In 1943 a group of Polish academics who found refuge in Montreal, together with a number of their Canadian colleagues and with the enthusiastic support of the eminent Polish historian Professor Oskar Halecki, then at Columbia University, founded the Canadian Section of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. Subsequently the Canadian Section became the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in Canada with branches in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. The founders saw two major goals for the new institution: to preserve cultural and intellectual values threatened in Poland by the war and its geopolitical consequences and to acquaint Canadians with Polish history and culture. With the defeat of the communist regime, Poland regained its independence. Its culture is thriving and is no longer endangered from outside. The Institute is thus able to focus its activities on its tasks of promoting Polish culture in Canada, reinforcing Polish- Canadian friendship and serving the cultural needs of the Polish- Canadian communities.