SMALL ARMS LIMITED
On labour, memory, and wartime production in Mississauga
This project documents the experiences of former workers from
Small Arms Limited, now in their eighties and nineties.
During the Second World War, the factory operated at a national scale, producing weapons for the war effort. Much of its workforce were women, many of whom had travelled from across Canada to take on industrial roles for the first time.
These interviews return to that period decades later, tracing what remains through memory.
The work began after attending a community gathering at the Small Arms Inspection Building, where the future of the site was being discussed.
Recognizing the scale of that workforce revealed a history that had not been widely documented.
I conducted a series of long-form interviews with six former workers, documenting labour, daily life, and the social environment within the plant.
Each conversation unfolded differently. Some moved quickly through events. Others returned to specific moments, describing the work, the machinery, and the people around them.
For some, the work began early.
One man described starting at thirteen or fourteen, too young to be hired, so he lied about his age to get in.
In other cases, the focus shifted to moments they had witnessed themselves, incidents that stayed with them over time.
What remains in these conversations is not only what was made, but how it was experienced.
I wrote and directed the films, shaping each one through structure and editing to preserve the clarity of each account.
Post-production and sound were developed in collaboration with an editor, with the focus remaining on the voices of the workers.
Today, Building 12, the Small Arms Inspection Building, remains.
Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, it now serves as a space for arts and cultural programming.
The structure is still there.
The work is not.
What remains are the people who still remember it.
I’m drawn to work that documents lived experience as it is remembered, and to shaping narratives that preserve voices before they are lost.
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