^{page 219 note 1} According to Canadian experience, the construction or building cycle follows more or less the pattern of the business cycle. This is contrary to what has been experienced in the United States. According to Alvin H. Hansen, building construction in the States follows, in a large measure, a wave-like movement much longer than the major business cycle. The American building cycle averages between seventeen and eighteen years in length, or almost precisely twice the length of the major business cycle (see Hansen, Alvin H., Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, New York, 1941, pp. 19 ff.Google Scholar). In Canada the building cycle varies between seven and twelve years, the average being ten years. Records are available for the period 1911 to 1941, showing value of building permits issued in thirty-five cities and building contracts awarded to contractors. Both series give the same picture of the pattern of the construction cycle, showing three cycles for a thirty-year period.

Thus, in contradiction to American conditions, a striking similarity of the Canadian construction cycle, lasting an average of ten years, to the major trade cycle which is commonly taken to last between seven and ten years, is clearly indicated.

^{page 221 note 2} Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Report of the Construction Industry in Canada, 1934 (Ottawa, 1936), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar

^{page 224 note 3} MacGregor, D. C., “Gross and Net Investment in Canada—Tentative Estimates” (Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, vol. VII, 02, 1941, pp. 39 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar).

^{page 224 note 4} Professor MacGregor comments that this figure is a conservative estimate. In his opinion the expenditure on construction on rural and urban dwellings during 1940 might well have been higher than suggested in the above estimate. In the up-swing phase of the business cycle, which marks the years 1938 to 1940, an increased construction activity is noticeable. It might well be, therefore, that in proportion there was more construction work done by owners and tenants themselves on rural and urban dwellings in 1940 than in 1937.

^{page 225 note 5} Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Eighth Census of Canada, 1941, Occupations and Earnings, Bulletin No. 2, p. 7.Google Scholar

^{page 226 note 6} The classification of persons in construction occupations is complicated by the considerable number of border cases. It is difficult sometimes to determine whether a person should be classified under the heading “construction” or under a different heading indicating the type of work he is doing. Dr. L. C. Marsh was confronted with the difficulty when he discussed the range of the construction trades in his book Canadians In and Out of Work. Division of Census categories was necessary to get a workable picture of skilled classes. An example is the overlapping between the building and steel trades ( Canadians In and Out of Work, Toronto, 1940, p. 86).Google Scholar

^{page 227 note 7} The above allowance is made in consideration of a few small factors of which the following is an example. It is probable that the ratio of skilled to unskilled workers of persons in construction occupations not reported by the Construction Census is somewhat lower than the ratio of skilled to unskilled persons in the construction industry reported by the Construction Census. This is partly due to the fact that a number of construction craftsmen not reported in the Construction Census are employed with the railway companies. It is known that the railway companies employ a comparatively small group of unskilled workers on construction work.

^{page 229 note 8} Jean H. Williams, Construction, Housing, and Real Property (a survey of available basic statistical data, a report prepared for the Executive Office of the President, Bureau of the Budget, Central Statistical Board, Washington, June, 1940), pp. 8-9. The additional statistics desired in the first paragraph would approximately cover what has been shown as circle 5 in Figure 1. Those desired in the second paragraph would approximately cover what has been shown as circle 2 in Figure 1.

^{page 230 note 1} Canada Year Book, 1940, p. 750.

^{page 230 note 2} Owing to the changes and dislocation in industrial production caused by the demands of war, the above-mentioned computation has been discontinued (Canada Year Book, 1940, p. 751, and Canada Year Book, 1941, p. 656).

^{page 231 note 3} Examination of relevant statistics of the 1931 Census, carried out as a check, indicated that the above estimate is justifiable. See Table 16 of Census of Canada, vol. V, p. 32.

^{page 231 note 4} Unemployment is expressed in percentage of the total membership of the trade unions. Data are taken from “Unemployment in Trade Unions at the close of December, 1940,” published in the Labour Gazette, Department of Labour, vol. XLI, 02, 1941, p. 161.Google Scholar

^{page 232 note 1} Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Seventh Census of Canada, 1931, vol. VII, p. 838, Table 58.Google Scholar