Canada's History: Canadian Citizenship Test Questions

Q1.From where are the ancestors of Canada's Aboriginal peoples believed to have migrated?

• Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• The South Pacific

Answer: The ancestors of Aboriginal peoples are thought to have come from Asia many thousands of years ago.

Q2.The name 'Canada' comes from 'kanata,' a word meaning 'village.' From which language does it come?

• French
• Inuktitut
• An Iroquoian language
• Latin

Answer: Jacques Cartier heard two guides use 'kanata,' an Iroquoian word for 'village.' By the 1550s the name 'Canada' was appearing on maps.

Q3.Between 1534 and 1542, Jacques Cartier crossed the Atlantic three times. For which country did he claim the land?

• England
• France
• Spain
• Portugal

Answer: Cartier claimed the land for France's King Francis I. He was also the first European to sail up the St. Lawrence River.

Q4.In 1608, who built a fort on the site of today's Québec City?

• John Cabot
• Samuel de Champlain
• Count Frontenac
• Jacques Cartier

Answer: Samuel de Champlain built a fort on the site of today's Québec City in 1608, founding the colony of New France.

Q5.Who won the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham, fought at Québec City?

• The French
• The British
• The Americans
• The Iroquois

Answer: In 1759 the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which ended France's empire in America. Both commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm, were killed.

Q6.What did the Quebec Act of 1774 do?

• Abolished the French language
• Allowed religious freedom for Catholics and restored French civil law
• Created the Dominion of Canada
• Gave women the right to vote

Answer: The Quebec Act of 1774 allowed religious freedom for Catholics, let them hold public office, and restored French civil law while keeping British criminal law.

Q7.Who were the United Empire Loyalists?

• French settlers loyal to the King of France
• Over 40,000 people loyal to the Crown who fled the American Revolution after 1776
• Soldiers who fought for the United States
• Members of the Hudson's Bay Company

Answer: After the 13 American colonies declared independence in 1776, more than 40,000 Loyalists fled to Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Q8.What was the main result of the War of 1812?

• Canada became part of the United States
• Canada (then British North America) remained independent of the United States
• France regained Quebec
• The border was abolished

Answer: Thanks to the War of 1812, Canada stayed independent of the United States. British troops, First Nations (led by Tecumseh) and Canadian volunteers drove back the American invasion.

Q9.Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire — including Canada — in which year?

• 1763
• 1833
• 1867
• 1918

Answer: The British Parliament abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1833. Upper Canada had begun moving toward abolition in 1793, and thousands of slaves escaping the United States found freedom in Canada through the Underground Railroad.

Q10.What does 'responsible government' mean?

• The government must balance its budget
• Ministers need the backing of most elected representatives, and must resign if they lose a confidence vote
• The King governs directly
• Only landowners can vote

Answer: Under responsible government, the ministers of the Crown can govern only with the backing of most of the elected representatives. Nova Scotia was the first colony to gain it (1847–48).

Q11.In what year did Canada become a country (Confederation)?

• 1812
• 1867
• 1900
• 1931

Answer: On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada.

Q12.Which four provinces joined together at Confederation in 1867?

• Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia
• Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland
• Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan

Answer: At Confederation in 1867 the four founding provinces were Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Q13.Who was Canada's first Prime Minister?

• Sir Wilfrid Laurier
• Sir George-Étienne Cartier
• Sir John A. Macdonald
• Sir Leonard Tilley

Answer: Sir John A. Macdonald, one of the Fathers of Confederation, took office as Canada's first Prime Minister in 1867. January 11 is Sir John A. Macdonald Day.

Q14.What is celebrated on July 1 each year?

• Victoria Day
• Canada Day (the anniversary of Confederation)
• Remembrance Day
• Labour Day

Answer: July 1 is Canada Day, marking the day in 1867 that Canada became a self-governing Dominion. It was formerly called Dominion Day.

Q15.Louis Riel is remembered as a leader of which people and as the founder of which province?

