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Test your knowledge of Canada's past with our high school history quiz. All questions feature topics taught to students in high schools across the country. Find out if you pass or fail below.

The Canadian flag flies on Parliament Hill in this file photo.

1 Which of the following is not one of the original provinces that joined together in Confederation in 1867?
a. New Brunswick
b. Prince Edward Island
c. Nova Scotia
d. Quebec

Answer: b. Prince Edward Island
P.E.I. joined Confederation in 1873 becoming the seventh province in Canada.

2 Who is credited with establishing the first permanent European settlement in what became Canada?
a. Henry Hudson
b. Jacques Cartier
c. Samuel de Champlain
d. Christopher Columbus

Answer: c. Samuel de Champlain
French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded present-day Québec City in 1608.

3 Which province was first to grant women the right to vote?
a. Ontario
b. Nova Scotia
c. Manitoba
d. British Columbia

Answer: c. Manitoba
Women were granted the right to vote in Manitoba in 1916.

4 Which Prime Minister is responsible for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
a. Joe Clark
b. Pierre Trudeau
c. Lester B. Pearson
d. Brian Mulroney

Answer: b. Pierre Trudeau
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982.

5 Which animal’s fur drove the fur-trade economy?
a. Deer
b. Bear
c. Beaver
d. Fox

Answer: c. Beaver
The fur trade lasted from the early 17th century to the mid-19th century.

6 The Battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought in:
a. Québec City
b. Montréal
c. Grand-Pré
d. The Fortess of Louisbourg

Answer: a. Québec City
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which was part of the Seven Years War, resulted in the surrender of Québec to the British.

7 On D-Day, Allied forces established five beachheads along the northern coast of France. What is the name of the beach on which Canadian forces landed?
a. Dieppe
b. Sword
c. Juno
d. Omaha

Answer: c. Juno
On June 6, 1944, Canadian, British and American forces landed along the coast of Normandy, France, to launch an assault on German forces in western Europe.

8 During the Second World War, thousands of Canadians were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast of Canada because of their ethnic origin. Who were these Canadians?
a. German
b. Japanese
c. Polish
d. Italian

Answer: b. Japanese
Thousands of Japanese Canadians were interned or uprooted due to government policies enacted under the War Measures Act, the last of which wasn’t lifted until 1948.

9 Who was Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister?
a. Sir Robert Borden
b. Sir Wilfrid Laurier
c. John Diefenbaker
d. William Lyon Mackenzie King

Answer: d. William Lyon Mackenzie King
King served as prime minister from 1921-1926, 1926-1930 and 1935-1948.

10 The long strips of land that backed onto the St. Lawrence River during the early days of the colony were known as:
a. The Feudal system
b. The Seigneurial system
c. The St Lawrence system
d. The New France system

Answer: b. The Seigneurial system
This system was a form of land distribution in New France where tenants were granted pieces of land by a seigneur in exchange for royalties.

11 For what political accomplishment is Agnes Macphail (1890-1954) best known?
a. She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada
b. She was the first woman elected to the House of Commons
c. She was the first woman appointed to the Senate
d. She was the first woman elected mayor of a major Canadian city

Answer: b. She was the first woman elected to the House of Commons
Agnes Macphail served in the House of Commons from 1921-1940 before being elected to the Ontario legislature as one of the first two female members in 1943.

12 During the War of 1812, General Isaac Brock won battles with the collaboration of which Indigenous leader?
a. Joseph Brant
b. Tecumseh
c. Poundmaker
d. Big Bear

Answer: b. Tecumseh
Tecumseh was the leader of a First Nations confederacy created to resist American efforts to take indigenous land north of the Ohio River. They later aligned with the British during the War of 1812.

Results

You must answer all of the questions to see your result.
Final grade: A
Final grade: B
Final grade: C
Final grade: D
Final grade: F
The questions used in this quiz were provided by Historica Canada, the country’s largest organization dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canadian history and citizenship.