CAEC Social Studies Practice Test

All 40 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

1. Which responsibility belongs mainly to the provinces?

   1. Health care
   2. Printing currency and minting coins
   3. Citizenship and the issuing of passports
   4. Foreign policy and treaties with other nations

2. Why might two historians describe the same event differently?

   1. One of them must be lying on purpose
   2. They use different sources and perspectives
   3. Only one source exists for every event
   4. History never changes once it is written

3. Interest rates rise. What usually happens to borrowing for homes and cars?

   1. It tends to decrease
   2. It tends to increase sharply because loans cost less
   3. It stops completely because banks close
   4. It stays the same because rates do not affect loans

4. Which is Canada's only officially bilingual province?

   1. Ontario, the most populous province
   2. Manitoba, home of the Red River
   3. New Brunswick
   4. Quebec, where French is the official language

5. How old must a Canadian citizen be to vote in a federal election?

   1. 19
   2. 16
   3. 18
   4. 21

6. Which battle in the First World War is remembered as a defining victory for Canadian troops, fought in April 1917?

   1. The Plains of Abraham
   2. Vimy Ridge
   3. Queenston Heights
   4. Batoche

7. Canada sells wheat to other countries and buys bananas from them. What is this economic activity called?

   1. International trade
   2. A subsistence economy with no surplus
   3. A local barter system between neighbours
   4. A command economy run by the government

8. How many provinces and territories does Canada have?

   1. 13 provinces and no territories
   2. 10 provinces and 3 territories
   3. 9 provinces and 4 territories
   4. 12 provinces and 1 territory

9. Which branch of government do Canada's courts belong to?

   1. Municipal branch that runs local services
   2. Legislative branch made up of Parliament
   3. Executive branch of the federal government
   4. Judicial

10. New France was founded mainly by settlers from which country?

    1. France
    2. Spain and Portugal together
    3. The Netherlands
    4. Britain and Ireland

11. Canada's economy mixes private businesses with government services. What is this called?

    1. A mixed economy
    2. A pure command economy run by the state
    3. A traditional economy based only on custom
    4. A barter economy without any money

12. Which action is an example of environmental stewardship in a community?

    1. Paving a wetland to build a parking lot
    2. Planting trees along a creek to stop erosion
    3. Leaving lights on in empty buildings
    4. Dumping used oil into a storm drain

13. Elections Canada mails something to registered electors after an election is called. What is it?

    1. A list of every candidate's home address
    2. A ballot already marked for a candidate
    3. A voter information card
    4. A bill for the cost of the election

14. In 2008, the Government of Canada formally apologized for which policy?

    1. The residential school system
    2. The creation of the RCMP
    3. The building of the national railway
    4. Canada's role in the First World War

15. What is the main role of a consumer in a market economy?

    1. Buying goods and services
    2. Printing money for the government
    3. Setting the national interest rate
    4. Writing the country's trade laws

16. A map shows Canada's population density. Most people live in which part of the country?

    1. Spread evenly across the whole country
    2. In the centre of the Canadian Shield
    3. Within a few hundred kilometres of the U.S. border
    4. In the far North above the Arctic Circle

17. Which of these is a federal responsibility in Canada?

    1. Education in elementary and high schools
    2. Highways that are inside a single province
    3. Snow removal on local residential streets
    4. National defence

18. Which is a primary source about life in Upper Canada in the 1830s?

    1. A settler's diary written in 1834
    2. A modern film based on settler life
    3. A 2020 textbook chapter about the colony
    4. An encyclopedia article written last year

19. Jordan chooses to work an extra shift instead of attending a concert. What is the opportunity cost of his choice?

    1. The tax he will pay on his weekly pay
    2. The cost of a bus ticket to work that day
    3. The money he earned on the extra shift
    4. The concert he gave up

20. Which factor most often pulls immigrants to large Canadian cities?

    1. Colder winters than in rural areas
    2. Fewer schools and hospitals nearby
    3. Lower housing costs than small towns
    4. Job opportunities

