1. What is the capital city of Canada?
Ottawa
Ottawa, in the province of Ontario, is Canada's capital, even though Toronto is the country's biggest city.
2. Toronto, Canada's biggest city, is in which province?
Ontario
Toronto is the capital of Ontario and Canada's most populated city.
3. Montreal is the biggest city in which province?
Quebec
Montreal is Quebec's biggest city, though Quebec City, not Montreal, is the provincial capital.
4. Vancouver sits on which coast of Canada?
The Pacific coast
Vancouver is on Canada's west coast, on the Pacific Ocean.
5. How many provinces make up Canada?
Ten
Canada has ten provinces, plus three territories in the north.
6. Besides its ten provinces, how many territories does Canada have in the north?
Three
The three northern territories are Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
7. What is the capital city of British Columbia?
Victoria
Victoria, on Vancouver Island, is the capital of British Columbia, though Vancouver is the province's biggest city.
8. What is the capital city of Alberta?
Edmonton
Edmonton is Alberta's capital, while Calgary is the province's largest city.
9. What is the capital city of Manitoba?
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is Manitoba's capital and by far its biggest city.
10. What is the capital city of Saskatchewan?
Regina
Regina is Saskatchewan's capital, though Saskatoon is the province's biggest city.
11. What is the capital city of Nova Scotia?
Halifax
Halifax, on the Atlantic coast, is Nova Scotia's capital and biggest city.
12. What is the capital city of New Brunswick?
Fredericton
Fredericton is New Brunswick's capital, even though Saint John and Moncton are both bigger cities.
13. What is the capital city of Prince Edward Island?
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is the capital of Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province.
14. What is the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador?
St. John's
St. John's, on the island of Newfoundland, is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador.
15. What is the capital of Nunavut, Canada's newest and most northern territory?
Iqaluit
Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, a territory created in 1999 for Canada's Inuit.
16. Which mountain range runs through western Canada?
The Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains stretch through British Columbia and Alberta.
17. The Canadian Shield, which covers much of central and northern Canada, is best described as which of these?
A huge region of ancient, rocky land
The Canadian Shield is an enormous area of very old rock, shaped by ancient glaciers, covering much of Ontario, Quebec and the north.
18. Which of these is NOT one of the five Great Lakes?
Lake Winnipeg
The five Great Lakes are Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario. Lake Winnipeg is a different, separate lake in Manitoba.
19. Canada shares the Great Lakes with which country?
The United States
The Great Lakes sit on the border between Canada and the United States.
20. Which river carries water from the Great Lakes out to the Atlantic Ocean?
The St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River flows from the Great Lakes, past Montreal and Quebec City, out to the Atlantic.
21. Which river is the longest in Canada?
The Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River flows through the Northwest Territories to the Arctic Ocean and is Canada's longest river.
22. Which bay, between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, has the highest tides in the world?
The Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy's tides can rise and fall by more than 15 metres, the biggest tidal range on Earth.
23. Which three oceans touch Canada's coastline?
The Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic
Canada touches the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific in the west and the Arctic in the north, giving it the longest coastline of any country.
24. Indigenous peoples had been living in what is now Canada for roughly how long before Europeans arrived?
Thousands of years
Indigenous peoples have lived across what is now Canada for thousands of years before any European set foot there.
25. The Inuit traditionally live in which part of Canada?
The Arctic and far north
The Inuit are Indigenous people of the Arctic, traditionally living across Canada's far north.
26. The Métis, one of Canada's three recognised Indigenous peoples, are a distinct people descended from whom?
First Nations and European fur traders
The Métis Nation grew from families with both First Nations and European, mostly French, fur-trade ancestry, and developed its own distinct culture.
27. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a long-standing alliance of Indigenous nations in what is now Ontario and New York, is also known by which name?
The Six Nations
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is also called the Six Nations, after the six member nations it eventually included.
28. European fur traders who paddled canoes over long distances between trading posts were known as what?
Voyageurs
Voyageurs were the fur traders, mostly French Canadian, who paddled and portaged canoes loaded with furs and goods across the country.
29. New France, Canada's first major European colony, was settled mainly by people from which country?
France
New France was France's colony along the St. Lawrence River, centred on Quebec City, founded in the early 1600s.
30. The 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham, a turning point in the fight for control of Canada, was fought near which city?
Quebec City
The battle was fought on high ground just outside the walls of Quebec City, between British and French forces.
31. Canadian Confederation, when Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined together as one country, happened in which year?
1867
Confederation took place on 1 July 1867, a date still celebrated every year as Canada Day.
32. Who was Canada's first Prime Minister?
John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald became Canada's first Prime Minister when Confederation took place in 1867.
