Who We Are: Canadian Citizenship Test Questions

Q1.Who are the three founding peoples of Canada?

• English, French, and Spanish
• Aboriginal, French, and British
• Inuit, Loyalist, and Acadian
• First Nations, American, and Irish

Answer: Canada's three founding peoples are the Aboriginal peoples, the French and the British. Knowing about them helps explain what it means to be Canadian.

Q2.The term 'Aboriginal peoples' refers to which three distinct groups?

• French, English, and Métis
• First Nations (Indian), Inuit, and Métis
• Inuit, Acadian, and Loyalist
• Cree, Sioux, and Haida

Answer: Aboriginal peoples include three distinct groups: First Nations (also called Indian), Inuit, and Métis.

Q3.What does the word 'Inuit' mean?

• 'The hunters'
• 'The people'
• 'The north'
• 'The first ones'

Answer: 'Inuit' means 'the people' in the Inuktitut language. The Inuit live in small communities across the Arctic.

Q4.Who are the Métis?

• Recent immigrants from France
• A distinct people with both Aboriginal and European ancestors, most living in the Prairies
• People who live only in Quebec
• The original inhabitants of the Arctic

Answer: The Métis are a distinct people with both Aboriginal and European ancestors. Most of them live in the Prairie provinces, and many speak Michif.

Q5.What are the two official languages of Canada?

• English and Spanish
• English and French
• French and Inuktitut
• English and Indigenous languages

Answer: English and French are Canada's two official languages. The federal government must provide services across Canada in both.

Q6.Which is the only officially bilingual province in Canada?

• Quebec
• Ontario
• New Brunswick
• Manitoba

Answer: New Brunswick is the one province that is officially bilingual. About a third of its people live and work in French.

Q7.Who are the Acadians?

• The descendants of French colonists who settled in the Maritimes starting in 1604
• Early British settlers of Ontario
• A First Nations group of the Prairies
• Immigrants from the Caribbean

Answer: The Acadians descend from French colonists who started settling in the Maritime provinces in 1604. Many were deported during the 'Great Upheaval' (1755–1763).

Q8.In 2006, the House of Commons recognized that the Québécois form what?

• A separate country
• A nation within a united Canada
• A province with no ties to Canada
• An official language group

Answer: In 2006 the House of Commons recognized that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.

Q9.What is the largest religious affiliation in Canada?

• Islam
• Christianity (with Catholic being the largest)
• Hinduism
• No religion

Answer: Just over half of Canadians (2021 census) identify as Christian. Catholics are the largest group, followed by the various Protestant churches.

Q10.In which province do the majority of Canada's French-speaking population live?

• New Brunswick
• Ontario
• Quebec
• Manitoba

Answer: The majority of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, where French is the language of everyday life for most people.

Q11.What is the policy by which Canada encourages people of all backgrounds to belong and contribute while keeping their cultures?

• Assimilation
• Multiculturalism
• Segregation
• Bilingualism

Answer: Multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of Canada; people of many cultures are encouraged to participate fully while keeping their traditions within the law.

Q12.In which region of Canada do most Inuit traditionally live?

• The Arctic (far north)
• Southern Ontario
• The Prairies
• Vancouver Island

Answer: The Inuit are an Aboriginal people who live in the Arctic, the far north of Canada.

Q13.True or False: English and French have the same status in Parliament and across the federal government.

• True
• False

Answer: True. Canada's two official languages, English and French, have equal status in Parliament, the courts and the federal government across the country.

Q14.The deportation of the Acadians by the British, beginning in 1755, is known by what name?

• The Quiet Revolution
• The Great Upheaval (le Grand Dérangement)
• The October Crisis
• The Last Spike

Answer: The forced removal of the Acadians from their lands beginning in 1755 is called the Great Upheaval, or 'le Grand Dérangement.'

Q15.Approximately what share of Canadians speak French as their first language?

• About 5%
• About one-fifth
• About one-half
• About three-quarters

Answer: About one in five Canadians (roughly 20% in the 2021 census) speak French as a first language, most of them in Quebec.

