If you want to enjoy Canadian citizenship benefits, you’ll have to study hard and pass the Canadian citizenship test.
All the test topics are in Discover Canada, the official study guide.
See some topics below to get you started today.
Becoming Canadian
As you aspire to become a Canadian, expect to embrace democratic principles such as the rule of law immediately.
Diversity in Canada
Besides those naturally born here, Canada is really an immigrant nation. Over the past 200 years, there have been millions of newcomers who have helped to shape its way of life.
Presently the majority of Canadians are English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Aboriginal, Ukrainian, Dutch, South Asian, and Scandinavian.
If you’re not in this majority, don’t feel left out. Non-official languages are also widely spoken in Canadian homes.
Most Canadians identify as christians. As it happens, the largest religious affiliation is catholic. Then various protestant churches. The numbers of muslims, jews, hindus, sikhs and members of other religions, as well as people who state “no religion,” are also growing. This diversity also includes LGBTQ Canadians.
Everyone enjoys full protection of the law. Thus Canada is made up of diverse, multicultural peoples.
Canada’s History
Aboriginal Peoples
When Europeans first landed here, they found all regions occupied.
The inhabitants were native people first mistaken to be Indians from the East Indies.
Interestingly, these native people lived purely off the land. Unfortunately, warfare was conventional among Aboriginal groups. As they intensely competed for land, resources and prestige.
The arrival of European settlers inevitably changed their way of life forever. Despite various challenges, they eventually united to lay the foundations of Canada. From this foundation, come the Canadian citizenship benefits that are highly sought after.
The First Europeans
The Vikings from Iceland who colonized Greenland 1,000 years ago also reached Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. The remains of their settlement, l’Anse aux Meadows, are a World Heritage site.
European exploration began in earnest in 1497 with the expedition of John Cabot. He was the first to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast.
Exploring a river, naming Canada Between 1534 and 1542, Jacques Cartier heard two captured guides speak the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning “village.” By the 1550s, the name of Canada began appearing on maps.
Royal New France
In 1604, French explorers established the first European settlement.
In 1608 Champlain built a fortress at what is now Québec City.
Champlain allied the colony with the historic enemies of the Iroquois League, a confederation of the native peoples. They battled with the French settlements for a century and eventually made peace in 1701.
The French and Aboriginal people collaborated in the vast fur-trade economy, driven by the demand for beaver pelts in Europe. Subsequently, the French built an empire that reached from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.
Struggle for a Continent
In 1670, King Charles II of England granted the Hudson’s Bay Company exclusive trading rights over the watershed draining into Hudson Bay.
In the 1700s, France and Great Britain battled for control of North America.
In 1759, the British defeated the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham — marking the end of France’s empire in America.
The Province of Quebec
Great Britain then renamed the colony the “Province of Quebec.” Its inhabitants, the French-speaking Catholic people, strove to preserve their way of life.
A Tradition of Accommodation
To better govern the French Roman Catholic majority, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774.
One of the constitutional foundations of Canada, this Act accommodated the principles of British institutions to the reality of the province. It restored French civil law while maintaining British criminal law.
United Empire Loyalists
In 1776, the 13 British colonies to the south of Quebec declared independence and formed the United States. North America was again divided by war. Loyalists, people loyal to the Crown, fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec.
In Conclusion
As you can see Canadian citizenship benefits don’t come easy.
This country’s rich history and experiences has helped to build it into a stable, peaceful and multicultural society.