Discover Canada: 150 Key Facts You Must Know for the Test

The 150 Key Facts

This is a comprehensive list of the most-tested facts from the Discover Canada guide, organized by topic. Use this as a last-minute review checklist.

Rights and Responsibilities

1. Magna Carta signed in 1215
2. Charter of Rights and Freedoms — 1982
3. Four fundamental freedoms: conscience, expression, assembly, association
4. Habeas corpus — right to challenge unlawful detention
5. Mobility rights — live and work anywhere in Canada
6. Equality rights — no discrimination
7. Responsibilities: obey law, serve on jury, vote
8. No compulsory military service
9. Equality of women and men guaranteed
10. Constitution Act, 1982 patriated from Britain

Who We Are

1. Three founding peoples: Aboriginal, French, British
2. Aboriginal peoples: First Nations (~65%), Métis (~30%), Inuit (~4%)
3. Inuit means "the people" in Inuktitut
4. Métis speak Michif language
5. 18 million Anglophones, 7 million Francophones
6. New Brunswick — only officially bilingual province
7. Acadians deported 1755-1763 (Great Upheaval)
8. Ottawa apologized for residential schools in 2008
9. Since 1970s — most immigrants from Asian countries
10. Multiculturalism Act — 1988

Canada's History

1. Vikings reached Canada ~1000 years ago
2. L'Anse aux Meadows — Norse settlement in Newfoundland
3. John Cabot — mapped East Coast 1497
4. Jacques Cartier — named Canada from "kanata" (1534)
5. Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City (1608)
6. Battle of Plains of Abraham — 1759
7. Quebec Act 1774 — protected French rights
8. United Empire Loyalists — 40,000+ fled to Canada
9. Constitutional Act 1791 — Upper and Lower Canada
10. 1793 — Upper Canada moved toward abolishing slavery
11. War of 1812 — Americans tried to conquer Canada
12. Laura Secord — warned British of attack
13. Sir Isaac Brock — captured Detroit 1812
14. Confederation — July 1, 1867
15. Four original provinces: ON, QC, NS, NB
16. Sir John A. Macdonald — first PM
17. Sir George-Étienne Cartier — Quebec partner
18. Manitoba joined 1870 (Red River Rebellion)
19. British Columbia joined 1871
20. Prince Edward Island joined 1873
21. CPR completed November 7, 1885
22. Saskatchewan and Alberta joined 1905
23. Newfoundland joined 1949
24. Vimy Ridge — April 9, 1917
25. 60,000 Canadians killed in WWI
26. Manitoba — first province to give women the vote (1916)
27. Women's federal suffrage 1917-1918
28. Over 1 million Canadians served in WWII
29. Juno Beach — June 6, 1944 (D-Day)
30. 45,000+ Canadians killed in WWII

Modern Canada

1. Terry Fox — Marathon of Hope (1980)
2. Rick Hansen — Man in Motion World Tour (1985-87)
3. Frederick Banting — co-discovered insulin (1921-22)
4. James Naismith — invented basketball (1891)
5. Alexander Graham Bell — telephone
6. Canadarm — robotic arm for space shuttle
7. Group of Seven — landscape painters
8. Lester B. Pearson — Nobel Peace Prize (1957)
9. 1965 — Current Canadian flag adopted
10. Canada founded NATO (1949)

Government

1. Constitutional monarchy + parliamentary democracy + federal state
2. Sovereign (King) is Head of State
3. Governor General represents the Sovereign
4. Prime Minister is Head of Government
5. Parliament: Senate + House of Commons
6. Senators are appointed
7. MPs are elected in 338 ridings
8. Three branches: executive, legislative, judicial
9. Three levels: federal, provincial, municipal
10. Cabinet ministers selected by PM

Federal Elections

1. Citizens 18+ can vote
2. Secret ballot since 1874
3. First-past-the-post system
4. 338 electoral districts
5. Governor General dissolves Parliament
6. Chief Electoral Officer oversees elections

Justice System

1. Rule of law — no one above the law
2. Presumption of innocence
3. Criminal law is federal
4. Supreme Court — 9 judges, highest court
5. Three levels of policing
6. RCMP — national police force

Symbols

1. Canadian flag — February 15, 1965
2. Maple leaf — symbol for 300+ years
3. Beaver — official emblem (1975)
4. O Canada — national anthem (1980)
5. God Save the King — royal anthem
6. RCMP — founded 1873 as NWMP
7. Hockey — national winter sport
8. Lacrosse — national summer sport
9. Peace Tower — Parliament Hill
10. Victoria Cross — highest military honour
11. Order of Canada — highest civilian honour (1967)

Economy

1. Three sectors: service, manufacturing, natural resources
2. Service sector is the largest
3. US is the largest trading partner
4. CUSMA (formerly NAFTA)
5. Canada is a G7 member
6. Major exports: energy, minerals, agriculture
7. Bank of Canada — central bank

Regions and Geography

101-113. All 13 provinces/territories with capitals (see table in regions article) 114. Canada — second-largest country by area 115. Five regions: Atlantic, Central, Prairie, West Coast, Northern 116. Bay of Fundy — world's highest tides 117. Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario 118. Rocky Mountains — BC and Alberta 119. St. Lawrence River — Great Lakes to Atlantic 120. Ottawa — national capital

Continue studying with CitizenApp's 500+ practice questions covering all these facts and more.