THE GREAT CANADIAN TRIVIA QUIZ
Canadian Trivia Questions: Let the Game Begin!
In honour of Canada Day, we’re thrilled to present The Great Canadian Trivia Quiz—the ultimate test of all things Shania, Zamboni and maple syrup!
(Scroll down for answers, or if you prefer to download and print the full list of Canadian trivia questions and answers, click here.)
1. This area has less gravity than the rest of the world.
2. Canada has 2,860 of these, twice as many as the United States.
3. Quebec is the world’s top producer of this condiment.
4. The beaver is one of Canada’s national animals; this statuesque mammal is the other.
5. This type of bear lives in British Columbia—and nowhere else in the world.
6. A Canadian pharmacist invented this spreadable.
7. This type of pizza was created by Sam Panapoulos in Chatham, Ontario, in 1962.
8. This piece of hardware was invented in Canada.
9. A group of Canadian experimental filmmakers invented this technology for Expo 67.
10. This event was the most watched broadcast in Canadian history.
11. ...and this 2016 concert followed closely behind.
12. The world’s oldest water was found at this spot in Northern Ontario.
13. Canadians consume more than twice as much of this meal-in-a-box than Americans.
14. The oldest surviving basketball court in the world resides in this province.
15. ...and we also have the oldest piece of this sports equipment.
16. People in Saskatchewan use this cutesy nickname for hoodies.(If you had no problem answering this one, you're ready to take on our Canadian slang quiz.)
17. The world’s only perogy drive-through is in this city.
18. Canadians eat 1 billion of these every year.
19. This ballet dancer famously defected from the Soviet Union after a performance in Toronto in 1974.
20. Rodney, Ontario, is home to North America’s smallest one of these institutions.
21. This town set a record for the most extreme temperature change—from -19 Celsius to +22 Celsius in less than an hour.
22. Project HARP, a joint plan by the American and Canadian ministries of defense to use a giant space gun to shoot objects into the sky, was designed by this Canadian engineer.
23. Canada has more of these than the rest of the world combined.
24. In some provinces, doctors can prescribe these to encourage more time spent outdoors.
25. This eccentric Toronto financier launched a contest in 1926 promising a cash prize to the woman who could have the most babies in a 10-year span.
26. People in Churchill, Manitoba, leave their cars unlocked for people escaping these.
27. Maritime speech patterns bear a strong resemblance to those common in this part of Europe.
28. Letters addressed to the postal code H0H 0H0 are delivered here.
29. The border between Canada and the U.S. holds this distinction.
30. This type of evidence is not admissible in many Canadian courts.
31. This former prime minister believed in ghosts and séances.
32. This is the most-consumed fruit in Canada.
33. This Canadian city was named after a berry.
34. One of the world’s oldest Viking settlements can be found in this province.
35. Alberta is the world’s largest inhabited region to be completely free of these pests.
36. These crops have been planted in Nova Scotia since the 1600s.
37. This chemical engineer from Pontypool, Ontario, invented alkaline batteries.
38. Until the late 18th century, this fish was used as currency in Newfoundland and Labrador.
39. This actor, who became famous playing a Scot on TV, was actually Canadian.
40. This cooking staple, derived from the rapeseed plant, was created in Canada.
41. “Pile-of-Bones” was the original name for this Canadian provincial capital.
42. In 1955, Quaker Oats gave this away in its cereal boxes.
43. Residents of Prince Edward Island are known by this starchy nickname.
44. This Central Canadian city is considered the Slurpee capital of the world.
45. You can find the world’s highest tides here.
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46. The command “mush”—used for sled dogs—comes from this French word.
47. This underground site features a CBC recording studio and a Bank of Canada vault.
48. This Métis leader is considered the founder of Manitoba.
49. Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic wireless messages from this province.
50. This novelist trained at Camp X, a spy school in Ontario, during the Second World War.
51. ...and this Canadian was thought to be the inspiration for his suave main character.