33. Which of these provinces did NOT join Canada at Confederation in 1867?
Manitoba
Only Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined in 1867. Manitoba became a province in 1870, and other provinces joined later still.
34. The Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, is famous for doing what?
Linking the country from coast to coast
The Canadian Pacific Railway joined British Columbia to the rest of Canada, fulfilling a promise made when BC joined Confederation.
35. Which First World War battle, fought in 1917, is often seen as a defining moment for Canada as a nation?
The Battle of Vimy Ridge
At Vimy Ridge in April 1917, Canadian troops fighting together as one force captured ground that other Allied armies had not been able to take.
36. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in which country?
France
Vimy Ridge is in northern France, where the battle was fought in April 1917.
37. On D-Day in June 1944, Canadian troops landed on which beach in Normandy?
Juno Beach
Juno Beach was the section of the Normandy coast where Canadian forces landed on D-Day, 6 June 1944.
38. The Statute of Westminster, passed in 1931, did what for Canada?
Gave Canada full power to make its own laws, separate from Britain
The Statute of Westminster in 1931 gave Canada and other dominions full legislative independence from the British Parliament.
39. Canada's Constitution was fully brought under Canadian control, without needing approval from Britain, in which year?
1982
In 1982, the Constitution was patriated, meaning Canada no longer needed the British Parliament's approval to change it.
40. What document, added when the Constitution was patriated in 1982, guarantees Canadians' basic rights and freedoms?
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms became part of the Constitution in 1982 and protects rights such as free speech and equality before the law.
41. What kind of government does Canada have?
A parliamentary democracy
Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy: laws are made by an elected parliament.
42. Who leads Canada's government day to day?
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister leads the government and is normally the head of the political party with the most seats in Parliament.
43. Canada's Parliament is made up of two houses. What are they called?
The House of Commons and the Senate
Members of the House of Commons are elected, while members of the Senate are appointed.
44. Who officially represents the King in Canada?
The Governor General
The Governor General carries out the King's formal, ceremonial duties in Canada, since Canada is a constitutional monarchy.
45. Which of these areas is mainly run by Canada's provinces, rather than the federal government?
Education and health care
Under Canada's constitution, provinces run their own schools and hospitals, while the federal government handles things like defence and money.
46. What are Canada's two official languages?
English and French
Canada has been officially bilingual, in English and French, since 1969.
47. In which province is French the majority language?
Quebec
Quebec is home to most of Canada's French speakers, and French is the province's sole official language.
48. Which is Canada's only officially bilingual province, with both English and French as official languages by law?
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is Canada's only province that is legally bilingual, alongside sizeable French and English speaking communities.
49. Canada's national flag, adopted in 1965, features which symbol?
A red maple leaf
The red and white maple leaf flag was adopted in 1965, replacing an earlier flag that included the British Union Jack.
50. Which animal is a well known symbol of Canada, and appears on the five cent coin?
The beaver
The beaver has been a symbol of Canada since the fur trade days and appears on the nickel, Canada's five cent coin.
51. What is the name of Canada's national anthem?
O Canada
O Canada became Canada's official national anthem in 1980, though it had been sung since the 1880s.
52. Canada Day, marking Confederation in 1867, is celebrated on what date?
1 July
Canada Day falls on 1 July every year, the date Confederation took effect in 1867.
53. What is Canada's federal police force commonly called?
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, nicknamed the Mounties, is Canada's national police force, known for its red uniform.
54. What colours appear on the Canadian flag?
Red and white
The Canadian flag is red and white, the colours officially declared Canada's national colours in 1921.
55. Insulin, used to treat which disease, was discovered by Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto?
Diabetes
Banting and Best discovered insulin in 1921 and 1922, giving people with diabetes a life saving treatment.
56. The first practical implantable cardiac pacemaker was built in the 1950s by which Canadian engineer?
John Hopps
John Hopps, an engineer working in Ottawa, built the first practical pacemaker in 1950, though it took years more work before implantable versions were used in patients.
57. The idea of dividing the world into standard time zones was proposed by which Canadian?
Sandford Fleming
Sandford Fleming, a Scottish born Canadian engineer, proposed worldwide standard time in the 1870s and 1880s, the system still used today.
58. Standard time divides the world up into what?
Time zones
Standard time splits the globe into time zones, each keeping a set time rather than every town using its own local sun time.
59. The sport of basketball was invented by James Naismith, who was born in which country?
Canada
James Naismith was born in Ontario, Canada, and invented basketball in 1891 while working in the United States.
60. Alexander Graham Bell did key early work developing the telephone at his family's home in which Canadian town?
Brantford, Ontario
Bell's family home in Brantford, Ontario, is where he did important early experiments on the telephone, before patenting it in the United States.