Joseph-Armand was born in 1907 in Valcourt, Quebec. As a child he loved to take things apart and put them back together. He was very good at building mechanical things. He built his first moving toy at the age of 13. His father had to hide the family car from him because he liked to take apart and re-build the motor. To keep him away from the family car, his father gave him an old car that didn't work. Joseph-Armand fixed the motor, and put it on old sleds and created the first snow vehicle.