Success Stories

James Zhu

James and Janny In 1993, I immigrated to Canada from Brazil with my family searching for a better life and security. I went to high school and college here. While I was at Mohawk College, I got a co-op job in the City of Timmins. By that time, I did not know where Timmins was; the only thing I thought I knew was that it shouldn't be too far away from Hamilton. Well, after I searched for it on Google map, I found out that it is actually 10 hours away from my hometown; I almost fainted. However, I had already accepted the offer and I had to go to the City of Timmins.

After 9 hours of driving and one $300 speeding ticket, I'd finally reached the City of Timmins. On the first day, I took a very good look at it. The City of Timmins is a small city with about 50,000 people. Up here, it is colder than Hamilton and I was wondering why people live here anyway; it is far away from everything else.

After one month, I found out some nice things about Timmins. It has nice, clean air, some awesome outdoor activities such as biking, fishing and playing badminton. Not to mention, I caught the biggest fish in my life over here.

Even though I was only a co-op student, the people of Timmins treated me very nicely, which gave a feeling of being at home to a total stranger like me. With -40 degree winter weather, I still felt warm inside; that is how warm people in Timmins are. Well, of course, my brand new Columbia Titanium 3-in-one jacket kept me warm too.

I came back as a full-time employee of the City of Timmins. Hopefully one day, Timmins will be my hometown !

Raghu Jaswal

I moved to Canada in August 2003 on a study permit and went to Georgian College in Barrie for education. Barrie was a nice place to live and I learned a lot about Canadian culture and lifestyle. My program included 2 co-op work terms. I did my first co-op term at Honda of Canada Manufacturing, Alliston, Ontario. It was a great experience for my resume as well as my life too. I learned Canadian work ethics and discipline at this establishment.

For my final co-op term, I got an offer from the City of Timmins. Little did I know of Timmins at that time. I remember my director, Mr. David Laneville, asked me if I knew where Timmins was, or anything about Timmins, and my answer to him was that other than the location on map, nothing.

I moved to Timmins for my co-op work term and found Timmins to be a very nice, peaceful place to stay. Everyone was very friendly and welcomed me with open arms.

If you want to learn about the real Canadian culture, Timmins is the place to be in. With a population of around 45,000, it is the biggest city by area in Canada.

Working at City Hall, I had to interact with all the various departments of the City and thus I learned a lot about Timmins by interacting with different people with different backgrounds.

Timmins is a great place if you are into biking, fishing and other outdoor activities. With a beautiful landscape all around, it makes you feel so close to nature but still has all the facilities of a modern city.

I have been the resident of this beautiful place for the past 3 years and everyday I learn something new about it. I would recommend this city to everyone who is new to this country, wants to learn about Canadian lifestyle and have a decent, affordable living.

Sincerely,

Raghu Jaswal

Curlis Verbeek

Curliss Verbeek After a long and strenuous process to obtain my Canadian residency and be reunited with my Canadian husband, I was able to move to Timmins, ON in February of 2004.

Before then I lived both in Costa Rica (where I went to university and later worked) and Nicaragua (My home country). Meeting my then husband-to-be while going to school in Europe, becoming friends and falling in love, then getting married some years later was my reason for moving to Canada.

As I mentioned before, the process wasn't easy or uneventful, but it was more than worth it in so many ways! I simply love Timmins!!!

There is so much truth to the saying "the people make the place". The saying rang true to me when I came to this city. Starting with my then "new family", continuing with the Christian community of which I am a part of, and the friends I've made since my arrival. The people in general of this city and of other places that I have been able to visit in the country; they never seize to amaze me with their kindness, friendliness, cultural/racial tolerance, their willingness to help, their heart of giving both to individuals and also for the good of their community and country.

All of the above made me fall in love with Timmins, but there's also a few other things I feel I should mention like; the general safety I feel here, the warm and friendly environment that makes Timmins an ideal place for raising a family, its natural beauty, the sunshine and light you see here almost all year round, and the snow. The snow was something pretty new to me, and if you like that lovely white 'stuff', here is a very ideal place to experience it during the winters!

People usually ask "don't you miss the year round warm temperatures of your area of the world?" My response is "I only miss it in the water. I wish the lakes would become warmer during the summers (For swimming)!" But hey, I know that sometimes you can't have it all!

In conclusion, in Timmins I've found many doors of opportunity. I trust it will be the case for others looking into the possibility of moving here or elsewhere in this land of opportunity called Canada.

Curliss Verbeek