Canada Past and Present: A Citizenship Education Guide

INTRODUCTION PREPARING FOR THE CITIZENSHIP TEST 1. CANADIANS ONLINE RESOURCES What is the story of Canada? Canada has many diverse histories and identities. To help us understand Canada’s past and present, we must share these stories from a variety of perspectives. The purpose of this education guide is to help you better understand Canada’s history, culture, and geography, and prepare you for the citizenship test. The guide includes activities and resources to help you explore Canada’s past and its people. You will learn about Canada’s present as well. The guide has information about geography, human rights, and quality of life in Canada. The guide explores how Canada’s system of government works today, and the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizens. It encourages you to participate in the democratic process by becoming an active citizen. You will learn how to play a role in improving your communities and your country. The guide will help you reflect more deeply on Canada’s people, history, and what it means to be Canadian. You can complete the activities in this guide in a classroom, or on your own. Many of the activities in the guide ask you to visit The Canadian Encyclopedia , where you will find detailed information on the topic you are learning about. We encourage you to explore The Canadian Encyclopedia to deepen your understanding of Canada’s past and present. The Government of Canada’s citizenship test evaluates your knowledge of Canada. Passing the citizenship test brings you one step closer to becoming a Canadian citizen. This education guide covers content found on the citizenship test, including Canada’s history, geography, culture, system of government, and the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship. However, it does not deal with all the questions on the citizenship test. Completing the guide’s activities does not guarantee that you will pass the test. Visit the Government of Canada’s website ( https:/ www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/ services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/citizenship-test. html ) for more information on how to prepare for the citizenship test. This education guide was created by Historica Canada with the generous support of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada . Historica Canada offers programs you can use to explore, learn, and think about our history, and what it means to be Canadian. The Citizenship Challenge is a practice citizenship quiz based on the test taken by newcomers on the path to citizenship. The Challenge tests participants’ knowledge of Canada. Indigenous peoples were the first human beings to live on the land now known as Canada. They created complex societies a long time before Europeans came to North America. The French and British were some of the first to establish colonies on the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada. They settled here, and more people came to live here over the centuries. For most of Canadian history, immigration policies favoured people from Western Europe. People from other places were often restricted from entering the country. Some were even forbidden from coming to Canada. After the Second World War, things began to change, and Canada started to allow in people who had been denied entry based on ethnicity or where they came from. By the late 1960s, laws that restricted immigration based on race or place of origin were removed from the Canadian immigration system. In 1971, multiculturalism became official government policy. In the same year, for the first time in Canadian history, most immigrants were not from Europe. Today, Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. There are currently more than 200 ethnic groups living in Canada, and Canadians share a mix of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. This is why Canada is often called a land of immigrants. In the last 10 years, nearly 1.7 million people have become Canadian citizens. These resources are used in the guide to support activities. You may choose to look for additional resources, either on the internet or in print. Articles from The Canadian Encyclopedia mentioned in this guide can be found at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . All worksheets noted in the education guide can be downloaded from the Historica Canada Education Portal a t education. historicacanada.ca/en/tools/650 Other resources include: Historica Canada’s Heritage Minutes Historicacanada.ca/heritageminutes The Citizenship Challenge Citizenshipchallenge.ca Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – Canadian Citizenship Canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees- citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship. html The Memory Project Thememoryproject.com This education guide is meant to be used by newcomer students on the path to citizenship. It can also be used by any student wishing to learn more about Canada, or in any history or social studies classroom. This guide covers topics found on the Government of Canada’s citizenship test, exploring testable content more in-depth to help readers put the information in context. The guide invites students to deepen their knowledge of Canada’s past and present in order to gain a fuller understanding of the country. Although this education guide covers many key moments and important topics, it is not comprehensive. We encourage students and educators to seek out additional resources to explore the many aspects of Canada we are unable to cover in a single education guide. While the education guide activities follow a chronological order, the lessons may be used in order or on their own. The activities in this guide are designed for classroom use, or for those engaged in self-guided study. The production of Historica Canada’s education guides involves many people. Education experts and Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) service providers created the content and lesson plans in this guide. MESSAGE TO TEACHERS Indigenous person in traditional dress at a powwow in Winnipeg in 2015 (Dreamstime/Leszek Wrona/59725398). COVER IMAGES: The Rocky Mountains as seen from Banff National Park (Dreamstime/Akudiusz Iwanicki/8308107). Image of the Toronto skyline (Dreamstime/Chon Kit Leong/139068558). The Parliament buildings in Ottawa (Dreamstime/ Py2000/16339360). 2