Thessalon among small northern Ontario towns hoping to land TV show Home Town Takeover Canada

Alex Flood · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 12 hours ago

Officials successful Thessalon accidental their municipality is successful request of a makeover — and they’re hoping to person immoderate assistance successful an unconventional way. 

The municipality of 1,200, astir an hr eastbound of Sault Ste. Marie, precocious submitted its exertion to beryllium connected Home Town Takeover Canada, a caller bid premiering connected HGTV adjacent year.  

Inspired by the U.S. franchise, the amusement volition diagnostic a revitalization task successful a Canadian tiny town, promising to exposure its challenges and supply it with “the boost it needs to get backmost connected its feet.”

People successful Thessalon are hopeful the amusement could assistance the municipality physique oregon found a caller gathering space, specified arsenic a farmers marketplace oregon an outdoor rink.

Towns with a colonisation of 20,000 oregon less were eligible to use anterior to this week’s deadline. 

Several different section communities joined Thessalon successful throwing their chapeau in, including Blind River, Cobalt, Temagami and Mattawa.

Hopeful applicants sent successful photos and videos of the areas successful their communities that needed attraction — including parks, streets and societal spaces. 

Thessalon Mayor Jordan Bird told CBC he’s received concerns from locals astir the information of respective decrepit buildings on Main Street. 

Bird said he's hopeful the tv amusement could beautify immoderate eyesores and reconstruct practice spaces portion “breathing caller beingness into the downtown.”

“We’ve had rather a fewer fires implicit the years, truthful there’s a batch of unfastened abstraction downtown,” helium said. “We privation to effort to assistance the existing businesses thrive, but astatine the aforesaid time, possibly make immoderate caller spaces for entrepreneurs to travel into town.”

One of respective buildings successful Thessalon that has seen amended days, according to the mayor. (Alex Flood/CBC)

Bird said similar galore municipalities successful the north, Thessalon lacks backing for its infrastructure — particularly erstwhile it comes to fixing up buildings oregon filling unfastened spaces. 

“We’ve had to absorption connected our existing infrastructure — roads, water, sewers,” helium explained. 

Few buildings successful municipality person faced much issues than the aging Thessalon Memorial Community Arena.

Having erstwhile endured a occurrence of its own, the rink mislaid its dehumidifier astatine the opening of the year, meaning it wasn't disposable for younker hockey and different sports for 2 weeks.

Hoping to debar aboriginal setbacks, residents accidental Thessalon's crystal rink could usage immoderate attention. (Alex Flood/CBC)

Mary Jane Thompson, a retired schoolteacher and lifelong Thessalon resident, said the municipality is successful hopeless request of a caller societal abstraction that’s accessible to everyone. 

“[We need] a ample capable hallway to person receptions and dinners,” she said. “We bash not person the Odd Fellows Hall immoderate longer, it’s been taken implicit by the auctioneer. That would beryllium a precise important summation if we had a assemblage gathering that would work galore antithetic activities.”

Recognizing that applying for a amusement similar Home Town Takeover admits the municipality has its just stock of problems, Bird isn’t ashamed — particularly if Thessalon gets the attraction it’s craving. 

“We’re OK to exposure those larger flaws that whitethorn beryllium there,” helium said. “If we person to bring successful a tv amusement to bash it, that’s what we’ll do.”