• The Inuit; Nunavut
• The Métis; Manitoba
• The Acadians; New Brunswick
• The Loyalists; Ontario

Answer: Louis Riel led the Métis and is regarded by many as the founder of Manitoba. He was executed for high treason in 1885.

Q16.The Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, was a symbol of what?

• Military strength
• National unity, linking the country from sea to sea
• French and English division
• American investment only

Answer: The CPR's completion in 1885 (the 'last spike') was a powerful symbol of unity, fulfilling the national dream of a railway from sea to sea. It was built with European and Chinese labour.

Q17.Who was Sir Wilfrid Laurier?

• The first Prime Minister of Canada
• The first French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation
• A Father of Confederation from Nova Scotia
• The inventor of the telephone

Answer: Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first French Canadian to become Prime Minister after Confederation, and he encouraged immigration to the West.

Q18.In 1916, which province became the first to grant women the right to vote?

• Ontario
• Quebec
• Manitoba
• British Columbia

Answer: Manitoba became the first province to grant women the right to vote, in 1916. Most women won the federal vote in 1918.

Q19.The 1917 battle in which the Canadian Corps captured a key ridge — often called the 'birth of a nation' — was the Battle of:

• Dieppe
• Vimy Ridge
• Juno Beach
• Hong Kong

Answer: In April 1917 the Canadian Corps took Vimy Ridge. April 9 is celebrated as Vimy Day.

Q20.On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Canadian troops stormed and captured which beach in Normandy?

• Omaha Beach
• Juno Beach
• Sword Beach
• Gold Beach

Answer: On D-Day, about 15,000 Canadian troops captured Juno Beach. Roughly one in ten Allied soldiers that day was Canadian.

Q21.What do Canadians remember on November 11 each year?

• Confederation
• The sacrifice of Canadians who served and died in wars
• The King's birthday
• The end of the fur trade

Answer: November 11 is Remembrance Day, when Canadians honour those who served and the sacrifice of those who died in military service. The red poppy is worn.

Q22.In what year did Aboriginal peoples gain the right to vote in federal elections?

• 1918
• 1948
• 1960
• 1982

Answer: Aboriginal peoples gained the federal vote in 1960. Japanese Canadians had won it in 1948.

Q23.Which was the last province to join Canada, in 1949?

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Prince Edward Island

Answer: Newfoundland and Labrador was the last province to join Confederation, in 1949. (Nunavut, a territory, was created in 1999.)

Q24.What was created in 1873 to bring order to the West and later became the RCMP?

• The Canadian Army
• The North West Mounted Police
• The Coast Guard
• The Hudson's Bay Company

Answer: In 1873 Prime Minister Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police, known today as the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

Q25.During the War of 1812, who walked about 30 km to warn the British of a planned American attack, helping to win the Battle of Beaver Dams?

• Mary Ann Shadd Cary
• Agnes Macphail
• Emily Stowe
• Laura Secord

Answer: In 1813, Laura Secord, a pioneer mother of five, set out on foot on a dangerous trip of about 30 km to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon that the Americans planned to attack. Her courage helped bring victory at Beaver Dams, and Canadians still honour her as a heroine.

Q26.Why did the first European explorers call the native peoples of Canada 'Indians'?

• They thought they had reached the East Indies
• It was the name the peoples used for themselves
• It came from the Iroquoian word for 'village'
• The King of France chose the name for them

Answer: The first explorers believed they had arrived in the East Indies, so they called the people they met 'Indians'. In fact, every region of Canada was already home to Aboriginal peoples.

Q27.What is L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, now a World Heritage Site?

• The remains of a 1,000-year-old Viking settlement
• The fortress Samuel de Champlain built in 1608
• The first Hudson's Bay Company trading post
• The spot where John Cabot landed in 1497

Answer: About 1,000 years ago, Vikings from Iceland who had settled Greenland also reached Labrador and Newfoundland. Today the site of their settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows, is protected as a World Heritage Site.

Q28.In 1497, John Cabot became the first to map Canada's Atlantic coast. For which country did he claim the land?

