A fresh interview project : There was also political motivation to come to Canada in the 50s and 60s.

Many of the 1950-60s emigrants
retained their Finnish identity in Canada

The Finns who left for Canada as immigrants in the 50s and 60s can be categorized into “adventurers”, “responsibility bearers” and “escapers”. These are the conclusions drawn by a Finnish polytechnic researcher in her thesis for the Seinäjoen Ammattikorkeakoulu. Ms Hanna Suorsa had done an internship at the Finnish-Canadian Seniors’ Centre in Toronto in 2008 and returned in 2009 for interviews.
A summary of her thesis has been published in the year-end edition of the Iltatuulen Viesti, a publication of the Toronto Finnish-Canadian Seniors Centre, known in Finnish as Suomi-Koti.

Ms Suorsa notes the profile of those leaving Finland for Canada in the 50s and 60s has not been given much attention in terms of research She looked into the reasons “pushing” the person out of Finland and reasons that made Canada attractive.
The “adventurers” went to Canada on the basis for getting new experiences and adventures, and to learn the language. Fairly often their intention was to remain in Canada for some time only and then return to Finland.
The "escapers " had strong reasons for leaving Finland, such as political fears and economic difficulties.
The “responsibility bearers” thought they would give - through moving to Canada - a better future for their children. They saw the decision to move to Canada as a permanent change in life.
There were many overlapping factors in the motivation of those belonging either to the “responsibility bearers” or “escapers”.

Ms Suorsa describes the culture shock the immigrants experienced when arriving in Canada. One of the quotes was “as if landing on another planet”.
The mainstream culture of the new country did not get much admiration from the newcomers and they often retained their Finnish identity and maintained allegiance to “the Finnish scene” in Canada throughout their lives. The existence of the Finnish community had then hampered efforts to learn English. Ms Suorsa notes many immigrants never gathered a full command of English.
In the 50s the emigrants often left Finland as a whole family. During their process of adapting themselves to life in Canada they often pondered upon whether to stay here or to return to Finland. The decision to remain here has strengthened over the years, the report notes. A return to contemporary Finland would have been again a culture shock comparable to the entry into Canada.
Ms Suorsa notes the inhabitants of the Suomi-Koti say they are “Finnish”, but have also adopted some Canadian behavior. They described their identity as “Finnish Canadian”. They recognized both good and bad features in both cultures. They saw the open and freewheeling North American life style as a positive matter, but also described the attitudes of the Canadians as “superficial” and “indifferent”. JN