Key dates and people for the citizenship test

These are the dates and people from Discover Canada that often come up on the citizenship test. Read them a few times, then test yourself.

Key dates

About 1,000 years ago The Vikings reach Newfoundland and Labrador, at L'Anse aux Meadows. (Chapter 4)
1215 The Magna Carta (the Great Charter of Freedoms) is signed in England. (Chapter 2)
1497 John Cabot is the first to map Canada's east coast. (Chapter 4)
1534–1542 Jacques Cartier makes three trips for France and explores the St. Lawrence River. (Chapter 4)
1604 The French start a settlement in Acadia. (Chapter 4)
1608 Samuel de Champlain founds Québec City. (Chapter 4)
1755–1763 The Great Upheaval: during war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds of the Acadians are deported. (Chapter 3)
1758 The first elected assembly meets in Halifax. (Chapter 4)
1759 The British win the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Québec City. (Chapter 4)
1763 King George III's Royal Proclamation first guarantees Aboriginal territorial rights and sets the basis for treaties. (Chapter 3)
1774 The Quebec Act gives Catholics religious freedom and keeps French civil law with British criminal law. (Chapter 4)
1791 The Constitutional Act splits Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), each with an elected assembly. (Chapter 4)
1793 Upper Canada, under John Graves Simcoe, is the first province in the British Empire to move toward ending slavery. (Chapter 4)
1812–1814 The War of 1812: the United States invades Canada, but by 1814 the invasion has failed. (Chapter 4)
1833 Britain ends slavery in its empire. (Chapter 4)
1837–1838 Rebellions fail. Lord Durham then suggests joining the two Canadas and giving them responsible government. (Chapter 4)
1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as Canada's capital. (Chapter 11)
July 1, 1867 Confederation: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick form the Dominion of Canada. July 1 is now Canada Day. (Chapter 4)
1870 Manitoba becomes a province after the Métis of Red River, led by Louis Riel, resist. (Chapter 4)
1871 British Columbia joins Canada. (Chapter 4)
1873 Prince Edward Island joins Canada. Macdonald creates the North West Mounted Police (today the RCMP). (Chapter 4)
1885 The Canadian Pacific Railway is finished. Louis Riel is executed after a second rebellion. (Chapter 4)
1898 Yukon joins Canada. (Chapter 4)
1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada. (Chapter 4)
1916 Women win the right to vote in Manitoba. (Chapter 4)
April 1917 Canadian soldiers win the Battle of Vimy Ridge. April 9 is remembered as Vimy Day. (Chapter 4)
1918 Women win the right to vote in federal elections. (Chapter 4)
November 11, 1918 The First World War ends. November 11 is now Remembrance Day. (Chapter 4)
1927 The Peace Tower is completed, to remember the First World War. (Chapter 9)
1940 Women win the right to vote in Quebec. (Chapter 4)
1940 The federal government starts unemployment insurance (today called employment insurance). (Chapter 5)
June 6, 1944 D-Day: Canadians capture Juno Beach in France. (Chapter 4)
1947 Oil is found in Alberta, starting Canada's modern energy industry. (Chapter 5)
1948 Japanese Canadians win the right to vote. (Chapter 5)
1949 Newfoundland and Labrador joins Canada. (Chapter 4)
1950–1953 The Korean War: Canada helps defend South Korea; about 500 Canadians die. (Chapter 5)
1956 Canada welcomes about 37,000 Hungarian refugees. (Chapter 5)
1960 Aboriginal people get the right to vote. (Chapter 5)
1960s Quebec changes quickly in the Quiet Revolution. (Chapter 5)
1965 The red maple leaf flag is first raised. (Chapter 9)
1965 The Canada and Quebec Pension Plans start. (Chapter 5)
1967 Canada creates the Order of Canada, on the 100th anniversary of Confederation. (Chapter 9)
1969 The Official Languages Act guarantees federal services in English and French across Canada. (Chapter 5)
1970 Canada helps found La Francophonie, a group of French-speaking countries. (Chapter 5)
After 1975 Canada welcomes more than 50,000 Vietnamese refugees. (Chapter 5)
1980 O Canada becomes the national anthem. (Chapter 9)
1980 Quebec voters reject sovereignty (separation) in a referendum. They reject it again in a second referendum in 1995. (Chapter 5)
1982 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is added (entrenched) to the Constitution. (Chapter 2)
1988 Canada signs a free trade agreement with the United States. (Chapter 10)
1994 Mexico joins Canada and the United States, creating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Chapter 10)
1999 Nunavut is created. Its name means "our land" in Inuktitut. (Chapter 11)
2006 The House of Commons recognizes that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada. (Chapter 3)
2008 Ottawa formally apologizes to former students of residential schools. (Chapter 3)
October 11, 2017 From this date, applicants aged 18 to 54 must pass the citizenship knowledge test. (Chapter 1)
June 8, 2026 Louise Arbour becomes Governor General of Canada. (Chapter 6)