52. This folk singer was discovered by the same talent agent who signed Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
53. Indigenous peoples have lived here for at least this long.
54. One of the world’s oldest sourdough starters can be found here.
55. When this fish species became endangered, the Okanagan Nation Alliance rejuvenated its population.
56. Skyscrapers use water from the depths of Lake Ontario for this.
57. There are no roads leading to this territory.
58. The green ink used to dye this was invented in Canada.
59. This spot in Nunavut has a surface so similar to that of Mars that NASA conducts experiments there.
60. The village of Klemtu, British Columbia, is said to be the home of these shaggy cryptids.
61. The earliest known reptile fossil was found in this province.
62. ...and the earliest known shark fossil was discovered here.
63. Canada earned this ranking on the 2021 U.S. News and World Report list of the best countries in the world.
64. This Montreal spot is considered the country’s oldest restaurant.
65. ...and this is the oldest continuously operating ballpark in the world.
66. The Reference Library in Toronto has one of the world’s finest memorabilia collections devoted to this mystery author.
67. The RAPS Cat Sanctuary in this province bills itself as a Club Med for cats.
68. This British Columbia hospital is one of the most popular filming sites in Canada.
69. Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run at this Canadian site.
70. In the summer of 2021, one billion mussels, clams and snails perished in British Columbia because of this phenomenon.
71. In the early 20th century, Amber Valley was an all-Black community located in this province.
72. Some 90 percent of Canadians live within 160 kilometres of this.
73. Brothers Jimmy and Dan MacNeil of Brantford, Ontario, drove this vehicle across Canada in 2001.
74. In 1942, this city staged an elaborate ruse, claiming it was being invaded by Nazis.
75. ...and, to this day, this province has a town called Swastika.
76. You can find 50 million goldfish swimming in this lake.
77. In 1967, the town of St. Pauls, Alberta, created the world’s first landing pad for these.(How many of these iconic Canadian roadside attractions have you spotted?)
78. Niagara Falls’s Horseshoe Falls once did this for 38 hours in 1848.
79. One third of the world’s supply of these salty snacks is made in New Brunswick.
80. Disney animator Charles Thorsen apparently based this character on a waitress he met in Winnipeg.
81. This was the first Indigenous-owned winery in North America.
82. A micro-nation known as the Republic of Nirivia can be found on an island in this Great Lake.
83. This national sport originated with the Ojibwa First Nations, who often used it to train warriors.
84. This Canadian singer’s 1997 album Come on Over is the all-time bestselling record by a female artist.
85. The world’s smallest one of these can be found in the Yukon.
86. This is the sunniest city in Canada.
87. According to comic book lore, this superhero was born in Cold Lake, Alberta.
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88. A Canadian man stole 75,000 vials of this vaccine in 1959 and sold them on the black market.
89. Canadian engineer Wally Floody was the principal architect of the real-life tunnels that inspired this classic 1963 war film.
90. This Scottish-Canadian inventor is responsible for global time zones and the 24-hour clock.
91. In 1958, the Canadian government destroyed this underwater mountain with explosives.
92. ...this lake, meanwhile, hides an underwater town.
93. The largest ever one of these was the size of a softball.
94. Canadian Charles Fenerty was the first person to make paper out of this material.
95. A billion-year-old algae fossil was discovered in this region in 2017.
96. The tip of this province is known for its “singing sands.”
97. This film, shot in Canada in 1922, is widely considered the first full-length documentary.
98. These two islands off the coast of Newfoundland are the last remaining vestiges of New France.
99. This is Canada’s most-played sport.
100. Drake still gets royalties from his appearance on this 2000s teen drama.
101. In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a coin worth this much.
Discover the fascinating story of how the provincial flowers of Canada were chosen.
