Practice by chapter
Modern Canada: practice quiz on the 20th century
Ten questions taken from the Modern Canada chapter, each corrected straight away. Below, the dates of the postwar decades and a list of the inventors and artists the test names.
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Practice questions written by Radif Partners from the facts of the official guide. Not the official test.
The Modern Canada chapter of Discover Canada runs from the Second World War to the present and supplies 15 of the 150 questions in our bank. It mixes three kinds of fact. Politics and society: oil found in Alberta in 1947, unemployment insurance in 1940, the vote for Japanese Canadians in 1948 and for Aboriginal people in 1960, the Canada Pension Plan in 1965, the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960s, the Official Languages Act of 1969 and the Quebec referendums of 1980 and 1995. The world stage: NATO, NORAD with the United States, the Korean War of 1950 to 1953, UN peacekeeping, refugees from Hungary in 1956 and from Vietnam after 1975. Then culture, science and sport: the Group of Seven (1920), Emily Carr, Banting and Best's insulin, Bombardier's snowmobile, Fleming's time zones, the Canadarm, James Naismith's basketball (1891) and Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope (1980). Questions here are usually a name matched to an achievement, so a list beats rereading when you need 15 correct answers out of 20.
Questions, counts and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
Postwar Canada in dates
After 1945 the Canadian economy grew fast and ranked among the strongest of the industrialized world; the oil strike in Alberta in 1947 launched the modern energy industry. Social programs arrived in steps, and the vote was extended to groups that had been excluded. The table sorts the dates the 15 questions of our bank rely on.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1940 | federal unemployment insurance (now employment insurance) |
| 1947 | oil discovered in Alberta |
| 1948 | Japanese Canadians obtain the vote |
| 1950 to 1953 | Korean War: Canada in the UN force defending South Korea |
| 1956 | about 37,000 Hungarian refugees welcomed |
| 1960 | Aboriginal people obtain the federal vote |
| 1963 | Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism |
| 1965 | Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan |
| 1969 | Official Languages Act |
| 1970 | Canada helps found La Francophonie |
| 1972 | Paul Henderson’s winning goal in the Summit Series |
| After 1975 | over 50,000 Vietnamese refugees settle in Canada |
| 1980 and 1995 | Quebec referendums reject sovereignty |
| 1980 | Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope |
| 1985 | Rick Hansen’s world tour in a wheelchair |
| 1989 | Canadian Space Agency created |
Canada in the world
During the Cold War Canada joined other Western democracies in NATO and created NORAD with the United States for the aerospace defence of North America. In Korea about 500 Canadians were killed and 1,000 wounded. Peacekeeping missions followed in places such as Egypt, Cyprus and Haiti. A question that asks which country shares NORAD has a single answer, the United States; NATO is the wider alliance.
Names to pair with achievements
Arts: the Group of Seven, founded in 1920, painted the rugged wilderness; Emily Carr painted West Coast forests and Aboriginal objects; Kenojuak Ashevak laid foundations of modern Inuit art; Jean-Paul Riopelle was an abstract pioneer. Science: Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin; Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile; Sandford Fleming devised standard time zones; John A. Hopps the first cardiac pacemaker; Reginald Fessenden sent the first wireless voice message; SPAR Aerospace and the National Research Council developed the Canadarm. Sport and courage: James Naismith invented basketball in 1891; Terry Fox, who lost a leg to cancer, ran to raise money for research in 1980; Rick Hansen toured the world in a wheelchair in 1985 for spinal cord research.
Traps between close answers
1980 twice. The first Quebec referendum and the Marathon of Hope share the year; a question gives the event, you pick the year, or the reverse. 1969 or 1982? The Official Languages Act is 1969; the Charter, which also protects language rights, is 1982. Naismith and hockey. Naismith invented basketball, not hockey; hockey grew in Canada in the 1800s and belongs to the symbols chapter. Terry Fox or Rick Hansen? Fox ran across Canada for cancer research; Hansen wheeled around the world for spinal cord research.
Around this chapter
Go back to Canada’s History for the events up to 1945, or move on to How Canadians Govern Themselves. Every question of this chapter appears with its explanation in the question bank, and the timed mock test mixes it with the rest of the guide. Facts drawn from Discover Canada.