Canadian Citizenship Test Brief Overview. Citizenship Test Format

Individuals between the age of 18 and 54 who meet the basic requirements for citizenship can apply for Canadian nationality by lodging an application form with the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). However, the most crucial step in this procedure is passing the Canadian Citizenship Test with enough percentage so that you can proceed further in the citizenship process. With the same test format countrywide, the exam analyzes your overall knowledge in Canada and basic skills of Canadian official languages.

As the Canadian Citizenship test is available in two languages – English or French, applicants must have at least minimum knowledge of these languages to pass the test. The test questions mainly focus on the topics like rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen, history and politics, government and law, physical and geographical locations, values and cultures, and many more. Most of the questions that are likely to appear in the test are from the recent tests and from the citizenship guide ‘Discover Canada (The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship)’.

What is the Canadian citizenship test format?

• The Canadian citizenship test format mainly consists of 20 multiple-choice questions with 30 minutes time limit. All the applicants are allowed to finish the test within the specified time and he/she will not be permitted to continue the test once the time is over. Those who fail the exam will receive a letter from CIC to appear for an interview with the citizenship judge.

• Most of the questions given are selected from the pool of 200 that exist in the official citizenship guide and contains very few or some time no questions specific to a province or a local city. Unlike the previous version where you had to answer correctly a number of specific questions in order to pass the test, the new Canadian citizenship test format has no mandatory question system.

• Under the new citizenship law introduced in 2010, to pass the test applicants must get 15 out of 20 questions correct, compared to only 12 correct previously. The main intention of the citizenship test is simply to reinforce the citizenship requirements (residency, language and Canadian knowledge), that are clearly mentioned in the Canadian Citizenship Act.