Canadian arts, sport and science for the citizenship test

Questions about sport, the arts and science come up often on the citizenship test. Most of them ask you to match a name with a field or an achievement: who invented basketball, what Terry Fox raised money for, or what the Group of Seven painted. This page covers each field in turn, using only the people and facts in the official study guide Discover Canada. Each field has a quick “who did what” table, and the common mix-ups are at the end.

If you would rather study people in the order of history, read our people to know page. For the flag, the anthems and the other national symbols, see Canadian symbols at a glance.

Most questions give a name and ask for the field, or give an achievement and ask for the name. The wrong answers are usually real Canadians from the same part of the guide. So learn each name with its field and one key fact.

Sport

Canada’s national sports

Canada has two official national sports, one for each season.

• Hockey is the national winter sport. It developed in Canada in the 1800s, and it is the sport Canadians most like to watch.
• Lacrosse is the national summer sport. It is a very old game, and Aboriginal peoples were the first to play it.

Curling is a game played on ice with stones. Scottish pioneers brought it to Canada, and it is now popular across the country. Soccer has more registered players than any other sport, but it is not a national sport. Canadian football is the second most popular sport.

Three trophies

Three trophies are linked to Governors General. Lord Stanley gave the Stanley Cup in 1892, and professional hockey teams still play for it. Lord Grey gave the Grey Cup in 1909, and it goes to the champion of Canadian football. The Clarkson Cup for women’s hockey was created in 2005 by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

Two heroes and their causes

Terry Fox lost a leg to cancer. In 1980 he started the Marathon of Hope, a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He died before he could finish. Every year, runs in his name still raise money for cancer research.

Rick Hansen, who is also from British Columbia, went around the world in his wheelchair in 1985. He raised money for spinal cord research.

This pair is a classic mix-up: both are from British Columbia, and both made a long journey for a cause in the 1980s. Link each man to how he travelled:

• Fox: ran across Canada, 1980, cancer research.
• Hansen: wheelchair around the world, 1985, spinal cord research.

Other names in sport

James Naismith, a Canadian, invented basketball in 1891. Many people think basketball is American, so this fact is easy to get wrong. The table also lists the other athletes in the guide.

The arts

Painting and sculpture

Each painter in the guide goes with one place or one style.

• The Group of Seven was founded in 1920. These painters showed Canada’s rugged wilderness, not people or cities.
• Emily Carr painted the forests of the West Coast and Aboriginal artifacts.
• Jean-Paul Riopelle was the best-known member of Les Automatistes, a group of Quebec artists who led the way in abstract art in the 1950s.
• Kenojuak Ashevak was a pioneer of modern Inuit art: etchings, prints and soapstone sculptures.
• Louis-Philippe Hébert was a sculptor. He is known for statues of historical figures.

Writers

The guide names Margaret Laurence, Stephen Leacock and Mordecai Richler as well-known Canadian writers. Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables, a story set on Prince Edward Island. For the test, you mostly need to recognize these names as writers (authors).

Music

Sir Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan became famous for their music.

Science and inventions

Medicine and research

• Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best of Toronto discovered insulin, which has saved millions of lives around the world.
• Dr. John A. Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker, a device that helps the heart keep a steady beat.
• Dr. Wilder Penfield was a pioneering brain surgeon at McGill University in Montreal. He was called “the greatest living Canadian”.
• Gerhard Herzberg came to Canada as a refugee from Nazi Germany and later won a Nobel Prize.

Communication and electricity

• Alexander Graham Bell came up with the idea for the telephone at his summer home in Canada.
• Reginald Fessenden helped invent radio and sent the world’s first wireless voice message.
• Mathew Evans and Henry Woodward invented the first electric light bulb and later sold the patent to Thomas Edison.

Travel and time

• Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile, a light vehicle for travel over snow.
• Sir Sandford Fleming created the worldwide system of standard time zones.

Space and modern technology

• The Canadarm, a robotic arm used in space, was invented in Canada by SPAR Aerospace and the National Research Council. Canadian astronauts have often used it.
• Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie of Research In Motion (RIM) developed the BlackBerry, a wireless device known around the world.

Common mix-ups

• Hockey, lacrosse, curling and soccer. Hockey is played on ice, so it is the winter sport; lacrosse is the summer sport and was first played by Aboriginal peoples. Curling came with Scottish pioneers. Soccer has the most players but is not a national sport.
• Stanley Cup vs Grey Cup vs Clarkson Cup. Stanley: hockey, 1892. Grey: Canadian football, 1909. Clarkson: women’s hockey, 2005.
• Terry Fox vs Rick Hansen. Fox ran for cancer research and did not finish. Hansen used a wheelchair and raised money for spinal cord research.
• Rick Hansen vs Chantal Petitclerc. Both are linked to wheelchairs. Hansen wheeled around the world for a cause; Petitclerc is a wheelchair racing champion.
• Donovan Bailey vs Catriona Le May Doan. Bailey: sprinting, Summer Olympics 1996. Le May Doan: speed skating, Winter Olympics 2002.
• Naismith and basketball. Basketball was invented by a Canadian, not an American. Naismith is not linked to hockey.
• Group of Seven vs Les Automatistes. Landscapes from 1920 vs abstract art in Quebec in the 1950s.
• Emily Carr vs Kenojuak Ashevak. Carr: West Coast forests. Ashevak: modern Inuit art.
• Insulin vs the pacemaker. Banting and Best discovered insulin. Hopps invented the pacemaker. Penfield was a brain surgeon.
• The light bulb. Evans and Woodward invented it and sold the patent to Edison. A statement that says so is true.
• The Canadarm. It was invented in Canada, not by NASA.

How to study this topic

• Learn each person with one field and one key word: Fox – cancer, Hansen – spinal cord, Carr – West Coast, Bombardier – snowmobile.
• Use the field to remove wrong answers. If the question is about an invention, a painter or an athlete in the options is almost always wrong.
• Put the names you forget into the flashcards and review them every day.

For the full story behind these names, read the Modern Canada primer, then check what you remember with Practice Test 1.