In February, 1959, the Minister of Public Works, the Honourable Howard Green, said in the House of Commons that “the government went into the home financing field to such a large extent in the last two years for one reason, to provide employment.” He went on to say that “this was done deliberately as the best means of creating jobs.” The Honourable D. J. Walker, after he took over the Public Works portfolio later that year, presented estimates to the House of the actual labour content of residential construction. On November 22, 1960, he said that “at this time every house that is built gives six months' employment to two men on the job and two men off the job, and also another man who is employed getting the sewers, and so on ready.” A year later, when introducing yet another amendment to the National Housing Act, the Minister stated that “if each new dwelling unit financed under the National Housing Act involves 2½ man years of employment on and off site, the N.H.A. mortgage lending for eight months of this year has contributed to more than 112,000 man-years of employment and of these, direct federal lending has been responsible for 46,000 man-years.” In the light of the statements by two ministers of Public Works, this paper attempts to present more precise estimates of the labour income that is generated by an expenditure for residential construction.