During the Timmins 2020 planning process, nearly 500 participants submitted community and economic development project ideas. Many ideas are for smaller businesses that a local entrepreneur or organization might pursue, and some are for larger projects that require lots of research, coordination and large scale investment. The Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) works on a number of business ideas as part of its annual business plan. It is exploring whether some of the larger projects are viable options for Timmins. See the list below for status updates on each project as they become available. The staff at the TEDC will regularly update this page. In the meantime, if you’re an entrepreneur, there are lots of good ideas for new business in Timmins on this page.
Status codes: RS= Research Stage | NF= Not Feasible | SI= Seeking Investment or Partner | ENT= Idea suitable for a local entrepreneur or organization | COM=Complete
IdeaStatusOutcomes/Comments
| 1-800 Junk service | ENT | |
| Aboriginal art gallery | ENT | |
| Aboriginal culture tourism | ENT | |
| Aboriginal healing facility | ||
| Aboriginal tea house/restaurant | ENT | |
| Accessible taxis | ENT | |
| Agri-business | RS | The TEDC is working with regional partners to eliminate barriers and capitalize on opportunities for sustainable growth of the agricultural sector in Northeastern Ontario. |
| Airline | COM | Timmins welcomed Porter Airlines in early 2012 and now has competing airlines flying to Toronto. |
| Annual contest for most innovative practical business idea (Youth) | Ongoing | www.makeyourpitch.ca
Contact: Julie Durocher (705-360-2600 x7082) for more details. |
| Annual contest for most innovative practical business idea (Gen Public) | ||
| Applebees | ENT | |
| Aquaculture | ENT | |
| Art camps/workshops | ENT | |
| Arts center | RS | See the Culture, Tourism and Recreation Master Plan. |
| Automotive plant/manufacturer | NF | Timmins is too far away from the just in time inventory suppliers that have already established themselves in the South. |
| Back-office services (cheque clearing, applications, processing) | ENT | The TEDC has completed a study on this and will be pursuing firms. |
| Bakeries/pastry shops | ENT | |
| Bed and Breakfast | ENT | |
| Bike accessories and repair shops | ENT | |
| Bio-energy | ||
| Bottled water plant | ENT | |
| Butcher | ENT | |
| Call centre | ENT | |
| Camp construction/services | ENT | |
| Camping sites | ENT | |
| Carbon sequestration | Mikro-Tek, a local business, is doing some of this work both here and internationally. | |
| Card shop | ENT | |
| Cargo planes/rail system to transport goods | ||
| Casino | RS | Due to the current legislative situation, it is unlikely that Timmins will be able to be included in the provincial casino zones. The casino situation will continue to be monitored. |
| Casket manufacturing | ENT | |
| Centre of excellence | RS | The Productivity & Innovation Centre is now open. |
| Chapters | ENT | |
| Chicken farming | ENT | |
| Cinema such as Cineplex, Silver City | ENT | |
| Coffee house | ENT | |
| Cogeneration plant | ENT | |
| College Pro Painter Service | ENT | |
| Community kitchen | COM | Martha’s Kitchen in the St Pauls Anglican Church opened in November 2012 for entrepreneurs who want to develop and market food products and need a commercial kitchen to do so. |
| Condo development | ENT | The TEDC has marketed this to over 65 developers across the country to stimulate housing options. |
| Conference centre | ENT | |
| Construction materials salvage and resell business | ENT | |
| CostCo | NF | CostCo has advised TEDC that the company needs a much larger market area than Timmins can provide. |
| Cottage lots | ||
| Cottage timeshares | ENT | |
| Cree and French translation service center | ENT | |
| Crematorium | ENT | |
| Cyber security | ENT | |
| Dairy Queen | ENT | |
| Diamond processing (cutting & polishing) | ENT | The TEDC worked with the private sector to put in a bid for the diamond processing centre however, the team at the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines awarded the contract to a private sector person that picked Sudbury as their location of choice. |
| Eco & Adventure Tourism resort | ENT | |
| Environmental technology | ENT | |
| Farm co-op | RS | Pre-feasibility activities have taken place to better understand the need and the suitable model to provide local and regional producers with alternative means to bring their products to market. |
| Farm elk, bison or other hardy livestock | ENT | |
| Farming/processing of cold weather crops | ENT | |
| Fertilizer plant | ENT | |
| Film/music studio | ENT | |
| Fire fighting training center | RS | The City of Timmins and Northern College are looking into building a new fire hall for South Porcupine along with a training centre. |
| Fish farm industry | ENT | |
| Flight training | ENT | |
| French concert series | ENT | |
| Galvanizing plant | ENT | |
| Geothermal energy production | NF | This has been studied by the City of Timmins and due to the extreme cold in the winter it is not feasible. |
