The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) was a Finnish-Canadian cultural and community centre ("Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The Finnish Labour Temple served as one of the main locations of the Bay Street Film Festival.
[4] During the First World War, the foreign-language affiliates of the Social Democratic Party were declared illegal by the Canadian Government.
In addition, the newly arriving immigrants were either apolitical or conservative, associating any left-wing activity with the brutality of Stalinism and the Finnish Winter War.
[6] This was despite the fact that the Finnish Wobblies in Canada and the U.S. had actively supported and aided Finland in the war against the Soviet Union and denounced Bolshevism, from a libertarian socialist perspective, since the Kronstadt uprising.
[8] In 2015 a ceremony was held to install a plaque marking the Finnish Labour Temple as a National Historic site.
This, along with more traditional dances, celebrations, and events like St. Urho's Day made the Finnish Labour Temple a distinctive tourist attraction in Thunder Bay.
The Finnish Labour Temple was home to The Finlandia Association Of Thunder Bay, previous owner of the building, and other local companies such as The Walleye Magazine and Seek Tours.
However, during the early evening hours of December 22, 2021, amid on-going renovations, smoke could be seen billowing from the rooftop, and The Hoito restaurant suffered extensive damage when a massive fire burned through the Finnish Labour Temple building above.
[13] On March 3, 2022 it was announced that the time capsule hidden in the foundation during construction in 1909 was recovered and would be opened at a special ceremony at a later date.