Company Description

The idea for a local Finnish rest home came from Lauri Kovalainen (Windsor), who provided personal care to a stranger and later to his wife. At that time care options were few and far between
thus the onus to care for the elderly rested mostly on one's family. Lauri had a vision for a different way of providing care to seniors, one that was steeped in the traditions of the Finnish culture.

People have a misconception that you have to be Finnish to reside or work at OFRA. We cater to seniors of all backgrounds and nationalities
as a matter of fact, only 25% of our residents are of Finnish descent!

Lauri’s original plan was to build a nursing home, and it was in this spirit that he networked holding province-wide town hall meetings to build support. It was through his contacts in Sault Ste. Marie that the idea took hold, and on September 1, 1971, the founding meeting of the organization, later to be called the Ontario Finnish Resthome Association, took place.
By January 1973, OFRA purchased 27 acres of land nestled next to the Fort Creek Conservation area at the corner of Second Line E. and North St. The membership had nearly 800 members at this point, and people were mortgaging their homes to help make it happen.

Suomi Eesti Maja, an affordable-living senior’s housing project, opened in September 1976
and building on that success, OFRA went on to build an assisted-living facility, Kotitalo, for more complex care needs in June 1982.