CitizenCACanadian citizenship test practice questions, with answers
Ten questions, one from each chapter of Discover Canada, with every answer explained. At the end, we show your score on the real test’s 20-mark line.
These ten questions are a quick way to see where you stand. There is one from each chapter of the study guide, Discover Canada, so together they touch the whole book: rights, history, government, symbols, the economy and the regions.
A note before you start. These are our own practice questions. We wrote them in plain English from the facts in Discover Canada, and we check them against IRCC’s current pages. They are not the questions on the real test. IRCC says the only official study guide is Discover Canada, and that other study material is used at your own risk. That includes ours, so every answer below links to the part of the guide it comes from on canada.ca. Check anything you are unsure about.
How to get the most from these questions
Practice questions help most when you use them to find gaps, not to feel good. A few habits make a big difference:
- Answer before you look. Choose your answer first, even if you are guessing. A guess you check teaches you more than an answer you read.
- Read every explanation. Read it even when you are right. You may have been right for the wrong reason, and the explanation often adds a second fact from the same part of the guide.
- Notice the chapter. Each question shows which chapter it comes from. If you miss one, read that part of the guide again, not just the answer.
- Come back later. Try the questions you missed again in a day or two. Remembering a fact after a break is what you will need on test day.
The ten questions
Each question works like the real test’s: multiple choice, or true or false. Like the sample questions in the study guide, our multiple-choice questions give four answers to choose from. Choose an answer to see whether it is right, then read why.
Try it
Answer the ten questions
One question at a time. Your score at the end is shown on the real test’s scale too.
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In which year did the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms become part of the Constitution of Canada?
- A1215
- B1967
- C1982
- D1867
Show the answer
The answer is C: 1982.
In 1982, the Constitution of Canada was amended to make the Charter part of it. The Charter sums up Canadians' fundamental freedoms and adds other rights, such as mobility rights. Do not confuse it with 1867, the year of Confederation, or 1215, the year of Magna Carta.
Source: Discover Canada, Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
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Which province is the only one that is officially bilingual?
- AQuebec
- BManitoba
- COntario
- DNew Brunswick
Show the answer
The answer is D: New Brunswick.
New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, with English and French as its official languages. Most Francophones live in Quebec, and there are also French-speaking communities in Ontario and Manitoba.
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Manitoba was the first province to give women the right to vote, in 1916.
- True
- False
Show the answer
The answer is True.
Manitoba gave women the right to vote in 1916, before any other province. Most women gained the vote in federal elections in 1918, and Quebec gave women the vote in 1940.
Source: Discover Canada, Canada’s History: Women Get the Vote
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What was the Quiet Revolution?
- AA protest against the Korean War in the 1950s
- BAn armed uprising in Lower Canada in 1837
- CThe campaign that won women the vote in 1918
- DA time of rapid change in Quebec in the 1960s
Show the answer
The answer is D: A time of rapid change in Quebec in the 1960s.
French-Canadian society and culture grew strongly after the Second World War. In the 1960s, Quebec changed very quickly, and this period is called the Quiet Revolution. At this time, many Quebecers wanted Quebec to separate from Canada.
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Senators are elected by the voters of their province.
- True
- False
Show the answer
The answer is False.
Senators are not elected. The Governor General appoints them on the Prime Minister's advice, and they can serve until age 75. Voters elect the members of the House of Commons, not the Senate.
Source: Discover Canada, How Canadians Govern Themselves: Parliamentary Democracy
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Which three conditions must you meet to vote in a federal election?
- AHave lived in Canada for three years, be 18 or older, and pay taxes
- BBe a Canadian citizen, be 16 or older, and belong to a political party
- CBe a permanent resident, be 21 or older, and own property
- DBe a Canadian citizen, be 18 or older on voting day, and be on the voters' list
Show the answer
The answer is D: Be a Canadian citizen, be 18 or older on voting day, and be on the voters' list.
Voting is a privilege of Canadian citizenship. To vote in a federal election or a federal referendum, you must be a citizen, be 18 or older on voting day and be on the voters' list. If you are not on the list yet, you can be added at any time, even on election day.
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Alex is accused of a crime, and his case is still in court. How does Canada's justice system treat him until the case is decided?
- AAs innocent, until he is proven guilty
- BAs innocent, but only if he can pay for a lawyer
- CAs guilty, until he proves that he is innocent
- DAs guilty, because the police arrested him
Show the answer
The answer is A: As innocent, until he is proven guilty.
In criminal cases, Canada's justice system rests on the presumption of innocence: a person is innocent until proven guilty. Alex does not have to prove that he is innocent, and being arrested or accused does not make him guilty.
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Canada's motto is A Mari Usque Ad Mare. What does it mean?
- AStrong and free
- BPeace, order and good government
- COne country, two languages
- DFrom sea to sea
Show the answer
The answer is D: From sea to sea.
A Mari Usque Ad Mare is Latin for "from sea to sea". Canada adopted this motto, together with an official coat of arms, after the First World War as a sign of national pride.
