Enthusiasm master key to longevity ‘If you don’t enjoy the job you’re doing, it makes it awful hard’: Kildonan Lock Service nears 55 years in business Made in Manitoba
By: Aaron Epp Posted: 6:09 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 Last Modified: 8:04 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 Updates

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (554 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Unless you’re looking for it, Kildonan Lock Service can be hard to locate.

The full-service locksmith shop in the Elmwood neighbourhood is in what used to be a grocery store, surrounded by residential properties at the corner of Union Avenue West and Roch Street.

Most of the Winnipeg company’s work is done away from the shop, so having a prominent presence on a busy street doesn’t make sense, says Trevor Dawson, general manager. Plus, having a modest storefront keeps costs down and allows the shop to serve clients at affordable prices.

“We’re in an awkward location, but once you find us, you’ll always remember where we are,” says Dawson, 42.

The location isn’t the only thing that’s memorable about Kildonan Lock. There’s also Ron Dawson, Trevor’s father, who started the business. At 81, he still shows up for work at least four days a week.

While Trevor handles the shop’s day-to-day operations and manages its nine employees, Ron sits in a back room and tinkers, repairing locks and working on whatever projects capture his interest.

“It keeps my mind going,” Ron says. “In the last five years, my mind is slowing down. But I find if I work here, putting stuff together, then I’m brightened up again and I can think a bit.”

Kildonan Lock Service Ltd. has been “unlocking excellence, securing peace of mind,” as its slogan advertises, since 1970. The shop offers residential, commercial and automotive services for clients ranging from everyday Winnipeggers who are locked out of their house or vehicle to major corporations in a variety of industries.

Alongside Noble Locksmith on Notre Dame Avenue, which marked its 115th anniversary last year, Kildonan Lock is one of the city’s longest-running and most venerated locksmith shops.

“We’ve definitely never been known as big and fancy in any kind of way,” Trevor says. “We’re just good-hearted guys that love what we do.”

“We try to treat everybody in every situation equally,” he adds. “Residential work to us is just as important as commercial. It’s helping people out. It’s keeping people safe.”

Trained as a sheet metal worker, Ron was working at Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1960s when a friend gave him some books about locksmithing. The topic fascinated him and he started doing small jobs for friends and co-workers.

Eventually, in his hours away from CP Rail, Ron was on call as a self-employed locksmith. That led to him quitting his job to focus on his business full-time. Initially, he operated out of Kildonan Hardware on Henderson Highway, which a family member owned — hence the Kildonan Lock name.

By 1978, he had bought 334 Union Ave. W, keeping a small shop in the front of the building and living in the back with his wife, Vicky. Around 1980, he started hiring employees.

Trevor joined the business full-time in 2000.

“I thought I would do maybe a year or two before going to post-secondary and I just absolutely fell in love with it,” Trevor says. “I’ve never really looked back from there. From that point, we really just started to try to add new technologies (and) new capabilities to the business.”

Locksmithing dates back at least 4,000 years — there is evidence of it happening in ancient Egypt.

The technology has changed radically in the last 25 years, never mind the last four millennia.

When Trevor joined the business, electronic access control systems were available but extremely costly and had limited applications. Today, those systems are commonplace and used even by small businesses like Kildonan Lock. The systems can record employees’ comings and goings, transferring attendance data to payroll systems to ensure accurate pay.

Locksmiths used to put a lock on a door, give the client a couple of keys and the job was done. Today, they’re potentially working with electricians to wire an entire building, then installing software and teaching clients how to use it.

Automotive services have also changed. Trevor recalls the days when cutting a car key cost $2 to $5. Today, cutting a car key usually involves a computer. It rarely costs less than $100 and can easily set a customer back $300 to $400.

“It’s a lot more in depth,” Trevor says. “There’s a lot more that you’re having to take into consideration.”

While there are training programs at places like Red Deer Polytechnic in Alberta and the Academy of Locksmithing in Mississauga, Ont., most employees at Kildonan Lock are hired without previous knowledge and trained on the job.

Senior staffers share the tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years, and the company avails itself of manufacturer-sponsored training. Staff members are versatile and ready for anything that might come their way.

“You never really know what your day is going to bring,” Trevor says. “It’s very much a business (where) every day is completely fresh or a new adventure.”

One constant is the way the day starts: Ron and Trevor arrive at 6:30 a.m. Ron’s already been up for at least two hours at that point, and the father and son drink coffee and chat. The shop opens at 7:30 a.m., in case customers need to stop by on their way to work.

Kildonan Lock Service will celebrate its 55th anniversary this year, something Ron can hardly believe.

“I never would have expected it,” he says. “I just (started) it because it was something extra to do to help pay the bills.”

He credits enjoying the work with the shop’s longevity.

“If you don’t enjoy the job you’re doing, it makes it awful hard,” he says.

For Trevor, the best part is helping people.

“That’s what a lot of us have gotten into this for and what keeps us going in this career,” he says. “Being able to help someone — being able to make their life better or safer — it’s a wonderful aspect of the business.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca