Women learning to shoot as they test the weapons they had made.
Mississauga’s Small Arms Inspection Building was a bustling weapon-producing centre in Remembrance Days of the past.
Building 12 as it was known, was designed in 1940, and used as a large munitions plant for the Canadian Army through the Second World War until 1974.
Small Arms Limited played a critical role for women, who made up about two-thirds of the factory’s 5,300 workforce.
At the end of 1941, the factory had 1,200 employees and had made 7,589 rifles, according to the City of Mississauga.
Two thirds of the 5,300 employees were women, seen here making wartime weapons.
In 1942, the factory was in full production making pistols, Mark II Sten sub-machine guns, Lee Enfield No. 4 rifles, ammunition, and a myriad of other military supplies. By 1943 the factory employed more than 5,300 workers, 65% of whom were women.
This factory was an important industry in Lakeview, and led to a rapid increase in population, as well as housing.
In 1942 Wartime Housing Limited constructed 200 prefabricated homes and a dormitory for the employees. On March 1943, a large dormitory with accommodations for 422 women opened at the northwest corner of Dixie and Lakeshore Roads.
The plant was built on 15.7-hectare parcel of land known as the Arsenal Lands on the border of Mississauga and Etobicoke.
The increase in population also led to the building of two modern schools in Lakeview, Lakeview Beach and Lakeview Park public schools.
Many of the officers, it is said, lived in the wartime homes built in Alderwood by the federal government to house staff. Then it took an army of workers several weeks to build a home, since they mostly followed the same design.
Wartime production ceased in December 1945. By the end of the Second World War, Small Arms Limited had manufactured 126,703 9mm Sten sub-machine guns; 905,731 Lee Enfield No. 4 rifles; and 1,141 No. 4 MKI Sniper Rifles, as well as pistols and machine guns and played a significant role in the allied war effort during the Second World War.
The building is now used for many types of shows, creative productions and gatherings.
After the war, the factory continued to operate, switching to the fabrication of component parts for vehicles as a division of Canadian Arsenals Limited. The factory closed in 1974. In 1981 the factory was transferred to Canada Post, and in 1992 to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
The Small Arms Inspection Building (SAIB) is located on the 15.7-hectare parcel of land known as the Arsenal Lands on the eastern border of Mississauga’s waterfront, which borders with Etobicoke.
It was deemed a heritage building in 2008.
The City of Mississauga acquired ownership of the building in 2017, and together with the Small Arms Society, transformed it into Creative Hub 1532, a collaborative space for creative activity with shows and gatherings.
This multi-purpose, historic building presents a wide range of arts programs and provides much needed rental space for cultural organizations and the community. As the only cultural hub of its kind in Mississauga, the small arms building supports meaningful audience engagement through dynamic exhibitions, events and experiences.