Bonyad e Parya

For many decades, Iranians have been immigrating to Canada, and particularly calling the Greater Toronto Area, their home. Due to this, there has been a great need for a centre dedicated to this unique ethno-cultural community. It has been the goal of many dedicated Iranian-Canadians to establish a safe, comfortable and welcoming space for the fragmented Iranian diaspora to come together to both celebrate their heritage and embrace Canadian culture.

Parya Trillium Foundation has borne out of the frustration many Iranian-Canadians have felt at seeing their aging parents become more and more isolated and withdrawn due to the lack of Persian-language activities and services available to them. In 2001, the founder of Parya, Mr. Ahmad Reza Tabrizi, along with co-founders Mrs. Zarrin Mohyeddin and Dr. Fahimeh Mortazavi decided to work together in order to establish a facility to provide culturally appropriate, Persian-language services to the Iranian-Canadian community, particularly seniors. To build the ideal environment, they researched many multicultural community organizations in order to get an idea of the kinds of programs and services being provided in the GTA. Their vision has received much recognition and praise and support within the Iranian community and in the GTA.

In 2002, after much consultation with members of the Iranian-Canadian community, similar ethno-cultural community groups, and with the federal government, Parya officially became an incorporated and registered non-profit organization. Shortly afterwards, a board of directors was selected and the work of Parya began in earnest. Since then, many people have donated both their time and money to ensure that we continue to offer quality, culturally appropriate services to Iranian-Canadians in the GTA.

Today, Parya Trillium Foundation is a dynamic and vibrant community centre with a large, multi-purpose facility where we are currently running a number of programs and services for the Farsi-speaking and also community at large. Our dedicated staff and enthusiastic volunteers are striving to ensure that we meet needs of the community and fulfil the visions of our founders. At Parya, we are committed to empowering the Iranian-Canadian community and to ensuring that all Iranians in the GTA feel they have somewhere to go to access excellent services, to interact with their peers and ultimately become good and active citizens in their new home.