Canada: Who, what, where, when and how?
See how many of the following questions on Canada’s history you are able to answer.
Land and Landscape
1) In 1535, which famous European explorer charted the St. Lawrence River, with assistance from native peoples, and claimed the region for France?
2) What is the original name for Ottawa?
3) Where does Canada rank in the world in terms of size?
4) The province of Alberta is named after whom?
5) How long is the border between Canada and the United States?
a) 2000-4000 km
b) 4000-6000 km
c) 6000-8000 km
d) 8000-10,000 km
6) True of False: Canada has the longest coastline in the world?
7) True or False: Mt.Mackenzie is the highest mountain in Canada?
8) In what province is LakeAthabasca?
Politics and Politicians
9) Which province was the first to introduce Medicare?
10) Who was the political leader who led the campaign for Medicare?
11) Name the first Canadian prime minister to proclaim: "The 20th century will belong to Canada"
12) Name the prime minister during the worst years of the economic bust of the 1930s.
13) What Canadian won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to peacefully resolve the Suez Crisis and then went on to become prime minister?
14) What major event happened in Winnipeg in 1919?
a) A general strike
b) The Red River Resistance
c) A great flood
d) The first Stanley Cup hockey game
15) Who was the first prime minister to be born in Canada?
16) Canadian prime ministers, culminating with the Brian Mulroney government in the late 1980s, led the international movement against which South African government policy?
17) In 1942, a national plebiscite sparked a fierce debate over military service and national unity. What was this plebiscite about?
Citizenship and Government
18) Name the province that was part of the initial Confederation discussions but decided to opt out of federal union until a later date?
19) Who is Canada's second largest trading partner?
20) In what year did Canada gain independence from Britain to make its own foreign policy?
21) Which is the only legally bilingual province?
22) Which four provinces joined together in Confederation?
23) What is the largest majority (for any political party) ever recorded in Canadian history?
24) What is the Queen's representative in each province called?
25) In federal Parliament, what is a law called before it’s passed?
People and Places
26) What Canadian doctor was responsible for the discovery of insulin in 1923?
27) Who coined the phrase "the global village" and "the medium is the message"?
28) Who was the first Canadian in space?
29) Which Canadian boxer won the gold medal in 1988 Olympics?
30) What was the name of Wayne Gretzky's first professional hockey team?
31) Who was the first woman to be appointed the Supreme Court of Canada?
32) Where did General Wolfe and the British army defeat the French army for control of Quebec in 1759?
Industry and Finance
33) What major Canadian economic policy of Pierre Trudeau's government sparked the creation of a bumper sticker proclaiming "Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark!"?
34) Which NHL team has won more Stanley Cups than any other?
35) The trophy for the Canadian university football league is named after a famous war hero, diplomat and governor general. What is his name?
36) Name Canada's first female Member of Parliament.
37) What was the name given to the group of women involved in the Person's Case/Edwards v. Attorney General of Canada in 1929?
38) What was the name given to the hundreds of French women who came to New France in an attempt to populate the new French colony?
39) What was the name given to the almost 50,000 women who came to Canada after the Second World War to join their Canadian servicemen husbands?
40) Who was the Canadian silent film actress who was known as "America's Sweetheart" during her career in Hollywood?
41) Name the female artist known also "Klee Wyck" by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation on Canada's west coast.
42) Name the daughter of a Mohawk Chief and an English woman who became a celebrated Canadian poet and performer.
43) What year did Canada eliminate the one dollar bill and replace it with the "loonie"?
Canada-U.S. relations
44) Today, 85 per cent of Canada's exports go to the United States. What share of Canada's exports went to the United States in 1900?
a) 10 per cent
b) 33 per cent
c) 57 per cent
d) 85 per cent
45) What is the name of the trade agreement linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico that went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994?
46) The United States was home to two very famous exiles who fled south after their involvement in rebellions. Name one of these exiles.
47) What is the name of the term used to describe the belief that Americans should control all of North America?
48) What was the name given to John A. Macdonald's policy that included a railroad and protective tariffs?
49) In 1958, the government of John Diefenbaker, created an organization with the United States to monitor and defend the airspace over our continent. What is this organization called?
Arts and Culture
50) Who wrote the words to O Canada?
51) What is the name of the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy awards?
a) Genies
b) Mulroneys
c) Junos
d) Trudeaus
52) Which Canadian originally performed the Hockey Song?
53) Neil Young and Sarah McLachlan have both released albums with what title?
54) Name the Canadian actor is known for going to the future and back in the 1980s, his work on television sitcoms and his battle with Parkinson's Disease.
55) Who wrote the theme song for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show?
56) Who composed our national anthem?
57) What is the name of Canada's official summer sport?
58) Where was Babe Ruth's first professional home run hit?
International Affairs
59) Who was prime minister of Canada during the Second World War?
60) Which Canadian city hosted the world for the '76 Summer Olympics?
61) At a speaking engagement in Philadelphia in 1965, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson questioned American involvement in Vietnam and recommended a halt to all air strikes by the U.S. military. President Lyndon B. Johnson later responded by:
a) Shaking Pearson's hand and smiling for the cameras
b) Grabbing Pearson by the lapels and yelling at him
c) Halting military action in Vietnam and sending troops home
d) Making a radio address condemning the actions of Pearson
62) Which French president fuelled separatist tensions in 1967 when he proclaimed during a speech in Montreal: "Vive le Quebec libre!"?
63) Canada is a part of a voluntary association of sovereign nations that used to belong to the British Empire. What is the name of this association?
War and Remembrance
64) The country's worst epidemic, spread by troops returning from service overseas during the Great War, killed 50,000 Canadians. What disease was responsible for the greatest health crisis in Canadian history?
65) Name the Canadian commander at Vimy Ridge who later became Canada's governor general.
66) In June 1944, Canadians participated in a major military operation called D-Day. Which of the following best describes D-Day?
a) The invasion of Japan
b) The bombing of PearlHarbour
c) The liberation of Hong Kong
d) The invasion of France
67) The term "D-Day Dodgers" applies to soldiers fighting in which campaign in the Second World War?
68) Aug. 15, 1945 marked an important day of celebration and a final end to the Second World War. What is this day called?
69) Name the tragic First World War battle that took place on July 1, 1916 and resulted in the death or wounding of almost the entire 1st Newfoundland Regiment.
70) Name the Cold War armed conflict where more than 26,000 Canadian service men and women served, 516 of which lost their lives?
Controversy and Scandal
71) Name the controversial political figure whom is credited with the creation of the province of Manitoba.
72) What was the name of the ship of South Asian immigrants who were denied entry to Canada in 1914 because of the discriminatory "continuous passage" immigration policy?
73) Quebec cabinet minister, Pierre Laporte, was taken hostage and killed during the October Crisis initiated by which extremist separatist group?
74) In 1926, William Lyon Mackenzie tried to call an election and ended up in a battle of wills with the governor general. What is the rhyming name given to this political conflict?
75) Which famous Canadian declared "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation" in 1967 in reference to the Omnibus Bill that brought issues such as divorce law, abortion and homosexuality to the forefront.