The Canadian government changed the curriculum for the citizenship test about a couple of years ago and there were many reports in the newspapers about how hard it is. I don’t think it has. When my wife and I gave our test last year, we both got a perfect score. So if you are about to give the test, don’t worry too much. It is easy!

Read the handbook!

If you are going to give the test, a good first step is to read the handbook they send you. Don’t try to memorize it! Or don’t start reading it with the intent of giving a the citizenship test. Just read it like a you would a magazine. And do this as soon as you get the book. If you wait till the last week before your test, you will feel the pressure to start memorizing everything – every date and event mentioned in the book. This WILL overwhelm you.

You would be surprised how much you retain when you just read it out of curiosity. It actually has a lot of good information about your new home and helps you understand Canada. One of the biggest insights for me was why Canadians still prefer to be ruled by the Queen of England. Coming from a country that was independent, I never understood why Canada had not become a sovereign nation and break it ties with England. But after understanding the history of the original people who founded Canada, I understood that it was the people who were loyal to the Queen settled in Canada after the US declared their independence from the British. So really, Canadians are really just Britishers that settled into a new country and remain loyal to their Queen!

Take a practice test

After you have read the book once, go ahead and take a practice test to check how much you have learned. There are questions in the handbook. But what I found most useful is to go online and take a mock test. One of them you can go to is citizenshipcounts.ca. They even have a mobile app for iOS and Android. Here are others Richmond Public Library, V-Soul, Apna-Toronto and Top-Tips. And if you Google “Canadian citizenship test”, you will be able to find many more resources online.

The more practice test you take, the better your test results will be. The practice test point you in the right direction on what you will need to memorize for the actual exam, like key dates and events. You don’t need to remember everything, and every date / person mentioned in the book is not significant. E.g. Remembering that Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona), the director of the railway. hammered the last spike into the railway track to BC, may not be as important as remembering that Sir John A. Macdonald  day is Jan 11.

Best of luck! And my congratulations on becoming a Canadian citizen.