Canadian History Trivia Quiz

1. Who was Prime Minister of Canada for the shortest period of time? 

A) Kim Campbell 

B) Sir Charles Tupper 

C) Paul Martin 

D) John Turner 

Answer B: Sir Charles Tupper was Canada’s shortestserving prime minister at 68 days. He was also the oldest person to become Prime Minister at 74 years of age. 

2. Who is featured on the new $10 Canadian bill? 

A) Emily Carr 

B) Agnes Macphail 

C) Viola Desmond 

D) Queen Elizabeth II 

Answer C: Viola Desmond, a black woman from Halifax who took a stand for racial equality in a rural Nova Scotia movie theatre. It was 1946, and Viola Desmond caused a stir by refusing to move to a section of the theatre unofficially set aside for black patrons. Desmond was dragged out of the theatre and jailed. 

3. What is the name of the Canadian who composed “In Flanders Fields”? 

A) Billy Bishop 

B) Margaret MacDonald 

C) Gen. Arthur Currie 

D) Lt.-Col. John McCrae 

Answer D: Canadian physician Lt.-Col. John McCrae composed the poem “In Flanders Fields” in 1915. 

4. When was the “loonie” introduced into Canadian currency circulation? 

A) 1987 

B) 1997 

C) 2007 

D) 2017 

Answer A: 1987. The Loonie, featuring a loon design was introduced into circulation in 1987.

5. Who was the youngest person to become Prime Minister? 

A) Justin Trudeau 

B) Joe Clarke 

C) Brian Mulroney 

D) Alexander Mackenzie 

Answer: B: Joe Clark became Prime Minister one day before his 40th birthday making him Canada’s youngest prime minister at 39 years and 364 days old. 

6. What province was the first to grant voting rights to women?

A) Ontario 

B) Quebec 

C) Nova Scotia 

D) Manitoba 

Answer D: Manitoba. In 1916 Manitoba was the first province to grant women the right to vote in provincial elections. 

7. What year was Lesbian and Gay Pride Day (now known as Pride) established in Toronto? 

A) 1981 

B) 1991 

C) 1961 

D) 1971 

Answer A: 1981. On February 5 1981, police arrested 300 men in raids on four bathhouses in Toronto. Lesbian and Gay Pride Day was established the same year as a reaction to the raids. 

8. Which city’s harbor was destroyed by a ship explosion in 1917? 

A) Vancouver 

B) Halifax 

C) St. John’s 

D) Sydney 

Answer B: The Halifax Explosion was the largest human-made explosion in history until the detonation of the atomic bomb.