• France
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• England

Answer: John Cabot, an Italian who had settled in England, sailed for the English Crown. He came ashore in 1497 on either Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island and claimed the 'New Founde Land' for England, though English settlement only began in 1610.

Q29.In the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy had its finest hour in which battle?

• The Battle of Britain
• The Battle of Trafalgar
• The defence of Hong Kong
• The Battle of the Atlantic

Answer: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the navy guarded convoys of merchant ships against German submarines, helping to keep Britain fed and supplied. By the war's end, Canada's navy ranked third in the world in size.

Q30.In 1670, who granted the Hudson's Bay Company sole trading rights over all the lands draining into Hudson Bay?

• King Charles II of England
• King Louis XIV of France
• King George III
• Queen Victoria

Answer: King Charles II of England gave the Hudson's Bay Company its trading monopoly in 1670. For the next century it competed with fur traders based in Montreal.

Q31.Who were the voyageurs and coureurs des bois?

• Soldiers who defended New France
• Missionaries who ran schools for settlers
• Skilled fur traders who travelled by canoe
• Farmers who cleared land along the river

Answer: The voyageurs and coureurs des bois were brave, skilled men who paddled canoes deep into the interior to trade furs. They built strong alliances with First Nations.

Q32.Who led thousands of Mohawks loyal to the Crown into Canada after the American Revolution?

• Joseph Brant
• Chief Tecumseh
• Louis Riel
• Gabriel Dumont

Answer: Joseph Brant brought thousands of Loyalist Mohawks to Canada. The Loyalists came from many backgrounds, Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian and Aboriginal among them, and from many faiths.

Q33.In 1792, some Black Nova Scotians who had been given poor land left to help found which city, in a new British colony for freed slaves?

• Kingston, Jamaica
• Monrovia, Liberia
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Freetown, Sierra Leone

Answer: About 3,000 Black Loyalists, both free and enslaved, came north seeking a better life. In 1792, some who had received poor land in Nova Scotia moved on to found Freetown, in the new British colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Q34.Where was the first representative assembly in what is now Canada elected, in 1758?

• Québec City
• Montreal
• Halifax
• Charlottetown

Answer: Democracy grew step by step. Nova Scotia elected the first representative assembly, in Halifax, in 1758. Prince Edward Island did the same in 1773, and New Brunswick in 1785.

Q35.What did the Constitutional Act of 1791 do?

• Divided the Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada
• United Upper and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada
• Gave Catholics the freedom to practise their religion
• Created the Dominion of Canada

Answer: The Constitutional Act split the Province of Quebec in two: mostly English-speaking, Protestant Upper Canada (later Ontario) and mostly French-speaking, Catholic Lower Canada (later Quebec). Each got an assembly elected by the people, and the name Canada became official.

Q36.Which Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, founder of York (now Toronto), began the move to abolish slavery there in 1793?

• Sir Isaac Brock
• Lord Durham
• Sir Guy Carleton
• John Graves Simcoe

Answer: John Graves Simcoe, a Loyalist officer, was Upper Canada's first Lieutenant Governor. In 1793 Upper Canada, under Simcoe, became the first part of the British Empire to start moving toward abolition; Britain abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1833.

Q37.What was the Underground Railroad?

• A network that helped slaves escape to Canada
• A secret railway line built beneath Montreal
• A smuggling route used during the War of 1812
• An escape route the Loyalists used in 1776

Answer: Thousands of enslaved people escaped from the United States by following 'the North Star' to freedom in Canada, helped by the Underground Railroad, a Christian network that opposed slavery.

Q38.Which British general captured Detroit in 1812 but was killed defending Queenston Heights, near Niagara Falls?

• Sir Arthur Currie
• James Wolfe
• Sir Isaac Brock
• Sir Guy Carleton

Answer: Major-General Sir Isaac Brock took Detroit in July 1812. Months later he died at Queenston Heights, where the British and their allies beat back an American attack. Chief Tecumseh's Shawnee warriors also fought on the British side.