| Gold mining museum | ||
| Gourmet food producer | ENT | |
| Government agencies/centers (e.g. military bases, taxation center, passports, etc.) | ||
| Greenhouses | ENT | |
| Gunsmith services | ENT | |
| Harvey’s | ENT | |
| Head-hunter service | ENT | Workforce North already provides head-hunting services in Timmins. |
| Hog farm | ENT | |
| Hospice (English) | ENT | This needs to be taken on by the non-profit sector. |
| Hotels/motels | ongoing | The Holiday Inn and Microtel opened their doors in December 2012. Both the Best Western and the Hampton Inn, are currently under construction, and are scheduled to be completed by 2015. |
| Humane feed lot for high-end livestock | ENT | |
| Hydro-generation on rivers | ||
| Ice making for local retailers | ENT | |
| Ice melter | ENT | |
| Ice wine from local berries | ENT | |
| Incubator for creative economy professionals | ||
| Independant restauranteurs | ENT | |
| Industrial goods manufacturer | ENT | |
| International Women’s Hockey Camp | ENT | |
| Investment fund that City can use | ||
| Jewelry manufacturing | ENT | |
| Landscape architecture firm | ENT | |
| Local greenery-garden center | ENT | |
| Luxury cemetery | ||
| Made in the North retail store | ENT | |
| Make batteries | ||
| Manufacture grader blades | ENT | |
| Marina | ENT | |
| Marketing services | ENT | There are several firms in Timmins that offer marketing services. |
| Medical lab services | ENT | There is already a medical laboratory in Timmins. |
| Medicinal plant products (e.g. nutriceuticals, cosmetics, skin care) | ENT | |
| Mega prison | ||
| Micro-brewery | ENT | |
| Military training exercises | ||
| Mining school | COM | Northern College already has the world renowned Haileybury School of Mines. |
| Mink ranch | ENT | |
| Model homes | ENT | |
| Mountain Equipment Co-op | MEC requires a much larger market area than Timmins and region can offer. | |
| Nightclub | ENT | |
| Nuclear waste disposal | NF | Nuclear Waste Management of Ontario has informed the TEDC that the geology of our area is not suitable for nuclear waste storage. |
| Off peak power storage for grid | Northern Ontario does not have the proper power infrastructure to be able to do this. | |
| Olive Garden | ENT | |
| Organic farms | ENT | |
| Pet training, daycare and pet camp | ENT | |
| Polling company | ENT | |
| Portable abattoir | ENT | |
| Pre-fab concrete products | ENT | |
| Prefab homes | ENT | |
| Provincial diabetes treatment centre | ||
| Provincial drug rehabilitation centre | ||
| Provincial forensics laboratory | NF | The TEDC tried to attract a provincial forensics laboratory over ten years ago however, they were not considering additional facilities. The Ontario Provincial Police have recently opened a brand new forensics laboratory in South Porcupine. |
| PUC | ||
| Recycling plant | ENT | |
| Red Lobster | ENT | |
| Religious retreat centre | ENT | |
| Research centres | COM | The Northern Office of Applied Research and Innovation (NOARI), housed at Northern College, and the Productivity & Innovation Centre, housed at NEONet, provide access to research, development, innovation, and commercialization programming. |
| Resorts for hunting and fishing | ENT | |
| Retirement Facilities | ENT | |
| Ring of Fire | The TEDC monitors the situation in the Ring of Fire and sends weekly updates to local industrial suppliers. | |
| RV Park | ENT | |
| Seaport on James Bay | ||
| Shoe repair service | ENT | |
| Slaughterhouse | ENT | |
| Smelter | ENT | |
| Snowboard park | ENT | |
| Sod growing | ENT | |
| Solar farm | ENT | The TEDC has worked with many firms that wanted to create solar installations in Timmins. However, there is a problem at the local hydro transmission station that will not permit this type of large scale development in Timmins. |
| Sports complex/stadium | RS | See The Culture, Tourism, and Recreation Master Plan. |
| Steam Power | ||
| Taxidermy service | ENT | |
| Tea shop | ENT | |
| Theatre | ENT | |
| Timmins Credit Union | ENT | |
| Tire Recycling plant | RS | The TEDC’s feasibility study found it was not viable; it is currently revisiting the assumptions of the study to see if there are alternatives that would make it work. |
| Tours | ENT | |
| Tree farms | ENT | |
| Underground energy generation, waste disposal, storage, etc.) | ||
| University (English) | ongoing | Northern College has entered into a partnership with Queen’s University and their Engineering Department. Soon, students will be able to access Queen’s University’s Engineering Department programming via Northern College. |
| Vehicle battery plant | ENT | |
| Vertical farming | ENT | |
| Vintage clothing store (high end) | ENT | |
| Waste rock: use for sand, gravel, concrete, landscaping, etc. | ENT | |
| Waterpark | ENT | |
| Weather stations | An organization is now working out of the Timmins airport doing atmospheric research with balloons. | |
| Wind farm | ENT | |
| Winter resort/spa | ENT | |
| Wood product manufacturing: chips, planks, pallets, furniture, etc. | ENT | |
| Wormery | ENT |
