Canadians not strong on history, poll suggests

With Canada’s 150th birthday two years away, a new poll suggests Canadians need to brush up on their history.

The poll found that 28 per cent of those surveyed could not confirm that 1867 was the year of Canada’s Confederation. Another 18 per cent didn’t even try to guess.

Residents of Alberta (90 per cent) and Ontario (75 per cent) were more likely than the national average to know Canada’s confederation year.

The pollsters asked what important milestones would be marked in 2017. Barely more than half (56 per cent) said Canada’s 150th birthday. Other answers offered included:

• 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War (nine per cent, actually in 2014)
• The PanAm games (four per cent, happening summer 2015)
• 50th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (four per cent, happening in 2032)
• No idea (26 per cent)

More than a quarter of those polled could not correctly answer that Sir John A. Macdonald was Canada’s first prime minister. Another 11 per cent had no idea who was.

The poll was conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Historica Canada. The company surveyed 1,001 people online last June. Results are considered accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points, had all Canadian adults been surveyed.