From the first Aboriginal peoples to modern Canada — the key moments, people, and dates the test asks about.
Early Canada (before 1763)
- Aboriginal peoples lived in what is now Canada for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.
- Norse Vikings established a brief settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows around 1000 AD.
- John Cabot reached Newfoundland in 1497, claiming it for England.
- Jacques Cartier made three voyages (1534, 1535, 1541) and gave Canada its name from the Iroquoian word 'kanata' (village).
- Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608 and is known as the 'Father of New France.'
- King Louis XIV made Canada a royal province (royal government) in 1663.
- Hudson's Bay Company chartered in 1670; dominated the fur trade.
- Acadian deportation by British forces began in 1755.
British North America (1763–1867)
- Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 — British under General Wolfe defeated French under General Montcalm; both died.
- Treaty of Paris (1763) — France ceded Canada to Britain.
- Quebec Act (1774) — guaranteed religious freedom for Catholics and restored French civil law; helped Quebec stay loyal during the American Revolution.
- Loyalists fled to Canada from the United States after 1776, bringing the first large wave of English-speaking settlers.
- Slavery: Sir Guy Carleton freed Black Loyalists; abolitionist John Graves Simcoe made the Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada (1793) — among the first such laws in the British Empire.
- War of 1812: Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and Chief Tecumseh led the defence; Laura Secord warned of an American attack at Beaver Dams (1813); the war secured Canada's existence.
- Rebellions of 1837–38 in Upper and Lower Canada led by William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau.
- Lord Durham recommended uniting the colonies and granting responsible government.
- Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine became the first head of a responsible government in the Canadas in 1849, championing French language rights.
Confederation and growth
- Confederation: July 1, 1867 — the Dominion of Canada was created, joining Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
- Sir John A. Macdonald, born in Scotland, was Canada's first Prime Minister (on the $10 bill).
- Sir George-Étienne Cartier was Macdonald's Quebec partner and a leading Father of Confederation.
- Manitoba joined 1870, British Columbia 1871, Prince Edward Island 1873, Yukon 1898, Alberta and Saskatchewan 1905, Newfoundland 1949.
- The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885, symbolizing national unity.
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier — first French Canadian Prime Minister (1896); on the $5 bill.
20th-century Canada
- World War I (1914–1918) — Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917 under General Sir Arthur Currie.
- Women's suffrage: Manitoba was the first province to grant women the vote (1916); by 1918 most female citizens 21+ could vote federally.
- Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in 1922 at the University of Toronto — saving millions of lives.
- Statute of Westminster (1931) granted Canada legal autonomy from Britain.
- World War II (1939–1945) — over a million Canadians served; Canadians landed at Juno Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and liberated the Netherlands.
- Newfoundland joined Confederation on March 31, 1949.
- Canadians fought in the Korean War (1950–1953).
- Canada helped found the United Nations, NATO, and NORAD.
Modern milestones
- Tommy Douglas, Saskatchewan premier, helped create universal medicare (first plan in 1962).
- Canadian Bill of Rights (1960) — introduced by PM John Diefenbaker.
- Maple Leaf flag raised for the first time in 1965 under PM Lester B. Pearson.
- Official Languages Act (1969) under PM Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
- Multiculturalism Act (1988) reinforced Canada's pluralism.
- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms adopted 1982, part of the Constitution Act, 1982, under PM Pierre Trudeau.