing to a diversified economy in retail, construction, health and social services, industrial supply, telecommunications, and tourism.

The educational sector has also seen a rise in prominence.

Timmins also has a strong entrepreneurial culture and is a community where people not only find meaningful employment opportunities but they have the opportunity to create them.

On the research and development front, Timmins aims to attract the NASA Mars team for geological research and testing.

NASA scientists came to Timmins to study rock because of its similarities to rock found on Mars.

“So we are looking at partnering potentially with scientific-based organizations to develop a centre,” said Christy Marinig, CEO for the Timmins Economic Development Corporation.

The city recently received provincial and federal funding for their Centre of Excellence for Productivity.

“Canada lags behind all other G7 countries in terms of productivity,” said Marinig. “It's been said that Canadians only produce 80 per cent of what their American counterparts produce.

“We need to innovate and become more productive.”

Other reasons to choose Timmins include their lower cost of living, health care and entertainment in the form of the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, various annual music and cultural festivals, sports tournaments and theatre productions.

www.timminsedc.com