Many citizenship test questions turn on one small word: first, only, largest, oldest or highest. If you miss that word, two options can both look right. This page collects these “superlative” facts from Discover Canada in one place, sorted by theme. Cover the right-hand column of each table and try to say the answer in English.
Firsts: people
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| First Prime Minister of Canada (1867) | Sir John A. Macdonald |
| First French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation | Sir Wilfrid Laurier |
| First head of a responsible government in Canada (1849) | Sir Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine |
| First Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada | John Graves Simcoe |
| First woman elected to Parliament (1921) | Agnes Macphail |
| First Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada; founder of the women’s suffrage movement | Dr. Emily Stowe |
| First woman publisher in Canada (1853) | Mary Ann Shadd Cary |
| First Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross (1854) | Alexander Roberts Dunn |
| First Black recipient of the Victoria Cross (1857) | William Hall, of Nova Scotia |
For the stories behind these names, see People to know for the citizenship test.
Firsts: explorers, places and governments
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| First Europeans to reach Canada, about 1,000 years ago | The Vikings, who reached Labrador and Newfoundland |
| First to map Canada’s Atlantic coast (1497) | John Cabot, sailing for England |
| First European to explore the St. Lawrence River | Jacques Cartier |
| First European settlement north of Florida (1604) | St. Croix Island, then Port-Royal in Acadia, founded by Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain |
| First representative assembly (1758) | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| First guarantee of Aboriginal territorial rights | The Royal Proclamation of 1763 |
| First province in the British Empire to move against slavery (1793) | Upper Canada |
| Year the name “Canada” became official | 1791, with the Constitutional Act |
| First colony in British North America with full responsible government (1847–48) | Nova Scotia |
| The first four provinces (1867) | Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick |
| First province to give women the vote (1916) | Manitoba |
| Quebec’s first referendum on sovereignty | 1980 (defeated; the second was in 1995) |
Firsts: symbols, sport and science
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| First people to play lacrosse | Aboriginal peoples |
| First to use the maple leaf as a symbol (1700s) | French Canadians |
| Where O Canada was first sung (1880) | Quebec City |
| Year the maple leaf flag was first raised | 1965 |
| First electric light bulb (the patent was later sold to Thomas Edison) | Mathew Evans and Henry Woodward |
| First wireless voice message | Reginald Fessenden |
| First cardiac pacemaker | Dr. John A. Hopps |
Onlys
“Only” facts are popular in true/false questions. When a statement says “the only”, ask yourself whether a second answer exists.
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Only officially bilingual province (English and French) | New Brunswick |
| Only provinces with their own provincial police | Ontario and Quebec (the RCMP does this job everywhere else) |
| Only part of the original Parliament Buildings to survive the 1916 fire | The Library of Parliament |
| Only Parliament with a Senate | The federal Parliament in Ottawa (provinces have no Senate) |
| Only powers shared by the federal and provincial governments | Agriculture and immigration |
| Only people who may vote in federal elections | Canadian citizens |
| How many MPs each riding elects | Only one |
| Where Lieutenant Governors serve | Only in the ten provinces (each territory has a Commissioner) |
| Only province in the West Coast region | British Columbia |
| Only Great Lake entirely inside the United States | Lake Michigan |
Largest, most and highest
Land and water
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Canada’s size in the world | Second-largest country (about 10 million square kilometres) |
| Highest tides in the world | The Bay of Fundy, which Nova Scotia is known for |
| Highest mountain in Canada | Mount Logan, in Yukon |
| Coldest temperature recorded in Canada | −63°C, in Yukon |
| Largest freshwater lake in the world by area | Lake Superior |
| Second-longest river system in North America | The Mackenzie River, in the Northwest Territories |
| Most easterly point in North America | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Smallest province | Prince Edward Island |
| Where more than half of Canadians live | Near the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River |
