The Rakoczi Association was founded in 1953, as an organization dedicated to maintaining Hungarian cultural traditions in Canada and helping the Hungarian-Canadian community establish roots in their new adopted homeland. The first President and founder was Miklos Korponay who was dedicated to build the organization into a strong representative and charitable organization for the Hungarian community in Canada.

In 1976, after an official name change, the Association became the Rakoczi Foundation. The Foundation has since become a pillar of the community in its commitment to students through scholarship programs and grants to organize conferences at the University of Toronto and other Canadian educational institutions.

The Rakoczi Foundation has published books on Hungarian culture, history and biographies of well-known Canadians of Hungarian origin.

The Foundation provides assistance to maintain Hungarian cultural and language programs on radio and television. In humanitarian relief, the Foundation’s work reaches out to many of those in need: from flood relief in Manitoba, to ice storm assistance in Quebec, to victims of natural disasters in East-Central Europe. Over 1000 Canadians across the country support the work of the Foundation.

The Students Without Boundaries was organized in 1994 under the auspices of the Rakoczi Foundation, bringing together students who live as Hungarian minorities in four different countries in east-central Europe. Each year since then one hundred forty students spend seventeen days together in July: travelling through Hungary, learning about their neighbors, and listening to lectures in language, history, literature, folklore, architecture and building grassroots democratic institutions. Through the Students Without Boundaries program, these students realize that they have an important part in rebuilding east-central Europe. The purpose of the program is to build bridges of understanding and hope.

As Canadians, we feel we are able to demonstrate how multiculturalism and the acceptance of diversity work in this country and feel fortunate to be able to deliver this message to minority groups in other countries struggling with the emergence of democracy in their homelands. Over 1700 students have already taken part in this program, thanks to the generous support of our donors, mainly in Canada and the United States, but from many other countries as well. 

Once students complete the program, they receive a certificate stating that they now belong to the Rakoczi Family Circle. This was organized primarily to assist in the maintaining of friendships, and to provide financial assistance to those students who want to further their studies at university but are unable to do so because of financial limitations.

The principal fund-raising event of the Foundation is the Rakoczi Carnival Ball, held each year in January.