Canadian Citizenship Test Study Guide 2026

About the citizenship test

The citizenship test checks what you know about Canada. In most cases you must take it if you are 18 to 54 years old on the day you sign your application.

The online test is monitored through your webcam. After the test, IRCC may invite you to a citizenship ceremony, an interview, a re-test or a hearing, depending on your results.

All questions are based on the official study guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. The test covers history, geography, the economy, government, laws and symbols.

Rights and responsibilities of citizenship

Canadians enjoy rights and freedoms with deep roots. The tradition of ordered liberty goes back to Magna Carta, signed in England in 1215. Another old protection from English common law is habeas corpus: the right to challenge being held by the state without a lawful reason.

In 1982 the Constitution was changed to include the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter opens by saying Canada is founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.

Fundamental freedoms

• Freedom of conscience and religion
• Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of speech and of the press
• Freedom of peaceful assembly
• Freedom of association

Other rights in the Charter

• Mobility rights: you can live and work anywhere in Canada, enter and leave the country freely, and apply for a passport.
• Aboriginal peoples' rights: the Charter does not take away treaty rights or other rights of Aboriginal peoples.
• Official language rights and minority language education rights: English and French have equal status in Parliament and across the federal government.
• Multiculturalism: a basic part of Canadian heritage and identity.

Equality of women and men

Men and women are equal under the law. Canada does not accept violence against women. Spousal abuse, honour killings, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and other gender-based violence are crimes and are severely punished.

Responsibilities of citizenship

1. Obeying the law. Everyone must follow Canada's laws.
2. Taking responsibility for yourself and your family. Working and taking care of the people you are responsible for.
3. Serving on a jury when you are called. This is a legal requirement.
4. Voting in federal, provincial or territorial, and local elections.
5. Helping others in your community, for example by volunteering.
6. Protecting and enjoying our heritage and environment.

Defending Canada

Military service is not compulsory in Canada, but serving is a noble way to contribute. The regular Canadian Forces are made up of the navy, army and air force. You can also serve part-time in the reserves, in the Coast Guard, or in emergency services such as police and fire departments. Young people can join the cadets.

Who we are

Canada has three founding peoples: Aboriginal, French and British.

Aboriginal peoples

The Aboriginal peoples of Canada are three distinct groups. The First Nations (once called Indians) are Aboriginal people who are not Inuit or Métis. About half live on reserves. The Inuit, whose name means "the people" in Inuktitut, live in scattered communities across the Arctic. The Métis are a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry. Most live in the Prairie provinces, and some speak Michif. Aboriginal and treaty rights are in the Constitution.

From the 1800s until the 1980s, many Aboriginal children were sent to residential schools, where their languages and cultures were mostly banned. The Government of Canada formally apologized in 2008.

English and French

English and French are Canada's official languages. The federal government must offer its services in both across the country. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.

• Acadians descend from French colonists who began settling in the Maritimes in 1604. From 1755 to 1763, during war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds were deported. This is called the Great Upheaval.
• Quebecers are mostly French-speaking. In 2006 the House of Commons recognized that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada. Quebec also has an English-speaking community with a long history.
• English-speaking Canadians have roots in English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish settlers, soldiers and migrants who came from the 1600s onward.

A diverse country

Most Canadians were born in Canada, but the country is often called a land of immigrants. Millions of newcomers have helped build and defend Canada. Since the 1970s, most immigrants have come from Asian countries. Gay and lesbian Canadians have full equal protection under the law, including access to civil marriage.

Canada's history: from first peoples to Confederation

Aboriginal peoples lived here for thousands of years before Europeans came. About 1,000 years ago, Vikings reached Newfoundland and Labrador. The remains of their settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows are a World Heritage site.

Explorers and New France

• 1497: John Cabot, sailing for England, was the first to map the Atlantic coast. He claimed Newfoundland for England.
• 1534 to 1542: Jacques Cartier made three voyages and claimed land for King Francis I of France. He heard the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning village, which became the name Canada.
• 1604: Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain started the first European settlement north of Florida, first on St. Croix Island and then at Port-Royal in Acadia.
• 1608: Champlain built a fortress at what is now Québec City.
• 1670: King Charles II gave the Hudson's Bay Company exclusive trading rights over the lands that drain into Hudson Bay. The fur trade, driven by demand for beaver pelts, was central to the early economy.