Q16.Which group is NOT one of Canada's three founding peoples?

• Aboriginal peoples
• The French
• The British
• The Spanish

Answer: Canada's three founding peoples are the Aboriginal, French and British peoples. The Spanish are not one of them.

Q17.What is the best description of Canada's approach to its many cultures?

• Newcomers must abandon their traditions
• Canadians take pride in being a diverse, tolerant, multicultural society
• Only two cultures are recognized
• Each culture lives entirely separately

Answer: Canadians are proud of a diverse, tolerant society where people of all backgrounds participate fully while keeping their identities within Canadian law.

Q18.Which two languages are spoken by the largest numbers of Canadians as a mother tongue?

• English and Mandarin
• English and French
• French and Punjabi
• English and Spanish

Answer: English and French, the two official languages, are the mother tongues of the largest numbers of Canadians, with English the most common overall.

Q19.True or False: The Inuit, First Nations, and Métis are all recognized as Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

• True
• False

Answer: True. Canada's Aboriginal peoples are made up of three distinct groups: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.

Q20.Canada's long history of welcoming newcomers from around the world makes it best described as:

• A nation of immigrants
• A nation closed to immigration
• A single-culture society
• A nation of only two peoples

Answer: Canada is often described as a land of immigrants, having welcomed millions of newcomers from around the world who help build the country.

Q21.In 2008, the Government of Canada made a formal apology to people who had attended which schools?

• Military colleges
• Residential schools
• Agricultural colleges
• Language schools

Answer: From the 1800s until the 1980s, Ottawa sent many Aboriginal children to residential schools meant to assimilate them. The schools were underfunded and harsh, some students were physically abused, and most could not use their own languages or follow their cultural practices. The federal government formally apologized in 2008.

Q22.Aboriginal territorial rights were first guaranteed by which document, issued by King George III?

• The Quebec Act of 1774
• The Constitutional Act of 1791
• The British North America Act of 1867
• The Royal Proclamation of 1763

Answer: The Canadian Constitution recognizes Aboriginal and treaty rights. King George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763 was the first to guarantee territorial rights, and it became the basis for treaty negotiations with the newcomers, although the treaties were not always fully respected.

Q23.Since the 1970s, which term has been used for the Aboriginal peoples other than the Inuit and the Métis?

• First Nations
• Acadians
• Loyalists
• Québécois

Answer: The word 'Indian' covers all Aboriginal people other than the Inuit and the Métis, and the term First Nations came into use in the 1970s. First Nations, Inuit and Métis together make up Canada's Aboriginal peoples.

Q24.About what share of First Nations people live on reserves?

• Almost all
• About one in ten
• None, because reserves no longer exist
• About half

Answer: Roughly half of First Nations people live on reserves, in some 600 communities. The other half live off reserve, mostly in cities.

Q25.Which is the largest of the three groups of Aboriginal peoples?

• The Métis
• The Inuit
• First Nations
• The three groups are about the same size

Answer: About 65% of Aboriginal people are First Nations, about 30% are Métis and about 4% are Inuit.

Q26.What has allowed the Inuit to live in one of the harshest environments in the world?

• Food grown on large wheat farms in the Arctic
• Their knowledge of the land, the sea and the wildlife
• Supplies they received through trade with Europe
• Moving south to warmer places every winter

Answer: The Inuit are spread across the Arctic in small communities. Knowing the land, the sea and the wildlife well let them adapt to some of the harshest conditions on earth.

Q27.The Métis have both French- and English-speaking roots. What is their own language called?

• Inuktitut
• Gaelic
• Michif
• Mohawk

Answer: The Métis, a distinct people with both Aboriginal and European ancestors, have French- and English-speaking roots and their own dialect, Michif. Most of them live in the Prairie provinces.

Q28.What is an Anglophone?

• A person whose first language is French
• A person who speaks both official languages
• A person born in England
• A person whose first language is English

Answer: Anglophones are people whose first language is English, and Francophones are people whose first language is French. English and French are Canada's official languages, and the federal government must offer its services in both across the country.

