The Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple is a registered charity. Our organization takes its name from one of Canada’s most recognizable symbols of working-class and immigration history in Canada. Not only was the Finnish Labour Temple the location of the founding meeting of the Social Democratic Party of Canada, which was the foundation for what is now the New Democratic Party, it also served as an Industrial Workers of the World headquarters and has a long history of connection to the working-class. In 2015 the Finnish Labour Temple was designated a National Historic Site in recognition of the commitment of Finns to collective action and their influential role in Canada’s labour movement in the first half of the 20th century.

The mandate of the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple is to advance education by providing publicly available scholarships, bursaries, and other forms of financial assistance to university students; to advance the public’s appreciation of the arts by producing high quality educational media and performing arts such as reports, books, articles, plays, films, and music, and making these available to the public; and to advance education by conducting research projects regarding the historical and cultural legacy of immigration to Canada and disseminating the results of the research to the public.

The Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple accepts charitable donations to support the mandate outlined above. If you wish to donate, please click here.