2 Oct 2026Autumn
Mehregan مهرگان
The autumn festival of friendship and the harvest. An evening of music, a shared table, and thanks for the year's work.
Coquitlam · venue announced six weeks ahead
Nowruz 1406 · counting down
A cultural centre for the Iranian community. Doors open.
Norooz Foundation is a Canadian nonprofit serving the Iranian-Canadian and Iranian-American community: Farsi classes for children, help for newcomers and refugees, relief for families in need, a voice for human rights — and a calendar full of celebrations. Based in Coquitlam and Langley, B.C.
Our mission · مأموریت ما
Six ways we benefit the community.
Our mission is to benefit the local community — with a focus on the Iranian-Canadian and Iranian-American community — through six purposes written into our founding documents.
دستگیری
Providing relief to the poor
Food baskets at Nowruz and Yalda, emergency help with rent, utilities and medication, and quiet support for families who would never ask.
Relief & social welfare آموزشAdvancing education
Farsi classes so children can talk with their grandparents, homework help, adult conversation circles, and workshops on life in Canada.
Farsi classes for children رفاهImproving social welfare
Newcomer and refugee support: résumés, job search, credentials, settlement navigation and mentorship — free, confidential, in Persian.
Newcomer & refugee support فرهنگPreserving culture
The festivals, the poetry, the music, the food — and an oral history project recording our elders before their stories are lost.
Cultural programs حقوق بشرPromoting human rights
Education, public awareness and support for advocates — nonpartisan, nonviolent and grounded in facts.
Human rights جامعهٔ مدنیEstablishing civil society
Civic education, workshops on starting a nonprofit, and the habit of showing up: a community that governs itself well.
Civil societyThe Haft-Sin · هفتسین
Seven wishes on one table.
Every Nowruz table holds seven things whose names begin with the letter sin. Each one is a hope for the year ahead. Choose one to read what it stands for.
Sabzehسبزه
A cultural centre · مرکز فرهنگی
Not just a calendar. A place to belong.
A festival is a good reason to gather, but a community needs more than four nights a year. So Norooz Foundation runs as a cultural centre: on Saturday mornings there are children reciting the Persian alphabet; on weekday evenings a newcomer is practising for a job interview with a volunteer; on Sunday afternoons the seniors' circle has the kettle on.
Most of our services are delivered online, via Zoom or Microsoft Teams — so a family in Kelowna or Seattle can join the same class as one in Coquitlam. Festivals and in-person gatherings happen in Coquitlam and Langley, British Columbia, at partner community centres, libraries and schools.
Coming up.
The Persian calendar keeps us busy. These are the next three gatherings on it.
20 Dec 2026Winter
Shab-e Yalda شب یلدا
The longest night of the year. Pomegranates, watermelon, and Hafez read aloud until midnight has safely passed.
Langley · venue announced six weeks ahead
20 Mar 2027Spring
Nowruz 1406 نوروز ۱۴۰۶
The new year begins at the exact moment of the equinox. We count it down together, then celebrate for thirteen days.
Coquitlam · venue announced six weeks ahead
بنیآدم اعضای یک پیکرند
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند
“Human beings are members of a whole, in creation of one essence and soul.”Saadi Shirazi, 13th century — the verse woven into the Hall of Nations at the UN