Visiting Timmins Victor M. Power Airport, Ontario: A Vital Facility in Northern Ontario Named for A Long-Serving Mayor

Opened in 1955, Timmins Victor M. Power Airport— as it is now called — is a vital facility in this Northern Ontario city. As with bushplanes in the days of pioneer settlement by Europeans in Northern Ontario in the early 20th century, so also today the air links provided from facilities such as Victor M. Power Airport at Timmins constitute a vital lifeline to local communities. Particularly in winter months when road travel can sometimes be difficult or inconvenient in this area of Northern Ontario, the Airport thus maintains important links with other regional centres in Canada.

The Airport is named for a long-serving, former Mayor of Timmins. First elected to serve on the city council at Timmins in 1968, after a career in teaching, Mr. Power subsequently served as Mayor of Timmins from 1980 until 1988, from 1991 until 2000 and from 2003 until 2006. Mining has long dominated the local economy of Timmins and Mr. Power's Mayoralty terms were characterized by considerable efforts towards local economic diversification. Mr. Power also served as President of the Federation of Northern Ontario; other roles which he fulfilled included directorships of Ontario Northland Transportation Committee and of the Association of Ontario Municipalities. In 2009 Victor M. Power received the Order of Canada.

The Airport is located 11 kilometres north-northwest of Downtown Timmins.

Airlines which in recent years have served Timmins Airport with scheduled passenger services have included Air Canada Express, Air Creebec (1), Bearskin Airlines, Porter Airlines, and Thunder Airlines (which also supplies a cargo service). Other cargo airlines serving Timmins have included FedEx Express.

The Airport supports various services such as a firefighting unit, an air ambulance facility and a Remote Airport Advisory Service (RAAS), for Moosonee Airport and elsewhere. Further details of services at Timmins Victor M. Power Airport are given on the airport's website (2).

April 18, 2020

Notes

(1) Air Creebec is owned by the Cree First Nation; the airline, based at Val-d'Or, Quebec, maintains a hub at Timmins. Interestingly, while Timmins has a large Francophone population, it is also possible to see signage in the Cree language, and this is a particular memory which I have from my visit to Timmins Airport.

(2) See also: https://timmins.ca/our_services/airport

Some sourcing: Wikipedia

In Timmins, the Timmins Gold Mine Tour base which is located at the former Hollinger gold mine depicts mining life and one can guess at something of the difficulties experienced by pioneers in the region. In Schumacher itself (part of Timmins), Croatian Hall (formerly known as Mali Zagreb / Little Zagreb) has for many years been a hub of the historically large Croatian community.

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How to get there: Airlines flying to Timmins Victor M Power Airport include Air Canada Express, from Toronto Pearson Airport, with wide North American and other connections. Car rental is available at Timmins Airport. Please check with the airline or your travel agent for up to date information. You are advised to contact appropriate consular sources regarding any border crossing visa requirements which may apply to the citizens of certain nationalities.

MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.