British rule

In 1759 the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Québec City. Both commanders, Brigadier James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm, were killed. Britain then ruled the colony as the Province of Quebec. The Quebec Act of 1774 let Catholics practise their religion freely and hold public office, and restored French civil law.

After the 13 American colonies declared independence in 1776, more than 40,000 Loyalists who stayed loyal to the Crown moved to Nova Scotia and Quebec. Joseph Brant led thousands of Loyalist Mohawks to Canada. The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), each with an elected assembly. The name Canada also became official.

In 1793 Upper Canada, under Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, became the first province in the Empire to move toward ending slavery. Britain abolished slavery across the Empire in 1833. Many enslaved people escaped from the United States to Canada along the Underground Railroad. Mary Ann Shadd Cary became the first woman publisher in Canada.

The War of 1812

In 1812 the United States invaded Canada. British soldiers, Canadian volunteers and First Nations, including Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, fought together. Sir Isaac Brock captured Detroit and died at Queenston Heights. Charles de Salaberry turned back a much larger American force at Châteauguay in 1813. Laura Secord walked about 30 km to warn of an attack. The American invasion failed, and the war helped shape today's border.

Toward self-government

Armed rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in 1837–38 were defeated. Lord Durham then proposed uniting the two colonies and giving them responsible government. In 1840 they became the Province of Canada. Responsible government means the ministers must have the support of a majority of the elected members to govern. Nova Scotia was the first colony to gain it, in 1847–48. In 1849, Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine became the first head of a responsible government in Canada.

Confederation

On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada. The four founding provinces were Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Sir Leonard Tilley suggested the name Dominion of Canada, inspired by Psalm 72. Sir John A. Macdonald became the first Prime Minister. July 1 was called Dominion Day until 1982 and is now Canada Day.

Canada's history: a growing country

New provinces and territories

When Canada took over the Northwest from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869, the Métis of Red River were not consulted. Louis Riel led an uprising and seized Fort Garry. Manitoba became a province in 1870. In 1885 a second rebellion in what is now Saskatchewan failed, and Riel was executed for high treason. Gabriel Dumont was the Métis' main military leader.

In 1873 Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police to keep order in the West. It later became the RCMP. British Columbia joined in 1871 after Ottawa promised a railway to the coast. The Canadian Pacific Railway was finished when the last spike was driven on November 7, 1885. Chinese workers helped build it and later faced discrimination, including the Head Tax. The government apologized in 2006.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier became the first French-Canadian Prime Minister since Confederation. More than 7,000 Canadians volunteered in the South African (Boer) War of 1899–1902.

The First World War

More than 600,000 Canadians served in the First World War (1914–1918), and about 60,000 were killed. In April 1917 the Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge; April 9 is now Vimy Day. General Sir Arthur Currie commanded the Canadian Corps. The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918. On Remembrance Day, Canadians wear the red poppy and keep a moment of silence. Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields."

Women and the vote

Dr. Emily Stowe founded the women's suffrage movement in Canada. Manitoba was the first province to give women the vote, in 1916. Most women aged 21 and over got the federal vote in 1918. Agnes Macphail became the first woman MP in 1921. Quebec gave women the vote in 1940.

Depression and the Second World War

The stock market crash of 1929 began the Great Depression. The Bank of Canada was created in 1934. In the Second World War (1939–1945), more than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served and 44,000 were killed. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Canadians captured Juno Beach in France. The Canadian Army also helped liberate the Netherlands in 1944–45. By the end of the war, Canada had the third-largest navy in the world. At home, Japanese Canadians were forcibly moved and their property was sold. The government apologized in 1988.

Modern Canada

After the Second World War, Canada grew more prosperous. Oil was discovered in Alberta in 1947. Social programs expanded: unemployment insurance (now employment insurance) began in 1940, and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans date from 1965. Each province and territory runs its own health care and education.

Canada helped form NATO and works with the United States in NORAD to defend North American air space. Canadians fought in the Korean War (1950–53) and have served in many UN peacekeeping and security missions.