Q39.At Châteauguay in 1813, who led some 460 soldiers, mostly French Canadiens, to turn back about 4,000 American invaders?

• Sir George-Étienne Cartier
• Count Frontenac
• Charles de Salaberry
• Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché

Answer: Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry's small force, made up mostly of French Canadiens, stopped a much larger American army at Châteauguay, south of Montreal, in 1813.

Q40.After American troops set fire to the Parliament Buildings at York (now Toronto) in 1813, what did a British force burn in 1814?

• The White House in Washington
• The American fort at Detroit
• The port of Boston
• Independence Hall in Philadelphia

Answer: In 1814 a British expedition from Nova Scotia, under Major-General Robert Ross, struck back by setting fire to the White House and other government buildings in Washington. By then, the American invasion of Canada had clearly failed.

Q41.After the rebellions of 1837–38, what did Lord Durham recommend?

• Letting Lower Canada become a separate republic
• Joining the colonies to the United States
• Ending elected assemblies in both Canadas
• Uniting the two Canadas under responsible government

Answer: Sent from England to report on the uprisings, the reformer Lord Durham proposed uniting Upper and Lower Canada under responsible government. He also argued that French Canadians should be assimilated, which showed he did not understand French Canada's wish to keep its own identity.

Q42.Which was the first colony in British North America to gain full responsible government, in 1847–48?

• The Province of Canada
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island

Answer: Nova Scotia came first, in 1847–48, with reformers such as Joseph Howe. The Province of Canada followed in 1848–49, when Governor Lord Elgin introduced responsible government with London's support.

Q43.In 1849, who became the first to lead a responsible government in the Province of Canada?

• Robert Baldwin
• Sir George-Étienne Cartier
• Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché
• Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine

Answer: A champion of democracy and of French language rights, Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine worked with Robert Baldwin for responsible government and in 1849 became the first to head one in the Canadas.

Q44.Who are the Fathers of Confederation?

• The leaders who worked together to create Canada
• The British officials who ran the colonies
• The first members of the Senate
• The leaders of the 1837 rebellions

Answer: Between 1864 and 1867, leaders from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick met and negotiated, with Britain's backing, to form one country. History calls them the Fathers of Confederation.

Q45.Until 1982, what was July 1 called?

• Empire Day
• Victoria Day
• Dominion Day
• Commonwealth Day

Answer: On July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was born under the British North America Act. The day was celebrated as Dominion Day until 1982; today it is officially Canada Day.

Q46.Which province entered Confederation in 1871 on the promise of a railway link to the Pacific coast?

• Manitoba
• Prince Edward Island
• Alberta
• British Columbia

Answer: British Columbia joined in 1871 when Ottawa promised a railway to the West Coast, and the Canadian Pacific Railway was finished in 1885. Manitoba had joined in 1870, Prince Edward Island came in 1873 and Alberta in 1905.

Q47.Which two provinces were created in 1905?

• Alberta and Saskatchewan
• Manitoba and British Columbia
• Yukon and Nunavut
• Ontario and Quebec

Answer: Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905. The Yukon Territory had been created in 1898, and Nunavut followed in 1999.

Q48.Which Montreal railway lawyer led Quebec into Confederation as Sir John A. Macdonald's close ally?

• Sir Wilfrid Laurier
• Louis Riel
• Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine
• Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Answer: Sir George-Étienne Cartier, a proud Canadien, was the main architect of Confederation in Quebec. He later helped bring Manitoba, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories into Canada.

Q49.Who drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885?

• Sir John A. Macdonald
• Sir Sandford Fleming
• Donald Smith
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Answer: On November 7, 1885, Donald Smith (later Lord Strathcona), a Scottish-born director of the CPR, drove the last spike. British and American investors paid for the line, and European and Chinese workers built it.

Q50.What was the Head Tax?

