ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador are nose into the books studying for their Canadian citizenship test, and the Association for New Canadians is pulling over a chair and joining their study circle.
Immigrants must take a test that features 20 questions — multiple choice, and true or false — about Canada’s symbols, history, laws, geography and more.
The study guide that is used to prepare for the test is "Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship."
The Association for New Canadians is offering citizenship classes for free, where a teacher will go through information found in the guide, starting Sept. 10 and running for 10 weeks.
“It’s fairly intense studying,” said Jean Graham, communications, marketing and media co-ordinator for the Association for New Canadians.
In order to gain Canadian citizenship, individuals must answer 15 out of the 20 questions correctly.
Graham has been to many citizenship ceremonies where newcomers are granted their title as Canadians, and she says it’s something everybody should see.
“There’s something big about being a citizen in a country. If you are born a citizen, you couldn’t possibly appreciate it.” Graham said.
“It really means a lot to people. There’s always smiles and tears at the ceremony.”
The smiles and tears come after the weeks of studying information that many Canadian citizens probably don’t know.
“I know I couldn’t pass it,” Graham said.
In fact, a random survey conducted by The Forum Poll asked 1,645 Canadian voters 10 questions drawn from "Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship," and only 12 per cent got a passing grade.
Newfoundland and Labrador has been a part of Canada for 70 years — that’s a lot of time to study.
The Telegram took to the streets of downtown St. John's to quiz people on the study questions for the citizenship test, and found out that Newfoundlanders knew some answers like the back of their hand, while others, not so much.
Jennifer Lahey and Cindy Smith
Name two documents that contain our rights and freedoms.
"Oh, my goodness. The Charter of Rights. I don’t know that one."
Identify four rights that Canadians enjoy?
"Freedom of speech, freedom to vote and something to do with publication."
Bobbi Snelgrove and Erika Herder
Where does Canada rank on the list of largest countries?
“Four.”
Who were the three founding peoples of Canada?
“I don’t know,” Snelgrove says, turning to her neice, Erika Herder. “You’re in school, you should know.”
"The British and the French, I remember some," Herder said.
Name some Canadian symbols.
"Uh, maple leaf and a loon."
Christopher Dunn
Name some Canadian symbols.
"Moose and a loon."
Who were the founding peoples of Canada?
"Beothuk, Miꞌkmaq and Inuit. And the Spanish and the English."
What is the highest honour a Canadian can receive?
"The Order of Canada."
Keith Burke
Where does Canada rank on the list of largest countries?
"Second."
Name two documents that contain our rights and freedoms.
"The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Criminal Code."
Name some Canadian symbols.
"The beaver and the maple leaf."
Think you could pass the test? Try out some of the sample questions below:
Who was Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine?
What did the Canadian Pacific Railway symbolize?
What are some examples of taking responsibility for yourself and your family?
What is the significance of the discovery of insulin by Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best?
What does it mean to say that Canada is a constitutional monarchy?
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Twitter: @JasmineBurtNL
