Discover Canada: the citizenship test study guide
Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship is the only official study guide for the Canadian citizenship test. The test questions cover its content, so it is the reference document to know. Here is what it contains and how to use it.
Where to get it for free
The guide is published free of charge by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). On the official guide page, you can:
- read it online;
- download it as a PDF or an eBook;
- listen to the audio version, handy for studying on the go.
It is available in English and French (Découvrir le Canada). Both editions have the same page numbers: a page number points to the same passage in both languages.
What it covers, chapter by chapter
The guide is about sixty pages long. Its chapters, with the page where each one starts:
| Chapter | Page |
|---|---|
| Applying for Citizenship | 6 |
| Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship | 8 |
| Who We Are | 10 |
| Canada's History | 14 |
| Modern Canada | 24 |
| How Canadians Govern Themselves | 28 |
| Federal Elections | 30 |
| The Justice System | 36 |
| Canadian Symbols | 38 |
| Canada's Economy | 42 |
| Canada's Regions | 44 |
| Study Questions | 52 |
The chapter on the regions then covers each major region: the Atlantic Provinces (p. 46), Central Canada (p. 47), the Prairie Provinces (p. 48), the West Coast (p. 49) and the Northern Territories (p. 50). The end of the guide gathers practical information, excerpts from the Citizenship Act and its Regulations, and quotes.
How to study it
- Read it once all the way through to get the big picture, then go back over each chapter in detail.
- Pay particular attention to history (pp. 14 to 27) and government (pp. 28 to 37): they are the longest chapters and the richest in dates, names and institutions.
- Try the study questions on page 52, then practice with more questions.
For each major topic of the guide, our free tools help you remember the essentials:
| Guide topic | To study |
|---|---|
| History (pp. 14 to 27) | Key dates timeline and sheet 1 |
| Government, elections, justice (pp. 28 to 37) | Sheet 2, Political institutions |
| Canada's regions (pp. 44 to 51) | Sheet 3, Provinces and territories |
| Symbols, identity (pp. 10 to 13, 38 to 41) | Sheet 6, Canadian culture |
| Economy (pp. 42 and 43) | Sheet 5, The Canadian economy |
The six sheets can be downloaded from the study sheets page. Every question in our free practice test points to the guide page where the answer is found: the best way to go back to the right passage after a mistake. See also our sample questions and answers and our study tips.
Information about the guide and its formats taken from the IRCC website, checked in September 2026.