The Great Canadian Trivia Quiz: Answers
1. Hudson’s Bay. It’s due to a combination of the melting Laurentide Ice Sheet and convection in the Earth’s mantle.
2. Hockey rinks. That’s more than any other country.
3. Maple syrup. The province makes about 73 percent of the global supply.
4. The Canadian horse, which is usually black, bay or brown and descends from the horses sent by King Louis XIV of France to his subjects in New France in 1665.
5. The kermode bear, also known as the spirit or ghost bear. It was named after Francis Kermode, who encountered the animals while working as a director of the British Columbia Provincial Museum.
6. Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who patented a method to turn roasted peanuts into peanut butter in 1884.
7. Hawaiian pizza. He had a hunch that the sweet pineapple and savoury ham would go well together.
8. The square Robertson screw.
9. Imax. It took longer than they expected, though, and the first screening took place three years later at Expo 70 in Japan.
10. The 2010 Olympic men’s hockey final. Some 16.6 million Canadians watched Team Canada clinch the gold medal.
11. The Tragically Hip’s last show, a year before the death of lead singer Gord Downie.
12. Kidd Mine, a base metal mine north of Timmins. A pool of two-billion-year-old water was discovered in one of the underground tunnels in 2016.
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13. Kraft Dinner.
14. New Brunswick. The court, in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, was first used in 1893, and there are plans to turn it into a museum.
15. Hockey stick. It dates back to 1830s Cape Breton, where it was carved from a single piece of sugar maple.(Check out more incredible artifacts you'll find in Canadian museums.)
16. Bunny hugs. The term dates to the 1970s.
17. Saskatoon. Baba’s Homestyle Perogies is known for its exceptional Ukrainian dumplings, as well as cabbage rolls, sausages and borscht.
18. Doughnuts. Thanks, Tim Hortons.
19. Mikhail Baryshnikov. He was on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet at the time.
20. Jails. It measures a snug 270 square feet.
21. Pincher Creek, Alberta, which experienced this momentous shift in January 1962 thanks to the chinook winds.
22. Gerald Bull, who later designed the Project Babylon supergun for Saddam Hussein (and was assassinated as a result).
23. Lakes. Some nine percent of Canada’s surface area is covered by fresh water.
24. Parks Canada passes.
25. Charles Vance Millar. Four women—who had nine children each—split the prize, each getting $125,000.
26. Polar bears. It’s one of several local strategies designed to mitigate attacks.
27. Scandinavia. It’s a rare pattern known as “ingressive pulmonic speech.”
28. To the “North Pole.” Volunteers reply to some 1.6 million letters each year.
29. World’s longest—and longest demilitarized—border, at almost 9,000 kilometres.
30. Apologies, which aren’t allowed as admissions of fault since they’re given so often.
31. William Lyon Mackenzie King. Some people say the grounds of Kingsmere, his country estate in Gatineau, are still haunted. (Check out Canada's most haunted places.)
32. The banana. Apples follow close behind.
33. Saskatoon. It comes from the Cree word “mis-sask-quah-too-mina.”
34. Newfoundland. The village, known as L’Anse aux Meadows, dates back more than 1,000 years and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
35. Rats. The province embarked on an aggressive pest-control program in 1942 and monitors the provincial borders to this day.
36. Wine grapes. It’s the oldest wine region in Canada.
37. Lewis Frederick Urry, who developed the world’s first long-lasting batteries in 1955.
38. Cod. Fishermen traded it for food, clothing and supplies.
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39. James Doohan, a.k.a. Lieutenant Commander Scotty on Star Trek. He was born in Vancouver.
40. Canola oil, which was first produced in 1974 and takes its name from “Canada” and “oil.”
41. Regina, Saskatchewan. Pile-of-Bones was its anglicized Cree moniker, named for buffalo remains.
42. Real estate in the Yukon—each box included a deed for a one-square-inch plot of land.
43. Spud Islanders, which derives from P.E.I.’s bumper potato crops.
44. Winnipeg. An average of 188,000 frosty beverages are sold there each month—by far the most per capita in the world.
45. The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. They can range anywhere from 3.5 to 16 metres.
46. Marche, which 18th-century French sled drivers said to get their dogs moving.
47. The Diefenbunker, a four-storey underground nuclear fallout shelter built during the Cold War as a refuge for John Diefenbaker’s government.
