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During the 20th century, it is estimated that over one million Finns emigrated from Finland. Emigrants made the journey across the Atlantic by ship. The largest immigration waves in the early 20th century were to North America, covering around 370,000 immigrants. The popular areas for tough Finns were the northern areas around Lake Superior. Popular states to start a new life were, for instance, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin in the USA. Many Finns also immigrated across the border to Canada, the land of forests, maple syrup, and beavers. Because of the similarities in climate and natural conditions, Canada was often an excellent choice to establish a homestead for Finns. People were used to coniferous forests, cold winters and similar ways of hunting.

Early 20th-century life in Finland was burdensome and poverty-stricken. Immigration was an opportunity to search for a better life overseas. However, Finns were used to hard, manual labour such as forest work and construction work. Many of the Finnish immigrants made their living constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway. Other occupations were lumberjack and fur trapper. The Finns quickly gained a reputation for being highly reliable workers, making it easy for them to find work and earn a living in a foreign country.

In Canada, there is one particular city where most of the Finns settled down. Thunder Bay is a small city in the province of Ottawa, right on the shore of Lake Superior. It is still well known for its Finnish heritage and unique Finnish features. Thunder Bay had the largest population of Finnish people outside of Finland, with an image of “Little Finland”. This day about 15,000 still claims Finnish descent.

Walking around the downtown area, you can spot Finnish words like Sisu, Hoito, and Sauna. There are many Finnish restaurants and a Finnish bookshop in the town, where you can also buy salty liquorice. The most famous Finnish restaurant was Hoito, established in 1918. It was one of the most recognizable and historic landmarks in Thunder Bay. Located in the same building was a traditional Finnish labour hall, the Finlandia club, a gathering place for Finnish people and people with Finnish origins. It was common to get together in the Finlandia club for an event of Finnish music and dance, enjoying a fantastic Finnish meal afterwards downstairs at restaurant Hoito. Hoito served traditional Finnish homestyle dishes such as moose stew and Karelian pastries, and the popular authentic thin Finnish pancakes served with whipped cream and berry jam. Unfortunately, Finlandia hall and Hoito burned down in 2021.

In addition to Finnish restaurants, you can find many public saunas in Thunder Bay. Furthermore, there are still Finnish-speaking churches in the city. For instance, Hilldale church still uses both English and Finnish during their Sunday services. In the area, you can still hear the Finnish language and Finglish, a mixed version of Finnish and English. Many Finnish descendants still have Finnishnames. They carry their Finnish
identity and heritage with pride and honour, wearing Finnish-style clothes and remembering their ancestors from Finland.

1 Milloin Suomesta muutti paljon ihmisiä? Minne Suomesta muutettiin?
2 Miksi suomalaiset muuttivat Kanadaan? (Mainitse yksi asia.)
3 Miksi ihmiset muuttivat Suomesta?
4 Miten suomalaiset ansaitsivat elannon Kanadassa? (Mainitse kaksi asiaa.)
5 Mitä suomalaisten työskentelymoraalista kerrotaan?
6 Mitä kuuluisasta ravintola Hoidosta ja Finlandia-klubista kerrotaan? (Mainitse kaksi asiaa.)
7 Miten suomalainen kulttuuri näkyy edelleen Thunder Bayssa?