Quebec and national unity

In the 1960s Quebec went through rapid change called the Quiet Revolution. Parliament passed the Official Languages Act in 1969, and Canada helped found La Francophonie in 1970. Quebecers voted against sovereignty in referendums in 1980 and 1995.

Aboriginal people gained the federal vote in 1960. Today every citizen aged 18 or older may vote.

Arts, sports and science

• Art: the Group of Seven, founded in 1920, painted the wilderness. Emily Carr painted West Coast forests and Aboriginal art.
• Sports: James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series. Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope for cancer research in 1980, and Rick Hansen wheeled around the world in 1985.
• Science: Banting and Best discovered insulin. Alexander Graham Bell thought of the telephone at his summer home in Canada. Reginald Fessenden helped invent radio. Sir Sandford Fleming created standard time zones. Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile. Dr. John A. Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker.

How Canadians govern themselves

Three key facts describe Canada's system: it is a federal state, a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.

Federal state

Power is divided between the federal government and the provinces. The British North America Act of 1867, now called the Constitution Act, 1867, set out who does what. The three territories have smaller populations and are not provinces, but their governments do many of the same jobs.

Parliamentary democracy

Parliament has three parts: the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons. Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected. Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the Prime Minister's advice and may serve until age 75.

The Prime Minister leads the government and chooses the Cabinet ministers. Ministers must keep the confidence of the House. If they lose a vote of confidence, they must resign or an election is called.

How a bill becomes law

1. First reading: the bill is introduced and printed.
2. Second reading: members debate the main idea of the bill.
3. Committee stage: a committee studies the bill clause by clause.
4. Report stage: members can make more changes.
5. Third reading: members debate and vote on the final bill.
6. Senate: the bill goes through similar steps in the Senate.
7. Royal Assent: the Governor General approves the bill for the Sovereign, and it becomes law.

Constitutional monarchy

Canada's head of state is the Sovereign, a hereditary King or Queen who reigns under the Constitution. Since 2022 the Sovereign has been King Charles III. The Sovereign is non-partisan, is part of Parliament and heads the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister is the head of government.

Provincial legislators have different titles: MNA (Member of the National Assembly) in Quebec, MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) in Ontario, MHA (Member of the House of Assembly) in Newfoundland and Labrador, and MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) in most other provinces and the territories. In Nunavut, the members choose the premier and ministers by consensus.

Federal elections

Canadians elect MPs to the House of Commons. Under federal law, a general election is held on the third Monday in October, four years after the last general election. The Prime Minister can ask the Governor General to call an election earlier.

Canada is divided into electoral districts, also called ridings or constituencies. The voters in each district elect one MP. The candidate with the most votes wins. Since the general election of 2025 there have been 343 districts; the study guide shows an older number, 308.

Who can vote

• You must be a Canadian citizen.
• You must be at least 18 years old on election day.
• You must be on the voters' list. Elections Canada, a neutral agency of Parliament, keeps the National Register of Electors.

Any Canadian citizen aged 18 or older may also be a candidate. After an election is called, Elections Canada mails a voter information card that tells you when and where to vote. If you do not get one, you can still register, even on election day.

How to vote

1. Go to the polling station on your card. Bring the card and proof of your identity and address.
2. Behind the voting screen, mark an X in the circle next to the candidate you choose.
3. Fold the ballot and give it to the poll official, then put it in the ballot box.
4. When the polls close, the ballots are counted and the results are made public.

Canada uses a secret ballot. No one may watch you vote or demand to know how you voted. If you cannot vote on election day, you can vote at an advance poll or by special ballot.

Forming a government

The Governor General usually invites the leader of the party with the most seats to form the government. If the governing party holds at least half of the seats, it is a majority government. If it holds fewer than half, it is a minority government. The government must keep the confidence of the House. A vote on the budget is a confidence vote. The opposition party with the most seats is the Official Opposition. Opposition parties peacefully challenge and try to improve government plans.

The justice system

Canada's justice system rests on the rule of law, due process and the presumption of innocence. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Due process means the government must respect all of a person's legal rights. The law applies to everyone, including judges, politicians and police.

Courts

• The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court.
• The Federal Court of Canada handles matters involving the federal government.
• Most provinces have an appeal court and a trial court.
• Provincial courts handle less serious offences, and there are family courts and traffic courts.
• Small claims courts hear civil cases about small amounts of money.