• A race-based entry fee charged to Chinese immigrants
• A fee every voter paid to cast a ballot
• A tax on each beaver pelt sold in Europe
• A charge for crossing the border to the United States

Answer: After Chinese workers helped build the CPR, Chinese immigrants faced discrimination, including the Head Tax, an entry fee based on race. The Government of Canada apologized for this policy in 2006.

Q51.Over 7,000 Canadians volunteered for which war, fought from 1899 to 1902?

• The Crimean War
• The War of 1812
• The Korean War
• The Boer War

Answer: Over 7,000 Canadians volunteered for the South African War (1899–1902), known as the Boer War, and more than 260 died. Victories at Paardeberg and Lillefontein in 1900 boosted national pride.

Q52.About how many Canadians served in the First World War, out of a population of about eight million?

• About 7,000
• About 60,000
• More than 600,000
• More than 6 million

Answer: More than 600,000 Canadians served, most of them volunteers. About 60,000 were killed and 170,000 wounded.

Q53.During and after the First World War, thousands of people were held in labour camps in Canada as 'enemy aliens'. Who were most of them?

• Ukrainian men
• Japanese families
• Italian merchants
• Chinese railway workers

Answer: From 1914 to 1920, more than 8,000 people who had been subjects of Austria-Hungary, most of them Ukrainian men, were interned in 24 labour camps, even though Britain advised against it.

Q54.Who commanded the Canadian Corps in the last hundred days of the First World War and is called Canada's greatest soldier?

• Sir Isaac Brock
• Sir Sam Steele
• John McCrae
• Sir Arthur Currie

Answer: General Sir Arthur Currie led the Canadian Corps through the war's final hundred days, starting with the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, a day German commanders remembered as 'the black day of the German Army'. The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918.

Q55.Who founded Canada's women's suffrage movement, the effort to win women the vote?

• Agnes Macphail
• Thérèse Casgrain
• Laura Secord
• Emily Stowe

Answer: The movement was founded by Dr. Emily Stowe, who was also the first Canadian woman to work as a doctor in Canada. In 1917 the federal government gave women the vote, first to nurses at the front, then to women with close relatives serving in the war.

Q56.Who became the first woman elected to the House of Commons, in 1921?

• Emily Stowe
• Agnes Macphail
• Mary Ann Shadd Cary
• Thérèse Casgrain

Answer: Agnes Macphail, a farmer and teacher, was elected in 1921 as Canada's first woman MP. Thanks to Thérèse Casgrain and others, women in Quebec won the right to vote in 1940.

Q57.Who wrote the poem 'In Flanders Fields', often recited on Remembrance Day?

• Robert W. Service
• John McCrae
• Stephen Leacock
• Pauline Johnson

Answer: Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer, wrote 'In Flanders Fields' in 1915. On Remembrance Day, November 11, Canadians wear a red poppy and keep a moment of silence.

Q58.What were the 'Dirty Thirties'?

• The boom years after the First World War
• The years of the Second World War
• The hard times of the Great Depression
• The Yukon Gold Rush of the 1890s

Answer: The stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression, or 'Dirty Thirties'. By 1933, 27% of workers had no job, and Western farmers suffered most from low grain prices and drought. The 1920s, by contrast, had been the 'Roaring Twenties'.

Q59.In 1942, Canadian troops suffered heavy losses in a failed raid on which enemy-held port?

• Hong Kong
• Dieppe
• Juno Beach
• Amiens

Answer: The 1942 raid on Dieppe, on the French coast, failed with heavy Canadian losses. A year earlier, Canadians had fought bravely in the unsuccessful defence of Hong Kong against Japan.

Q60.What happened to Canadians of Japanese origin during the Second World War?

• They had to pay the Head Tax to stay in Canada
• They were forcibly relocated and lost their property
• They were all drafted into the Royal Canadian Navy
• They were the first Asian Canadians to vote

Answer: During the war, the federal government forced Canadians of Japanese origin to leave their homes and sold their property without compensation, although the military and the RCMP judged them to be little danger. Ottawa apologized in 1988 and paid compensation to the victims.