It is the successor of the Russian Farmer-Worker Clubs which were closed by the government at the beginning of World War II as a suspected subversive organization due to its links with the Communist Party of Canada.
[1] At its height, the FRK had 15 branches across Canada and published a newspaper, Vestnik.
In 1944, the organization had around 4,000 members but, as a result of the Cold War and the defection of Igor Gouzenko, that number fell to 2,709 by 1949.
[1] While Vestnik ceased publication in 1994, the FRK still has community centres in Toronto and Vancouver.
[1] The FRK was associated with the Labor-Progressive Party and was affiliated with the Canadian Peace Congress.