Timmins Ram Rodeo a boon to local tourism
First rodeo in 33 years draws 600 out of town guests
Many may not know that Ontario has its own rodeo, a two-day event similar to the Calgary Stampede. Performances feature top cowboys and cowgirls competing in pole bending, saddlebronc, rescue race, barrel racing, bareback, bull riding, and performances by the Canadian Cowgirls.
The rodeo tours 15 Ontario communities, where equestrians compete for over $300,000 in prize money and the right to enter a championship in Ancaster.
While there is a core group of performers that compete at each rodeo, a handful of local equestrians also join in, which is what happened in Timmins.
The event has been run by the Ross Millar Group for 29 years, an entertainment company based in Orangeville. It gets its name from its main sponsor, Dodge Ram Trucks.
Co-organizer Tom Haner said equestrians—such as bull riders, cowboys and cowgirls— arrived as early as Monday to set up for the weekend’s entertainment, adding to the tourism impact.
“Not only was it a fantastic, first-year sold-out show, but it brought in people from all over, which includes northern and southern Ontario. It’s a real win for us,” Haner, co-owner of Up North Ranch, told The Daily Press on Tuesday.
Haner said next year he and co-organizer Dan Brunnette plan to partner with local hoteliers so guests can book rooms when they book their tickets.
“We will continue to host these events, year after year,” said Haner.
“People were so grateful that we had put on this event, and we’re grateful for everyone who attended and all the help we received.”
Haner said people don’t realize Timmins is a hub for the equestrian community in the northeast.
As Haner tells it, bringing in equestrians from Kapuskasing, Hearst, Cochrane, New Liskeard, and Kirkland Lake to compete at the rodeo supports the bull riders from southern Ontario to grow their audience.
“We’re really generating a fantastic event to draw people into northern Ontario, spend the week and weekend engaging with the community, spending money, and getting to know how close we are as a northern Ontario community,” Haner said.
The bigger picture for Haner is that the mining community of Timmins is a major economic driver in northern Ontario, given its position as a source of third-party contracting.
Third-party contracting happens when vendors hired by an organization hire an outside person to deliver their end of the agreement.
“In southern Ontario people think maybe Sudbury is as north as it goes for a northern hub, but honestly, Timmins has a very strong circle around it,” Haner said.
How the Ram Rodeo came to Timmins
It took Haner and Dan Brunette a year-and-a-half to bring the first-ever Ram Rodeo to Timmins.
It was not the first rodeo in Timmins, however. In 1993, Richard Lafleur hosted a rodeo on what is now the grounds of the Cedar Meadows Resort and Spa.
“I’ve heard so many fantastic stories about it, and we really wanted to re-create that and carry that torch. It was really fun to do so,” Haner said.
Brunette is a Cochrane town councillor.
“His family and my family are both in the equestrian world. That’s the reason why we want to support this event,” Haner told The Daily Press onsite at the newly named “Ram Rodeo Park” June 13.
Brunette contacted the rodeo in December of 2025 and the pair set about putting together a committee and partnering with the Timmins Rotary Ribfest. The Lions Club provided the volunteers.
Rodeo saved the Ribfest
Noella Rinaldo, director of community economic development at the Timmins economic development department, said the rodeo saved the Ribfest, organized by the Timmins Porcupine Rotary Club.
She said the Ribfest may not have happened this year, if it weren’t for its partnership with the rodeo. It wound up raising a lot for the local service club.
She described the rodeo as a unique event she hopes to see grow in future years.
The event was awarded a $60,000 municipal accommodations tourism (MATT) tax grant. The tax is imposed on visitors staying in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, or short-term rentals. Half gets re-invested in tourism, with recipients chosen by a committee within the Timmins economic development department, and the other half is used by the city at council’s discretion.
1993 Timmins rodeo was on the grounds of spa hotel
It was the first rodeo in Timmins since 1993 when Richard Lafleur hosted it on the grounds of what is now the Cedar Meadows Hotel and Spa.
“We had a couple of hundred acres, and we decided we were going to develop it,” said Lafleur in the rodeo’s VIP tent on June 13, where he was enjoying the show with his grandson, Easton.
“We got into the event, cause we had a seating capacity for 1,100 people. It was hard to get off the ground because I never used any volunteers. We used to pay everybody to do the work. It was hard.”
Lafleur has been an outspoken critic of how the MATT grant is awarded to existing events, but was happy the rodeo was chosen, because it’s a new event in town.
For her part, Rinaldo has explained that many local longstanding trade shows and sports tournaments consistently fill hotels, which is taken into account when deciding which events qualify for the grant.
Rodeo organizer looks ahead to next year
In addition to a partnership with hoteliers, Haner said his committee would like to double the capacity of Ram Rodeo Park at Highway 655 and Ross Avenue East.
“There are some unique learnings that we brought back with our committee, things like bleachers that are twice as high so everyone gets a vantage point to see the rodeo, a bit more development in the show itself, a few more food vendors and a larger tent in case it rains again like it did on one of our nights,” Haner said, adding the goal is to give back to the community and the equestrian world.
“We want to grow and get better.”
By Nicole Stoffman, Timmins – The Daily Press
