The Oiva W. Saarinen fonds attests to his research interests on the Finnish Communities in North America, as well as on the urban development of single-industry towns in Northern Ontario, and also to his documentary productions. It also informs us about Saarinen's involvement in different associations and organizations within the Finnish community of Canada. The fonds contains notes, articles, research papers and publications he produced in the course of his research activities, and documentation. Further to documenting the immigration of Finns to North America and Northern Ontario, and their role in the development of cities such as Thunder Bay and Sudbury, the studies, reports and photocopies of archival materials also cover the early settlements and economic activities of the different regions. For instance, in the sub-series “History of Finnish Settlement on Lake Panache,” lumbering, as well as environment aspects of the presence of the dam, land claims by Indigenous and their presence, are also addressed and documented. In the sub-series “Finns in the Sudbury Area,” the annotated maps, the assessment rolls, and lists from Vernon's, or reports on mining in the region, inform us about the Finnish community and their activities in the region. The short stories and testimonies, and recollections of members of the Finnish community in Sudbury, also provide significant primary sources of information.
The papers and publications are divided in 3 Series: I: Oiva Saarinen publications; Series II: Books and other materials and Series III: Books and other materials on Economic and Urban Development. Series II is divided into 9 Sub-series:
Sub-series A: Books and other materials on Finland;
Sub-series B: Finnish-American Literature;
Sub-series C: Vapaus, Foc, and other left-wing Literature;
Sub-series D: History of Finnish Settlement on Lake Panache and materials related to Indian Land Claims;
Sub-series E: Finnish Religious Groupings in North America;
Sub-series F: North American Finnish Literature and Writers;
Sub-series G: Finns in Canada and in the United States (excluding Ontario);
Sub-series H: Finnish-Canadian Ontario Material (excluding Sudbury);
Sub-series I: Finns in the Sudbury Area.