5 Tips For Your Canadian Citizenship Test

Canada is a permanent staple of the world’s top ten in terms of countries where immigrants are heading to and applying for citizenship. With around 8 million people coming to Canada each year, the path to citizenship can be a difficult one with a lot of hoops to jump through.

One aspect of obtaining Canadian citizenship is to pass the test administered by the Canadian government. Many assume that the Canadian test is lengthy due to its neighbor, the United States, having over 125 questions on the test. However, the Canadian test is only 20 questions. That still doesn’t make it easy, though. Here are five tips to consider when preparing to ace those 20 important questions.

1. Learn Canada’s History

Canada has a rich history and was founded as a country on July 1, 1867. That gives potential new citizens a lot of ground to cover when studying for the test. The citizenship test includes many questions about Canada’s history, including who the Acadians descended from, who the Anglophones were, and how many Canadian soldiers served in World War II just to name a few.

The Canadian government has a PDF document that can be downloaded to study, as well as a booklet that can be sent or picked up from local offices. With the test being only 20 questions, you don’t need to know everything that’s in the guide, but it’s best to learn as much as you can before testing time.

2. Take Practice Tests

The best thing that you can do in any test situation, no matter how major or minor, is to take any available practice test that’s offered. Thankfully, there are plenty of online practice tests where you can get some of the questions that could be included on the citizenship test. 

Though they aren’t official, you’ll still get a good idea of what to expect. Another trick you can use is to take some of the highlights from the official study guide. Write questions down on flashcards and have someone quiz you. 

3. Know English and/or French

Most countries will have one official language (or even zero), but Canada has two. The citizenship test is administered only in English or French, so you’ll have to know one of them to obtain citizenship. There are some that may learn enough of either language to simply get through the test, but there’s more to it than that. 

Following the test, there’s an interview period, so making sure that you can communicate in the interview is just as important as being able to read and write in English or French. 

4. Study Canada’s Geography

Just like it is with any other country that administers a citizenship test, you’ll be required to know a lot about the geography of Canada. The main part that you need to know is that there are 10 provinces and three territories that make up Canada. You may be required to know the capitals of these areas, as well. Here’s a quick rundown of those provinces, territories, and their capitals:

Provinces

• Alberta (Edmonton)
• British Columbia (Victoria)
• Manitoba (Winnipeg)
• New Brunswick (Fredericton)
• Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John’s)
• Nova Scotia (Halifax)
• Ontario (Toronto)
• Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)
• Quebec (Quebec City)
• Saskatchewan (Regina)

Territories

• Northwest Territories (Yellowknife)
• Nunavut (Iqaluit)
• Yukon (Whitehorse)

Keep in mind that Ottawa is the capital of the entirety of Canada. Ottawa is in Ontario on the border of Quebec.

5. Government, Laws, and Economy

After you’ve learned all about Canada’s past and its geography, you’ll have to know about how to be an active citizen. Because of this, it’s important to make sure that you have a full understanding of how the government works, the laws of Canada, and the economy. 

These will be questions not only on the written test, but will also come up during the interview. This includes knowing about how taxes work, the branches of the government, and more. Those that have a good handle on things will get through the interview process easily.