Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the confirmations that there is currently no vacancy at the Northglen Community Mobile Home Park nor at Notre Dame Trailer Park in Timmins.
The owner of a trailer park in Timmins has a message for residents of Fairway Village who are being evicted by the Discovery Silver mining company.
“Don’t panic,” said Sabi Ahsan, owner of True North Estates that runs the Sheridan Mobile Home Park on Pine Street South.
“Wait until the snow melts and everyone can take a good look and see if your trailer can be moved. A lot of them can be. You’ve got two years, and we, the City of Timmins, and Discovery Silver are working on this. Don’t think nobody cares,” Ahsan told The Daily Press Thursday.
Discovery Silver acquired the Newmont Porcupine Complex in Timmins (Hoyle Pond, Dome, Pamour and Borden mines) for US $425 million in April 2025.
On Jan. 16 of this year, it sent eviction letters to all residents of the Fairway Village trailer park, stating they had until January 2028 to leave.
The park is on Moneta Avenue, about 10 km west of the Dome Mine, which Discovery Silver’s CEO Tony Makuch intends to bring back into operation.
The Dome Mine ceased its underground operations in 2017, but Makuch says it has the potential to produce a million ounces of gold for half a century.
Residents have been leasing the land from Discovery Silver/Dome Mine. Ltd. by making payments through the Cochrane District Services Board. The mine intends to use the Fairway Village land for offices, equipment storage and other infrastructure needs.
Ahsan, who is based in Toronto, said one resident of Fairway Village has already purchased a resale trailer at Sheridan, and fourteen others have contacted him.
Ahsan says he will have ten to twelve spots available this year, which he will confirm in the spring. He said some of the lots may need grading, and water and sewer hook ups.
True North Estates also owns a 36-acre parcel of land zoned for modular homes just south of the Sheridan Mobile Home Park. Ahsan says the site could accommodate approximately 80 trailers, more than the 74 trailers currently located at Fairway Village.
“We were planning to build new homes there, but those plans have now changed,” said Ahsan.
He has been working with the city for some time to get paperwork completed to extend the Sheridan Mobile Home Park, but since the announcement of the Fairway Village evictions, it has become a top priority for the city to expedite the approval process.
“I want to go out of my way to say city planning is working with us to expedite the site plan application, which we will be submitting in the next month or so,” he said.
“Discovery Silver has been working hard at this. They did their research before making the announcement,” said Ahsan.
Ahsan said there are no unusual concerns with the 36-acre lot, but it does have to go through a regular site plan application process, which would look at things such as how to build the appropriate culverts to cross Pine Street, and so forth.
A real estate agent who has taken an interest in the future of Fairway Village residents says some are considering renting and others, of leaving. One person he has spoken to is moving in with family in Southern Ontario.
“I empathize with them fully,” said Michel Blais with Realtor.ca
“They are suffering, and there’s confusion and a sense of panic. I went there yesterday to let them know maybe there are options for them.”
He said people were relieved he and his partner Brooklyn Hack introduced themselves.
“There’s anger, frustration, panic and sadness,” added Blais.
Blais and Hack canvassed about a dozen residents by phone or in person and is in contact with True North Estates, which he confirmed could accommodate all of the residents if they are given the go-ahead to expand.
He says residents must now wait for their properties to be appraised next week to know where they stand financially.
At that point, they can determine if they could afford to move to the new lots at Sheridan Mobile Home Park.
Blais says he expects those who do will face an increase of about $100 in their base lot fees per month, since True North Estates offers more services.
In their eviction letter, Discovery Silver provided the names of three other trailer parks in addition to True North Estates’ Sheridan Mobile Home Park. It is not clear of those parks have any vacancy.
There is currently no vacancy at the Northglen Community Mobile Home Park at 108 Grasslands Rd.
Lachlan MacLean is the chief operating officer of Compass Communities, the Mississauga-based company which runs Northglen. He told The Daily Press he did not expect there to be any vacancies this spring, saying his tenancies in Timmins are stable.
The phone number for Carr’s Trailer Park was out of service.
Finally ,the property manager for Notre Dame Trailer Park, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed Friday they do not have any vacancy and don’t expect to in the foreseeable future. The property manager reported residents of Fairway Village have been calling her in tears.
The City of Timmins did not respond by deadline when asked to confirm their planning department is working with Ahsan to expedite the plan application process for the 36-acre lot, or what their message was to the residents of Fairway Village.