How Can I Prepare For And Answer The Questions On The Canadian Citizenship Test

The Canadian citizenship test is a 20 question multiple choice exam and all applicants for Canadian citizenship between the ages of 18 - 54 must take the exam. In order to pass the test you must achieve a score of 75% which means you must answer 15 questions correctly. The test questions are based on the information study guide provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and is entitled: Discover Canada(The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship). CIC will send you the study guide after they receive and process your application to their satisfaction.

You must also demonstrate that you can carry on a simple conversation in either of Canada's two official languages, English or French.

Once you receive the study guide Discover Canada(The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship ) make a daily study schedule. Do not wait until the night before the exam to study! A daily study schedule of about an hour per day will help you digest the information and make it more manageable than cramming the night before. Take your time and really "discover Canada" as the tile suggests.

Study Tip: On pages 52-53 of the most current study guide (2012) is a list of study questions that you should answer. When you have answered a question correctly record the page number next to question for easy reference. There are 28 study questions and if you do 4 per day then, you will have answered all of the questions in one week.

Share what you have learned with other people as this will help you retain the information. Become an expert on Canada among your friends and family. Be sure to take the practice tests below.

As mentioned above, the Canadian Citizenship test consists of 20 multiple choice questions. Each question will have 4 possible answers and you must choose the correct or best answer. Read the questions carefully and immediately eliminate any answers you are 100% sure are not correct. This will help you focus your attention on the remaining answers, increase the odds of answering correctly and will save you time. 

Do not spend too much time on one question.  If you do not know the answer then, move onto the next question and come back to it with a fresh look.  Sometimes you can find information in another question that will help you answer the question you were stuck on.

May sure you get plenty of sleep in the 2 evenings prior to the test.  Eat a well balanced breakfast the day of the test and be prepared to wait.

CIC will notify you of the date,time and place of the citizenship test but they won't tell you how long you are going to be at the exam site. The test is 60 minutes long but before you can write the test CIC will process all of your important documents they requested in your exam notification letter. You cannot write the test until the CIC has processed all of your fellow test takers so depending upon the number of people writing the test, you may spend 1-2 hours or more waiting to write the test (now you know why a good breakfast/lunch is important). Make sure you organize all of your documents before you get to the test site to minimize waiting time.

CIC staff will give directions on the test taking procedures and will provide you with a test booklet, an answer sheet, and a pencil. Once you finish the test you are free to leave so make sure you are comfortable with the answers you have given before you hand it in.

If you pass the Canadian citizenship test the CIC will send you a notice to appear to take the oath of citizenship and will provide information regarding the date,time, and place of the ceremony. They will also require that you bring certain important documents outlined in their notification letter. From the time you take the citizenship test, it could take as little as 2-3 weeks or as long as 2-3 months to receive the notification to take the oath of citizenship. Keep this in mind while planning important events like holidays,birthdays etc. so you don't end up scheduling conflicts with the ceremony.

The ceremony should last about 60 minutes but will not start until you and all of your fellow participants have had their paperwork processed. Plan on spending a minimum of 4 hours for the processing and the oath ceremony but, understand that the actual amount of time is highly dependent upon the number of people taking the oath and the guest speakers at the ceremony. Again, eat a good meal before hand and organize your documents prior to the ceremony.

Once you have taken the oath your name will be called and you will receive your citizenship certificate. You are now officially a citizen of Canada!