Modern Canada: Canadian Citizenship Test Questions

Q1.The era of rapid change in Quebec during the 1960s is known as:

• The Great Upheaval
• The Quiet Revolution
• Confederation
• The Dirty Thirties

Answer: Quebec experienced rapid change in the 1960s known as the Quiet Revolution.

Q2.Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best are celebrated for discovering what?

• The telephone
• Insulin
• The pacemaker
• Standard time zones

Answer: Banting and Best of Toronto discovered insulin, a hormone to treat diabetes that has saved millions of lives worldwide.

Q3.Who invented the telephone (conceiving the idea at his summer home in Canada)?

• Thomas Edison
• Alexander Graham Bell
• Sandford Fleming
• Joseph-Armand Bombardier

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell hit on the idea of the telephone at his summer house in Canada.

Q4.The sport of basketball was invented by which Canadian in 1891?

• James Naismith
• Wayne Gretzky
• Terry Fox
• Donovan Bailey

Answer: Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891.

Q5.In 1980, who began the cross-country 'Marathon of Hope' to raise money for cancer research?

• Rick Hansen
• Terry Fox
• Wayne Gretzky
• Chantal Petitclerc

Answer: Terry Fox, who had lost a leg to cancer, began his 'Marathon of Hope' in 1980 and became a national hero.

Q6.The Official Languages Act, which guarantees French and English services in the federal government, was passed in:

• 1867
• 1931
• 1969
• 1995

Answer: The Official Languages Act was passed in 1969.

Q7.Sir Sandford Fleming is known for inventing what?

• The light bulb
• The worldwide system of standard time zones
• The snowmobile
• The pacemaker

Answer: Sir Sandford Fleming invented the worldwide system of standard time zones.

Q8.Canada belongs to NATO and (with the United States) to NORAD. What is NATO?

• A trade agreement
• A military alliance of democratic countries
• A peacekeeping fund
• An environmental treaty

Answer: Canada joined other Western democracies to form NATO, a military alliance, and partnered with the U.S. in NORAD for aerospace defence.

Q9.Which Canadian invention is a robotic arm developed for use on the U.S. space shuttle?

• The Canadarm
• The pacemaker
• The snowmobile
• The Avro Arrow

Answer: The Canadarm was a Canadian-built robotic arm used on the U.S. space shuttle, a symbol of Canada's contribution to space technology.

Q10.Lester B. Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his role in helping to resolve which crisis?

• The Cold War
• The Suez Crisis
• The Korean War
• The October Crisis

Answer: Lester B. Pearson, later Prime Minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for helping resolve the Suez Crisis through UN peacekeeping, an idea he pioneered.

Q11.With which country does Canada jointly operate NORAD, the aerospace defence command?

• The United Kingdom
• France
• The United States
• Mexico

Answer: Canada and the United States jointly operate the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to defend North American airspace.

Q12.In what year was Canada's Constitution patriated and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms added?

• 1965
• 1969
• 1982
• 1999

Answer: In 1982 Canada patriated its Constitution from Britain and entrenched the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Q13.After being paralyzed in an accident, which Canadian circled the globe in a wheelchair in his 'Man in Motion' tour to support spinal cord research?

• Terry Fox
• Rick Hansen
• Steve Nash
• Marc Garneau

Answer: Rick Hansen, a 'Man in Motion,' wheeled more than 40,000 km around the world in 1985-87 to raise awareness and funds for spinal cord research.

Q14.Who was the first Canadian to travel into space?

• Chris Hadfield
• Marc Garneau
• Roberta Bondar
• Julie Payette

Answer: Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space in 1984; Roberta Bondar was the first Canadian woman in space.

Q15.Women across most of Canada won the right to vote in federal elections by 1918. Which province was the last to grant women the vote provincially, in 1940?

• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Quebec
• Nova Scotia

Answer: Women gained the federal vote during 1917-1918, but Quebec was the last province to grant women the provincial vote, in 1940.

Q16.True or False: Wayne Gretzky, nicknamed 'The Great One,' is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

• True
• False

Answer: True. Wayne Gretzky, 'The Great One,' played in the NHL from 1979 to 1999 and is widely considered the greatest hockey player ever.

Q17.At the 1996 Olympic Games, which Canadian sprinter won gold and set a world record in the 100-metre sprint?

• Donovan Bailey
• Ben Johnson
• Bruny Surin
• Andre De Grasse

Answer: Donovan Bailey won the 100-metre sprint and set a world record at the 1996 Olympic Games, becoming a Canadian sports hero.

Q18.Terry Fox's 1980 Marathon of Hope was a cross-country run to raise money for research into which disease?

• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Polio
• Heart disease

Answer: Terry Fox, who had lost a leg to cancer, ran his Marathon of Hope in 1980 to raise money for cancer research, inspiring the annual Terry Fox Run.

Q19.Which wheelchair athlete is celebrated as one of Canada's most decorated Paralympians in track?

• Chantal Petitclerc
• Silken Laumann
• Catriona Le May Doan
• Clara Hughes

Answer: Chantal Petitclerc is a celebrated Canadian wheelchair racer who won numerous Paralympic gold medals and was later appointed to the Senate.

Q20.Which life-saving heart device that regulates the heartbeat was pioneered by Canadian researchers?

• The artificial pacemaker
• The insulin pump
• The defibrillator
• The artificial heart

Answer: The cardiac pacemaker, which uses electrical pulses to regulate the heartbeat, was pioneered by Canadian researchers including John Hopps.