To become a Canadian citizen, hopeful permanent residents must achieve a score of 75 per cent or higher on the Canadian Citizenship test.
However, a recent poll by Forum Research found that almost 90 per cent of Canadians would fail this test, and the average score among those polled was just 50 per cent.
“Many Canadians wouldn’t pass the Canadian citizenship test,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. “Canadians’ general knowledge of what’s in the study guide would only get them about halfway to a passing grade.”
According to the results, men, the country’s highest earners, post-graduate degree holders and residents of British Columbia are among the most likely to pass the test.
Survey respondents were asked a series of 10 questions, which included questions about the title of the royal anthem (often confused with the national anthem), who the Métis are, the year the Charter of Rights and Freedoms came to Canada and Canada’s head of state.
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Canadians scored most poorly on questions about the title of the Royal Anthem of Canada, civic duties, and Canada’s head of state.
When asked about the title of the royal anthem, only 36 per cent correctly answered, “God Save the Queen,” while 56 per cent responded “O Canada,” and six per cent said it was the Star Spangled Banner.
Respondents were also given a list of official responsibilities Canadian citizens have and were asked to select which item was not an official responsibility. Only 26 per cent correctly responded “driving safely.”
Lastly, over 80 per cent of respondents did not know that the Queen Elizabeth II remains Canada’s head of state to this day
Areas where respondents seemed to know their Canadian trivia included Canadian geography, the English translation of the word “Inuit,” and the significance of the Canada Pacific Railway (CPR).
In the former, 63 per cent of respondents were able to identify that the Midwest is not a Canadian geographical region. In the latter, two thirds of respondents knew that the CPR, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, is representative of unity.
Other questions on which respondents scored fairly well included the year the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was brought to Canada (1982), and identifying the founding peoples of Canada (Indigenous, French and British).
The Forum Poll™ was conducted by Forum Research with the results based on an interactive voice response telephone survey of 1645 randomly selected Canadians. The poll was June 25th -27th, 2019. Results based on the total sample are considered accurate +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20. Subsample results will be less accurate.
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