Become a Member at
the Peretz Centre
Members are the foundation of our community. Join our mission to provide students of all ages with a progressive and modern Jewish cultural education, including programs, classes, lectures, holiday events, and more.
Renew your Peretz Centre membership annually (sliding scale) to maintain good standing and access membership benefits.
Peretz Centre Membership & Benefits
The Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture is a registered charity mandated to provide students of all ages with a progressive and modern Jewish cultural education. Our programs, events, and community initiatives are supported by our members, who contribute annual membership dues, volunteer, participate in our activities, and take an active role in Society governance.
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Support Accessible Community Spaces. Ever since the Peretz Institute was established in 1945, our members have invested in building a home that can sustain our work. From the theatre to the kitchen to our treasured Kirman Library (the largest Yiddish library in Western Canada!), our current building has provided spaces and facilities for classes, community events, and more since its doors opened in 2001. With the benefit of owning the property at 6184 Ash Street, we are able to fund the majority of our operations through facility rentals, which we offer to other community organizations at reasonable rates.
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Enable Revenue-Neutral Programming. We strive to pass along the benefits of building ownership to our members and the community at large by offering accessible, quality, and revenue-neutral educational opportunities, and provide any additional revenue to the local teachers, artists, scholars, and other cultural professionals who participate in our educational work. As a progressive institution, we also aim to provide fair compensation to the staff and contractors who take care of our building and facilitate our operations.
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By maintaining active membership at the Peretz Centre, you can take part in the continuous process of building our community and strengthening the roots that allow us to grow.
Voting Privileges
Members steer the direction of the Peretz Centre by voting in General Meetings (like the AGM and board elections) and Special General Meetings.
Members-Only Forums
Our members-only forums, photo galleries, and events are community spaces for sharing memories and making connections. They are not annonymous!
Committee Participation
Committees help direct the activities of the Peretz Centre. Members can join committees for programming, fundraising, building management, governance, and finance.
Kirman Library Access
Anyone can visit the Kirman Library, Canada's largest collection of Yiddish books (and more treasures), but only members can check out eligible items from the catalogue (excluding rare manuscripts, etc.).
Peretz Centre Membership Fees
Peretz Centre annual membership fees are now on a sliding scale to address financial access barriers. The suggested fee per person is $180, with additional suggested fees listed in the registration form for seniors, students, and self-identified low income individuals and families. If you are applying for or renewing membership for a family or household, please make adjustments to the per person fee as needed.
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Membership fees are due annually and ensure membership in good standing (able to vote) for the Peretz fiscal year (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31).
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​Anyone is welcome to submit a membership application. Our doors are open to people of diverse cultures, beliefs, genders and sexual orientation.
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If you have been a Peretz member in the past, please complete our new registration form and create an account to access full membership benefits.​​