21. How are members of the Senate chosen?

    1. Appointed on the Prime Minister's advice
    2. Selected by a national lottery of all citizens
    3. Chosen by the provincial premiers for one term
    4. Elected by voters in each province every four years

22. Which statement about the Underground Railroad and Canada is accurate?

    1. It helped enslaved people escape to freedom in Canada
    2. It carried immigrants from Europe to Halifax
    3. It was a railway line built across the Prairies
    4. It was a mine tunnel in Northern Ontario

23. What is inflation?

    1. A general rise in prices over time
    2. A tax added to imported goods at the border
    3. A sudden drop in the number of jobs in one city
    4. An increase in the number of banks in a country

24. What does "sense of place" mean in geography?

    1. The feelings and identity people connect to a place
    2. The distance between two cities on a map
    3. The number of people living in one square kilometre
    4. The exact latitude and longitude of a location

25. In the federal government, who is the head of government?

    1. The Speaker of the Senate
    2. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
    3. The Governor General of Canada
    4. The Prime Minister

26. Source: A 1918 poster reads: "Women of Canada! Fill the empty places at the factory. Every shell you make brings the boys home sooner."

    What was the main purpose of the 1918 poster?

    1. To ask men to return to the farms
    2. To recruit women for war production
    3. To announce the end of the war
    4. To advertise a new brand of clothing

27. Which item is a need rather than a want?

    1. A larger television for the living room
    2. A new video game console
    3. Tickets to a professional hockey game
    4. Safe housing

28. Which region of Canada is known for flat grasslands and large grain farms?

    1. The Canadian Shield of the far north
    2. The Atlantic provinces along the coast
    3. The mountains of the West Coast
    4. The Prairies

29. What are the three parts of Canada's Parliament?

    1. The Governor General, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court of Canada
    2. The Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons
    3. The Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the provincial premiers together
    4. The Supreme Court, the Senate and the municipal councils of each city

30. Who are the Métis?

    1. Settlers who arrived from Britain after 1900
    2. The first French colonists of New France only
    3. A distinct people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry
    4. A group of Inuit living only in Nunavut today

31. A family grows, hunts and gathers what it needs, with little left to sell. What kind of economic activity is this?

    1. Subsistence
    2. Industrial mass production for export
    3. Large-scale retail franchising
    4. International stock market trading

32. What is the capital city of Canada?

    1. Vancouver, the largest city in B.C.
    2. Toronto, the largest city in Ontario
    3. Montréal, the largest city in Quebec
    4. Ottawa

33. Which two areas are shared between the federal and provincial governments?

    1. Municipal recycling and local fire services
    2. Criminal law and national defence of Canada
    3. Foreign policy and printing of currency
    4. Agriculture and immigration

34. Which four provinces formed Canada at Confederation in 1867?

    1. Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland
    2. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on the Prairies
    3. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
    4. Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia together

35. A new video game becomes very popular, but the company made only a few copies. What is the most likely short-term result?

    1. The company is required by law to stop selling
    2. Prices fall because many copies are unsold
    3. Demand for the game drops to zero immediately
    4. Prices rise and copies sell out

36. Why did many early towns in Canada grow along rivers and lakes?

    1. Rivers kept all insects away from the towns
    2. Laws required towns to be built near water
    3. Lakes made winters much warmer everywhere
    4. Water was used for transportation and trade

37. What does it mean that Canada is a constitutional monarchy?

    1. The monarch makes all laws without any Parliament
    2. The Sovereign is head of state, under a constitution
    3. Each province chooses its own king or queen
    4. The Prime Minister is crowned at each election

38. What is the purpose of Remembrance Day on November 11?

    1. To honour those who served and died in wars
    2. To celebrate the founding of Confederation
    3. To mark the start of the federal election period
    4. To celebrate the first day of winter

39. Rosa earns $2,800 a month. Rent is $1,100, food $500, transit $150 and other bills $450. How much is left each month?

    1. $1,700
    2. $600
    3. $2,200
    4. $650

40. Which two provinces together are home to more than half of Canada's population?

    1. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the sea
    2. Ontario and Quebec
    3. Manitoba and Saskatchewan on the Prairies
    4. Alberta and British Columbia on the west side