Key people

King Charles III: Canada's Sovereign and head of state (as of 2026). New citizens swear the Oath of Citizenship to him. (Chapter 2)
King George III: Made the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which first guaranteed Aboriginal territorial rights. (Chapter 3)
John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuir): Popular Governor General (1935–1940) who said immigrant groups should keep their identity and also share a new loyalty to Canada. (Chapter 3)
John Cabot: First to map Canada's east coast, in 1497. (Chapter 4)
Jacques Cartier: Made three trips for France (1534–1542), explored the St. Lawrence River and heard the word "kanata". (Chapter 4)
Samuel de Champlain: Founded Québec City in 1608. (Chapter 4)
Joseph Brant: Led Mohawk Loyalists who moved to Canada after the American Revolution. (Chapter 4)
John Graves Simcoe: Led Upper Canada when, in 1793, it became the first province in the British Empire to move toward ending slavery. (Chapter 4)
Chief Tecumseh: First Nations leader who helped defend Canada in the War of 1812. (Chapter 4)
Sir Isaac Brock: Captured Detroit during the War of 1812. (Chapter 4)
Charles de Salaberry: Won the battle at Châteauguay during the War of 1812. (Chapter 4)
Laura Secord: Walked about 30 km to warn of an American attack during the War of 1812. (Chapter 4)
Lord Durham: After the 1837–38 rebellions, suggested joining the two Canadas and giving them responsible government. (Chapter 4)
Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin: Worked together for responsible government in the Province of Canada. (Chapter 4)
Sir John A. Macdonald: Canada's first Prime Minister (1867). He created the North West Mounted Police in 1873. Sir John A. Macdonald Day is January 11. (Chapter 4)
Sir George-Étienne Cartier: Led Quebec into Confederation. (Chapter 4)
Louis Riel: Led the Métis of Red River, which led to Manitoba in 1870. He was executed after a second rebellion in 1885. (Chapter 4)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier: The first French-Canadian Prime Minister. He encouraged settlement of the West. Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day is November 20. (Chapter 4)
Agnes Macphail: The first woman Member of Parliament (1921). (Chapter 4)
Margaret Laurence: A famous Canadian writer. (Chapter 5)
Mordecai Richler: A famous Canadian writer. (Chapter 5)
Emily Carr: Painter of West Coast forests and Aboriginal objects. (Chapter 5)
Jean-Paul Riopelle: Best-known member of Les Automatistes, a Quebec group of abstract painters in the 1950s. (Chapter 5)
Kenojuak Ashevak: A pioneer of modern Inuit art. (Chapter 5)
James Naismith: A Canadian who invented basketball in 1891. (Chapter 5)
Paul Henderson: Scored the famous winning hockey goal against the Soviet Union in 1972. (Chapter 5)
Wayne Gretzky: Hockey player who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979 to 1988. (Chapter 5)
Donovan Bailey: Runner who won two Olympic gold medals in 1996. (Chapter 5)
Chantal Petitclerc: A Paralympic wheelchair racing champion. (Chapter 5)
Terry Fox: Lost a leg to cancer and began his Marathon of Hope in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. (Chapter 5)
Rick Hansen: Went around the world in a wheelchair in 1985. (Chapter 5)
Lord Grey: Governor General who gave the Grey Cup for Canadian football in 1909. (Chapter 5)
Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best: Discovered insulin, which treats diabetes. (Chapter 5)
Alexander Graham Bell: Invented the telephone. (Chapter 5)
Joseph-Armand Bombardier: Invented the snowmobile. (Chapter 5)
Sir Sandford Fleming: Invented standard time zones. (Chapter 5)
Reginald Fessenden: Invented radio voice messages. (Chapter 5)
Dr. John A. Hopps: Invented the pacemaker. (Chapter 5)
Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie: Created the BlackBerry. (Chapter 5)
Mark Carney: Canada's Prime Minister and head of government (as of 2026). (Chapter 6)
Louise Arbour: Governor General of Canada since June 8, 2026 (as of 2026). She represents the Sovereign in Canada. (Chapter 6)
David Johnston: The Governor General shown in the printed version of the study guide. (Chapter 6)
Queen Elizabeth II: Became Queen in 1952. The printed study guide names her as the Sovereign. (Chapter 9)
Lord Stanley: Governor General who gave the Stanley Cup for hockey in 1892. (Chapter 9)
Adrienne Clarkson: Canada's 26th Governor General. She created the Clarkson Cup for women's hockey in 2005. (Chapter 9)
Alexander Roberts Dunn: The first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross (Charge of the Light Brigade, Crimean War, 1854). (Chapter 9)
William Hall: From Nova Scotia; the first Black person to receive the Victoria Cross (Siege of Lucknow, 1857). (Chapter 9)
Robert Hampton Gray: Navy pilot from British Columbia, killed in August 1945; the last Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross. (Chapter 9)
Queen Victoria: Queen at Confederation in 1867. She chose Ottawa as Canada's capital in 1857. (Chapter 11)
Princess Louise Caroline Alberta: The province of Alberta is named after her. (Chapter 11)

Practise with citizenship questions Read the chapter notes