Police

The RCMP enforces federal laws across Canada. It is also the provincial police in every province and territory except Ontario and Quebec, which have their own provincial police. You can ask the police for help after an accident or a crime, or if someone is missing. If you have a concern about how police treated you, almost every police force has a way to raise it.

Getting legal help

A lawyer can help you with legal problems and speak for you in court. If you cannot afford one, most communities have legal aid that is free or low cost.

Canadian symbols

The Crown has been a symbol of the state in Canada for 400 years. Canada became a constitutional monarchy in its own right at Confederation in 1867.

The red-white-red design comes from the flag of the Royal Military College in Kingston. Red and white have been the national colours since 1921. The Union Jack is the official Royal Flag. The maple leaf has been a Canadian symbol for centuries, and the fleur-de-lys appears on Quebec's flag, adopted in 1948.

• Coat of arms and motto: the motto "A mari usque ad mare" is Latin for "from sea to sea."
• Parliament Buildings: the Centre Block burned in 1916 and was rebuilt by 1922. The Peace Tower, finished in 1927, honours the First World War. Its Memorial Chamber holds the Books of Remembrance.
• Sports: hockey is the national winter sport and lacrosse is the official summer sport. The Stanley Cup was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley, a Governor General. The Grey Cup is the Canadian Football League's trophy.
• The beaver: a symbol of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is on the five-cent coin.
• Official languages: English and French. The Official Languages Act was passed in 1969.
• National anthem: "O Canada" was first sung in Québec City in 1880 and proclaimed the anthem in 1980. The royal anthem is "God Save the King."
• Honours: the Order of Canada was created in 1967. The Victoria Cross is the highest honour for bravery.

Holidays and important dates

Canada's economy

Canada has always been a trading nation and has one of the largest economies in the world. Canada began free trade with the United States in 1988, and Mexico joined under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.

More than three-quarters of working Canadians have jobs in service industries. Natural resources have shaped Canada's history and are still a large share of exports. The United States is Canada's largest trading partner, and the two countries share what is often called the world's longest undefended border.

Canada's regions

Canada is the second-largest country in the world, about 10 million square kilometres. Three oceans border it: the Pacific to the west, the Atlantic to the east and the Arctic to the north. The national capital is Ottawa, chosen by Queen Victoria in 1857. Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories, grouped into five regions.

Atlantic Provinces

• Newfoundland and Labrador: the most easterly point in North America, with its own time zone. Known for fisheries, offshore oil and gas, and hydro-electric power in Labrador.
• Prince Edward Island: the smallest province and the birthplace of Confederation. Linked to the mainland by the Confederation Bridge. Setting of *Anne of Green Gables* by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
• Nova Scotia: the most populous Atlantic province. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. Halifax has Canada's largest naval base.
• New Brunswick: founded by the United Empire Loyalists, and the only officially bilingual province.

Central Canada

More than half of all Canadians live in Quebec and Ontario, which make most of Canada's manufactured goods. Quebec is the largest producer of hydro-electricity, and most Quebecers speak French as their first language. Ontario has the largest population, more than a third of all Canadians. Toronto is the largest city. Ontario also has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.

Prairie Provinces

• Manitoba: agriculture, mining and hydro-electric power. It was the first province to give women the vote.
• Saskatchewan: called the "breadbasket of the world" and the "wheat province," with about 40% of Canada's farmland. Regina is home to the RCMP training academy.
• Alberta: the most populous Prairie province, named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, a daughter of Queen Victoria. Canada's largest producer of oil and gas, and home of Banff National Park (1885).

West Coast

British Columbia is Canada's Pacific gateway. The Port of Vancouver is the largest and busiest in Canada. Forestry is a major industry, and the Okanagan Valley is known for fruit and wine. Victoria is the capital.

Northern Territories

• The North covers about a third of Canada's land but has few people. It is called the Land of the Midnight Sun because summer daylight can last 24 hours.
• Yukon: famous for the Gold Rush of the 1890s. Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain, is here.
• Northwest Territories: Yellowknife is called the "diamond capital of North America." The Mackenzie River is the second-longest river system in North America.
• Nunavut: created in 1999. Its name means "our land" in Inuktitut, and most of its people are Inuit.