The Canadian citizenship test is administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) as one of the final steps in the citizenship application process. After your application is approved in principle and your physical presence calculation is confirmed, IRCC will schedule you for the citizenship test and hearing. Adult applicants between the ages of 18 and 54 must pass both the written test and the in-person interview with a citizenship officer. Applicants under 18 or over 54 are exempt from the knowledge test. The test is delivered in English or French at a designated IRCC hearing office.
The Canadian citizenship test has 20 multiple-choice questions and you must answer at least 15 correctly — 75% — to pass. All questions come from the official study guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, published by IRCC. The guide covers five broad topic areas: Canadian rights and responsibilities, Canada's history from Indigenous peoples through Confederation to modern day, the Canadian system of government including Parliament and the courts, Canada's symbols and geography, and modern Canada including the economy and culture. Failing the test means you will need to attend a second hearing, which may include a panel review.
The rights and responsibilities section is often the most difficult for applicants. It covers the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (passed in 1982 as part of the Constitution Act), your obligations as a citizen (obeying the law, serving on jury duty if asked, voting), and the difference between rights and responsibilities. The history section spans over 400 years from pre-contact Indigenous civilizations to Confederation in 1867 to the repatriation of the Constitution in 1982. The government section tests your knowledge of the three levels of government (federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal), the roles of the Governor General, Prime Minister, and Cabinet, and how elections work under the first-past-the-post system.
LicenceReady's Canadian citizenship practice tests are organized by the five topic categories in Discover Canada so you can focus on your weakest areas before test day. All questions include explanations that reference the handbook page content, helping you understand the "why" behind each answer. Target 85%+ in practice before your scheduled test date. The official Discover Canada guide is available as a free PDF from the IRCC website and is the only authorized source for citizenship test content.
Official handbooks, citizenship guides, and gear for new Canadian drivers — curated by LicenceReady.
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