Finnish Exchange

Canada’s oldest student exchange is a unique three-month intercultural program between Finland and Canada.

Hart House Finnish Exchange

Overview of the Exchange

The Hart House Finnish Exchange (est. 1951)  is a unique, three-month intercultural program, in which Canadian and Finnish students have the chance to work and live abroad during one of their Summer semesters. The Exchange, which includes a two-week Orientation road trip and a ten-week work period, gives students the chance to gain international work experience and be immersed in a new culture. Typically eight students are chosen for every Exchange, and each one is placed in a job with a local employer and/or receives a fellowship with an Alumni of a past Exchange. The program is organized between the University of Toronto and three different Universities in Helsinki: Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics.

The Exchange, known in Finland as Kaledonistit, operates on a four-year cycle, in which the countries rotate sending a group of students every two years. Both sides of the Exchange are student-run, and after returning from their Exchange, the newest Alumni are in charge of hosting the next group of visiting students. This creates strong relationships between Alumni in both countries and has led to many successful partnerships over the years. 

The Exchange has two broad purposes. First, it helps students of both countries to develop an understanding and appreciation for a different culture. Second, it serves to help students forge strong connections and friendships with other Alumni, who continue to be a community of support for each other long after their Exchange. For more than 60 years, the Exchange has been remarkably successful in both of these aims.

Our History

The Hart House Finnish Exchange began in the autumn of 1950, when the choir of the Polytech Institute of Helsinki was on a tour of North America. After performing at Hart House, the members of the choir suggested that they would in turn welcome a visit from students at the University of Toronto. They spoke of their plans for “Tech Village” and stated that Canadian students could help them to build it. Subsequently they sent a formal invitation, and Hart House prepared to organize a group.

The Warden of Hart House (Nicholas Ignatieff), his wife, and eight students arrived in Helsinki in early June 1951, and were at once warmly welcomed and entertained. After two weeks of parties and trips, they asked when they were to start work. They were then housed in university residences and put to work digging the foundations for a sauna. Thus began the tradition of an “orientation” followed by a work placement, which remains the basis of the exchange.

Nicholas Ignatieff died in the spring of 1952, but his leadership in launching the exchange ensured its continuance. That same summer, the Duke of Edinburgh, when visiting the Olympic Games in Helsinki, unveiled a plaque in memory of Nicholas Ignatieff, placed on the sauna that he had helped to build.

In 1954, ten students came from Helsinki to Hart House. They spent the first two weeks meeting Canadian students and seeing some of the country, and then went to summer jobs in different places. At the end of their work placements, they met again at Hart House Farm, located just outside Toronto. There they spent ten days building a sauna on the bank of a small pond in the woods.

The pattern of reciprocal exchange has continued to the present day, and both countries have recognized the importance of these enduring bilateral links. The government of Finland has honoured Joseph McCulley (fourth Warden of Hart House) for his contributions to international understanding, and has conferred knighthoods to former Exchange Chairs Audrey Hozack and Linda MacRae.

The exchange is also supported through the interest and work of the alumni, who have found it to be such a valuable experience that they want to ensure its continuance. The exchange provides an intensely personal experience for each member, and at the same time makes an informal but important contribution to the growth of international co-operation. Both U of T and Finnish students have gained from it, and its past accomplishments augur well for its future influence on students of both countries.

Information for Applicants

Applications are Now Closed for the 2021 Exchange

Applications for the next exchange opens in September 2023.

Eligibility

All students enrolled at the University of Toronto are eligible to apply for the exchange. Knowledge of Finnish is not required—a high standard of English is spoken throughout Finland! We encourage students from professional and graduate programs and any of the undergraduate colleges to apply.

For more information email: Michelle Brownrigg or the Hart House Finnish Exchange.

Your experience in Finland

At the start of your summer, the previous Finnish Exchange group will take you on a two-week orientation tour around the country. The tour will include several cultural and recreational sites in various regions of Finland. After the tour, you will be placed in a job for approximately ten weeks. Please note that the primary purpose of the exchange is cultural, not vocational. Although every attempt will be made to find you a summer job in your academic or career field, this cannot be guaranteed. After the work placement is over (usually in early or mid-August), you are free to travel or to return to Canada.

Your return to Canada

After your eventual return to Canada, you are required to contribute some time to help to ensure the future success of the exchange. Your group will be responsible for overseeing the HHFE Committee and for managing the next four-year cycle of the Exchange. This duty is one of the vital commitments of the exchange, and you will be expected to contribute in every way possible to ensure that the Finns who visit Canada have as memorable a time as the Canadians have in Finland!

Finances

The exchange is self-funding. You are responsible for the cost of your flight and living expenses, but you should earn enough money from your job to recover most of these costs. Please note that your first paycheque will likely not arrive until early July, so you should take sufficient funds, upfront, for one month’s living expenses. The one exception to this is the initial two-week orientation tour when all costs (apart from purely personal expenditures) will be covered by your Finnish hosts. Most students in the last group found that their financial circumstances at the beginning and the end of the summer were roughly equal.

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