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50 free Canada Day trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Canada Day trivia quiz covers the holiday from its 1867 roots to the modern July 1 celebrations: the three colonies that joined at Confederation, the decades when the day was called Dominion Day, the five-minute vote that renamed it in 1982, and the Parliament Hill noon show with its Snowbirds flyover. It also takes in the symbols that get waved around every July 1 — the Maple Leaf flag, "O Canada" and the Order of Canada — plus the provinces and territories that joined later. The early questions suit a family barbecue or a classroom; the later ones dig into Confederation conferences, the Red Ensign and the years when big national celebrations were few and far between. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing, so you can settle arguments with confidence.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which date is Canada Day celebrated?
July 1
It marks the anniversary of Confederation in 1867, when three British colonies were united into a single dominion.
Q 02In which year did Canadian Confederation take place?
1867
The British North America Act came into force that summer, and bells rang at St James Cathedral in Toronto to mark it.
Q 03How many colonies united to form Canada at Confederation?
Three
The United Canadas, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined; the Province of Canada split into Ontario and Quebec, making four provinces.
Q 04Which act patriated the constitution and cut the last legal ties to Westminster?
Canada Act, 1982
The constitution was patriated the same year the holiday was renamed.
Q 05When the holiday falls on a Sunday, which day becomes the statutory holiday?
July 2
Celebrations still happen on July 1 itself; the federal Holidays Act simply moves the legal day off.
Q 06Which Quebec MP introduced a 1946 bill to rename Dominion Day as Canada Day?
Philéas Côté
The Commons passed it quickly, but the Senate's counter-proposal of 'The National Holiday of Canada' effectively killed the bill.
Q 07In which year was Dominion Day first established as a statutory holiday?
1879
The governor general had asked Canadians to celebrate the anniversary back in 1868, but the law came a decade later.
Q 08Which prime minister had the government start organizing Dominion Day events in 1958?
John Diefenbaker
He handed the job to Secretary of State Ellen Fairclough, with a budget of $14,000.
Q 09Which woman organized the first federally run Dominion Day celebrations in 1958?
Ellen Fairclough
She persuaded the whole cabinet to attend, though Parliament traditionally sat on July 1.
Q 10Canada's centennial celebrations took place in which year?
1967
The centennial is seen as a turning point after which the holiday became far more popular with ordinary Canadians.
Q 11What name was given to the televised multicultural concerts in Ottawa in the late 1960s?
Festival Canada
After 1980 Ottawa began funding local celebrations across the country rather than just in the capital.
Q 12How many MPs were present when the 1982 renaming bill passed the Commons?
12
That was eight short of quorum, but the rule is only enforced if someone calls attention to it; the bill passed in five minutes.
Q 13How long did the Commons take to pass the 1982 bill renaming the holiday?
Five minutes
There was no debate, which prompted grumbling about the underhandedness of the process.
Q 21Which governor general gave the Dominion Day speech in the CBC's first cross-country TV broadcast?
Vincent Massey
That 1958 broadcast came from Parliament Hill, the same year the Saint Lawrence Seaway was flooded.
Q 22What did the Bank of Canada release for the 2017 sesquicentennial?
A $10 banknote
The commemorative note was expected to be widely available by Canada Day that year.
Q 23Where were Ottawa's in-person Canada Day festivities relocated in 2022?
LeBreton Flats
Construction for the Parliament Hill Rehabilitation project forced the move off the Hill.
Q 14When was the holiday first celebrated under the name Canada Day?
July 1, 1983
Royal assent came on October 27, 1982, too late for that year's celebration.
Q 15Which novelist was among those who decried the 1982 name change?
Robertson Davies
Critics saw dropping 'Dominion' as an unnecessary break with tradition.
Q 16Which columnist called Canada Day a term of "crushing banality"?
Andrew Cohen
He described the new name as a renunciation of the past laden with political correctness.
Q 17"O Canada" officially became the national anthem on July 1 of which year?
1980
The National Anthem Act took effect as part of that year's Dominion Day celebrations.
Q 18The Order of Canada was inaugurated on Dominion Day of which year?
1967
Governor General Roland Michener was the first inductee, at the level of Companion.
Q 19Which railway linked the first coast-to-coast radio hookup on July 1, 1927?
CN
Dominion Day became a favoured date for national firsts, including Canada's first colour TV transmission in 1966.
Q 20In which year did Canada see its first colour television transmission, on Dominion Day?
1966
The CBC's first cross-country television broadcast had come on the same holiday eight years earlier.
Q 24In which year was the Quebec Moving Day bill that shifted it to July 1 introduced?
1973
Federalist MNA Jérôme Choquette moved it from May 1 so children still in school would not be uprooted in May.
Q 25Which WWI battle began on July 1, 1916, a date one future province marks as Memorial Day?
The Somme
The Newfoundland Regiment suffered devastating losses on that first day.
Q 26What did Chinese-Canadians call July 1 after the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act?
Humiliation Day
Many boycotted celebrations, closing shops and flying flags at half-mast until the act was repealed in 1947.
Q 27Which aerobatic team traditionally performs a flyover at the Parliament Hill show?
Snowbirds
The noon show opens with the royal anthem and 'O Canada' in English and French before the jets pass over.
Q 28Which federal department organizes the Parliament Hill Canada Day shows?
Canadian Heritage
Smaller events are held in other Ottawa parks and across the river in Gatineau.
Q 29Which Quebec holiday on June 24 competes with Canada Day for attention?
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
Ottawa sponsors Canada Day events in Montreal, while the June celebration relies on grassroots support.
Q 30What is the expat party held each June 30 in Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong called?
Canada D'eh
Expatriate celebrations also happen at Trafalgar Square in London and at the Bund Beach in Shanghai.