Q29.Outside Quebec, in which three provinces do about one million Francophones live?

• British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan
• Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador
• Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba
• Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia

Answer: Most Francophones live in Quebec, but about one million are in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba, with smaller communities in the other provinces. New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province.

Q30.Between 1755 and 1763, roughly what share of the Acadians were forced out of their homeland?

• About one in ten
• About one-quarter
• More than two-thirds
• All of them

Answer: In the war between Britain and France, over two-thirds of the Acadian people were deported. This ordeal is called the Great Upheaval. The Acadians survived and kept their identity, and their culture thrives today.

Q31.Most Quebecers are descendants of about how many French settlers who came in the 1600s and 1700s?

• 850
• 8,500
• 85,000
• 850,000

Answer: Quebecers, the people of Quebec, are mostly French-speaking. Most descend from about 8,500 French settlers of the 1600s and 1700s and keep a unique identity, culture and language. About one million Anglo-Quebecers, with roots going back 250 years, are also part of Quebec.

Q32.The way of life in English-speaking parts of Canada was shaped mainly by settlers, soldiers and migrants from which countries?

• England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
• France, Belgium and Switzerland
• Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark
• Spain, Portugal and Italy

Answer: Daily life in the English-speaking parts of Canada was shaped by hundreds of thousands of settlers, soldiers and migrants from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, who arrived between the 1600s and the 20th century. That is partly why Anglophones are generally called English Canadians.

Q33.True or False: Most Canadians were born in Canada.

• True
• False

Answer: True. Since the 1800s, most people in Canada have been born here. Canada is still called a land of immigrants because millions of newcomers over the last two centuries have helped to build and defend it.

Q34.Since the 1970s, where have most immigrants to Canada come from?

• Asian countries
• European countries
• The United States
• South America

Answer: Since the 1970s, most newcomers have come from Asian countries. Canada's many ethnic groups include people of English, French, Chinese, South Asian, Italian and Ukrainian origin, among many others.

Q35.In two of Canada's biggest cities, which languages are spoken most at home after English?

• French
• Spanish
• Chinese languages
• German

Answer: Many Canadians speak a non-official language at home. In Vancouver and in Toronto, Chinese languages are the most spoken at home after English.

Q36.Traditionally, how has the state in Canada worked with faith communities?

• It has kept completely apart from them in all public matters
• It has partnered with them on education, health care and social welfare
• It has required every citizen to belong to one official church
• It has allowed religious groups to operate only in Quebec

Answer: The state in Canada has long teamed up with faith communities: together they have run schools and health care, supported social welfare, harmony and mutual respect, resettled refugees and protected freedom of religion and conscience.

Q37.What protection do gay and lesbian Canadians have under the law?

• Equal protection, but only in some provinces and territories
• Equal treatment at work, but no access to civil marriage
• Protection only for those who were born in Canada
• Full and equal protection, including access to civil marriage

Answer: Gay and lesbian Canadians are part of Canada's diversity. They are fully protected and treated equally under the law, including the right to civil marriage.

Q38.In becoming Canadian, what are newcomers expected to embrace?

• The rule of law and other democratic principles
• One official religion
• The views of the governing party
• A single culture in place of their own

Answer: Some newcomers come from places of war or conflict, but that never justifies bringing violent, extreme or hateful prejudices to Canada. New Canadians are expected to accept democratic principles, including the rule of law.

Q39.What makes Canada unique among the countries of North America?

• It is the only constitutional monarchy in North America
• It is the only country in the world with two official languages
• It is the only federation in North America
• It is the only country without an army

Answer: Canada is the only constitutional monarchy in North America, and Canadians have inherited the world's oldest continuous constitutional tradition.

Q40.The phrase 'Peace, Order and Good Government' comes from which document?

• Magna Carta
• The British North America Act of 1867
• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• The Royal Proclamation of 1763

Answer: Canada's institutions are committed to 'Peace, Order and Good Government'. The phrase comes from the British North America Act of 1867, Canada's first constitutional document.