Cities, ports and the navy
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Largest city in Canada | Toronto (the capital of Ontario, not of Canada) |
| Second-largest city in Canada; second-largest mainly French-speaking city in the world, after Paris | Montreal |
| Largest city in Saskatchewan | Saskatoon (the capital is Regina) |
| Largest and busiest port; the gateway to the Asia-Pacific | The Port of Vancouver |
| Biggest port on the east coast | Halifax |
| Largest naval base | Halifax |
The economy
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Canada’s largest trading partner | The United States |
| The world’s longest undefended border | The Canada–U.S. border |
| Industry that employs the most Canadians | Service industries (more than three-quarters of jobs) |
| Largest producer of hydro-electricity | Quebec |
| Largest producer of oil and gas | Alberta |
| Largest producer of grains and oilseeds | Saskatchewan |
People, faith, sport and honours
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Largest religious group | Catholics (most Canadians are Christian) |
| Largest of the three Aboriginal groups | First Nations (the Inuit are the smallest) |
| Largest French-speaking population outside Quebec | Ontario |
| Largest Francophone community in Western Canada | St. Boniface, in Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Sport with the most registered players | Soccer |
| Most popular sport to watch | Hockey |
| Highest honour available to Canadians | The Victoria Cross |
| Highest court in Canada | The Supreme Court of Canada |
| Often called Canada’s greatest soldier | General Sir Arthur Currie |
Oldest, youngest, newest and last
| Fact | Answer |
|---|
| Oldest colony of the British Empire | Newfoundland |
| Youngest province, the last to join Canada (1949) | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Newest territory (1999) | Nunavut |
| Root of Canada’s tradition of ordered liberty, about 800 years old | Magna Carta (1215) |
| Last Canadians of Asian descent to win the vote (1948) | Japanese Canadians |
| One of the last provinces to give women the vote (1940) | Quebec |
To see the year each province and territory joined Canada, use the table in Canada’s provinces, territories and capitals.
How these show up in questions
- Who was first? “Who was the first woman elected to Parliament?” The wrong options are often other famous “firsts”, such as Emily Stowe or Mary Ann Shadd Cary.
- Where is the record? “Where was Canada’s coldest temperature recorded?” The wrong options are places that sound likely, such as Nunavut, which is farther north.
- True or false with “only”: “Quebec is the only officially bilingual province.” One wrong word makes the whole statement false.
- Which province produces the most …? Match oil and gas to Alberta, grains to Saskatchewan and hydro-electricity to Quebec.
Common traps
- Largest city vs capital. Toronto is the largest city, but Ottawa is the national capital. Saskatoon is Saskatchewan’s largest city, but Regina is its capital. When a question says “capital”, do not pick the biggest city.
- “First” vs “only”. Manitoba was the first province to give women the vote, not the only one. Nova Scotia was the first colony with responsible government; the Province of Canada followed in 1848–49. New Brunswick, though, really is the only officially bilingual province.
- Two “first” Prime Ministers. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister. Laurier was the first French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation. George-Étienne Cartier was a French-Canadian Father of Confederation, but he was never Prime Minister.
- Largest vs second-largest. Canada is the second-largest country, Montreal the second-largest city and the Mackenzie the second-longest river system in North America. Read the number carefully.
- Many kinds of “highest”. Highest tides: the Bay of Fundy. Highest mountain: Mount Logan. Highest honour: the Victoria Cross. Highest court: the Supreme Court of Canada.
- French speakers. Quebec has the most Francophones. Outside Quebec, Ontario has the most. In the West, the largest community is St. Boniface in Winnipeg. Being bilingual is a different fact: only New Brunswick is officially bilingual.
- Watching vs playing. Hockey is the most popular sport to watch; soccer has the most registered players.
- The navy. Halifax has the largest naval base. Victoria is the headquarters of the Pacific fleet.
- Oldest and youngest at once. Newfoundland was the oldest colony of the British Empire, but it became Canada’s youngest province.
For more pairs that people mix up, read 25 facts people mix up on the citizenship test.
Ready to check yourself? Take practice test 1 and watch for the words first, only and largest.