Source: Discover Canada, Canadian Symbols: Coat of Arms and Motto
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Which country is Canada's largest international trading partner?
- AMexico
- BThe United Kingdom
- CChina
- DThe United States
Show the answer
The answer is D: The United States.
The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. The two countries have close relations, and many Canadian and American businesses work together in shared supply chains that compete with the rest of the world.
Source: Discover Canada, Canada’s Economy: Canada’s Economy Includes Three Main Types of Industries
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In the middle of summer, the sun can shine for up to 24 hours a day in Canada's North.
- True
- False
Show the answer
The answer is True.
This is why the North is often called the Land of the Midnight Sun. In winter it is the other way around: the sun disappears and it stays dark for about three months.
Source: Discover Canada, Canada’s Regions: The Northern Territories
0of 10 right
How to read your score
The real test has 20 questions, and you need 15 right to pass. That is 75%. To compare, we scale your score out of ten to the real test’s 20 marks: 8 right out of ten is like 16 out of 20, which is a pass. 7 out of ten is like 14, just under the line.
Don’t read too much into one short quiz. With only ten questions, one lucky guess or one slip changes your score a lot. A better test of how ready you are is a full practice test: 20 questions from every chapter in 45 minutes, done several times. When you pass those again and again, with room to spare, you are close to ready.
Facts that are easy to mix up
Several of the questions above test a fact that sits close to another one. These pairs are easy to mix up, so it is worth fixing them in your mind:
- Confederation and the Charter. Confederation created the new country on July 1, 1867. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms became part of the Constitution much later, in 1982. If a question asks about rights and freedoms, think 1982.
- Senators and members of Parliament. Voters elect the members of the House of Commons. Senators are not elected: the Governor General appoints them, on the Prime Minister’s advice.
- Bilingual Canada and a bilingual province. English and French are Canada’s official languages, but only one province, New Brunswick, is officially bilingual.
- The motto and the anthem. Canada’s motto, A Mari Usque Ad Mare, is Latin for “from sea to sea”. It is not a line from O Canada.
- Who may vote. To vote in a federal election you must be a Canadian citizen, be 18 or older on voting day, and be on the voters’ list. Permanent residents can’t vote in federal elections, which is one reason citizenship matters.
A good habit: when you learn a date or a name, ask yourself what it could be confused with, and learn the difference too.
What the real questions are like
IRCC describes the test on its page Citizenship test: study for the test. Each question is multiple choice or true or false, and every question is based on information in Discover Canada. The test is in English or French, and it does not check your language skills: it checks what you know about Canada.
So the best practice is to know the guide well. If a question in this quiz felt unfamiliar, that is useful: it shows you a part of the guide to read again. Our post on how the citizenship test works covers the rest of the format, from the invitation to the result.
Why one question from each chapter
The main part of Discover Canada has ten chapters, and they are very different in size. In the printed guide, the history chapter fills 10 pages, while the justice chapter fills only two. IRCC’s test page doesn’t say how many questions come from each chapter, so the safe plan is to study all of them.
That is why this quiz takes one question from each chapter. If you miss a question, the chapter name tells you where to go back. The full practice tests in CitizenCA are built in a similar spirit: they mix questions from every chapter and give more of them to the chapters that fill more of the guide.
Our chapter-by-chapter guide to Discover Canada explains what each chapter covers, so you can see which ones need more of your time.
The official study questions
The guide has its own study questions, written by IRCC. Most of them ask you to find and explain something in the guide, such as a date, a person or a right, and there are a few multiple-choice examples. They don’t come with a full answer key: the answers are in the guide itself. Working through them with the book open is a good way to review a chapter.
Use them together with questions like ours. The study questions make you look things up; multiple-choice questions check that you can pick the right fact from a few that sound similar, which is what the real test asks you to do.
Where to go from here
If you got most of these right, try a full-length practice test next, and keep a list of the questions you miss. If you missed several, go back to those chapters in the guide first, then try again. Either way, short and regular practice works better than one long evening before the test.
CitizenCA has 450 questions like these, written from every chapter of the guide and all explained. The first 6 in every chapter are free, 60 in all, and you can hear each question read aloud. If your test date is booked, our study plan turns it into a daily pace.
Questions people ask
Are these the real citizenship test questions?
No. They are our own practice questions, written from the facts in Discover Canada. Every question on the real test is based on the study guide, so knowing the guide well is the best preparation.
Where can I find IRCC’s own practice questions?
Discover Canada has a study questions section, which IRCC’s test page links to as practice questions. Most of them ask you to find an answer in the guide.
How many questions do I need to get right to pass?
At least 15 of the 20, which is 75%.
Are the questions multiple choice?
Each question is either multiple choice or true or false.
How many practice questions does CitizenCA have?
Practise with CitizenCA
450 questions written from Discover Canada in plain English, every one explained, and practice tests marked like the real one: 20 questions in 45 minutes, 15 right to pass.
Try a question from the app, right on our home page.