Employees and Staff at Niagara Canning Co.

Black and white photograph of the staff of the Niagara Canning Company Limited. The building was located on Lakeshore road and is now (2017) Strewn Winery.

Each year the Mennonite community found themselves with a surplus of fruit that was ripening quickly. Peter Wall solved this issue with the creation of the "Niagara Canning Company Limited" in 1940. Shareholders in the company had the privilege of being the first in line to deliver fruit but also saw return on the profits. During the canning season women from the community, and even some travelling in from Mennonite communities out West, would work long hours in the cannery. A boarding house, which accommodated 60 people, was located nearby where the women would be picked up and dropped off daily. By 1945 wages were 37 cents/hour for girls under the age of 16s and 42 cents for those over 16. Due to several factors of flooded markets and competition, the cannery later closed in 1948