48. Louis Riel. He helped create the Manitoba Act, which brought the province into Confederation in 1870.
49. Newfoundland and Labrador. The messages were transmitted 3,400 kilometres to Poldhu, England, on December 12, 1901.
50. Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series.
51. Sir William Stephenson, who flew as a fighter pilot in the Second World War and later did counter-espionage for the Brits.
52. Leonard Cohen. John Hammond of Columbia Records became a fan of Cohen after seeing him perform at a folk festival. (Don't miss our guide to Leonard Cohen's Montreal.)
53. 14,000 years. The oldest village was found on Triquet Island in British Columbia.
54. Yukon. It’s 120 years old and belongs to Ione Christensen, a former Canadian senator.
55. Sockeye salmon. They created fishways and cleaned the water, and by 2010, the sockeye salmon population was sustainable for the first time in 75 years.
56. Air conditioning. The frigid lake water is a sustainable alternative coolant for some Toronto buildings.
57. Nunavut. No roads connect its 25 communities, either. People get around via air and boat travel.
58. The American greenback. It was developed by Dr. Thomas Wherry Hunt at Laval University in 1857.
59. Devon Island. It’s also the largest uninhabited island in the world.
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60. Sasquatches. According to the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation, the hairy giants live in the surrounding forests.(Read up on Canada's most fascinating unsolved mysteries.)
61. Nova Scotia. The Hylonomus Iyelli is 312 million years old and was found in the Bay of Fundy.
62. New Brunswick. The fossil is around 400 million years old.
63. It placed #1, followed by Japan and Germany.
64. L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel, which first opened in 1754. (Discover more of Canada's most unique restaurants.)
65. Labatt Park in London, Ontario, which dates back to 1877.
66. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series.
67. British Columbia. More than 500 cats roam among the buildings, cottages and fenced-in outdoor space.
68. Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam. It’s been a location for such shows as Supernatural and Riverdale and films including Jennifer’s Body and Deadpool.
69. Hanlan’s Point Stadium on the Toronto Islands. It was 1914 and he was playing for the Baltimore Orioles against the Toronto Maple Leafs (these were pre-Blue Jays days).
70. A heat wave that hit temperatures of 49.6 Celsius.
71. Alberta. It consisted of people fleeing Jim Crow-era Oklahoma and was considered the world’s northernmost all-Black community at the time.
72. The U.S. border. Vast swaths of the country north of this point are undeveloped.
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73. A Zamboni. With an assist from a transport trailer, they covered 6,000 kilometres to raise money for the Canadian Hockey Association.
74. Winnipeg. They organized a fake Nazi parade, hoping the fear would inspire Manitobans to increase their donations to the war effort.
75. Ontario. The former mining town was named in 1906 after what is, in some cultures, considered a good-luck symbol.
76. Lake Ontario. The population has surged in recent years as a result of people freeing their pets in open water.
77. UFOs. It was part of the town’s centennial celebrations.
78. Stopped flowing, when millions of tonnes of ice from Lake Erie became lodged at the mouth of the Niagara River.
79. French fries. They’re produced by McCain Foods in Florenceville-Bristol. (Bet you didn't know these things were also made in Canada!)
80. Snow White. The server in question worked at a diner called the Weevil Café.
81. Nk’Mip Cellars in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. It opened in 2002.
82. Lake Superior. It was formed in 1979 after a group of people from Nipigon and Thunder Bay determined that the island of St. Ignace hadn’t been claimed by any other country.
83. Lacrosse. Its Algonquin name is baggataway.
84. Shania Twain. It’s also the best-selling country album of all time.
85. Desert. Specifically, Carcross Desert, which measures only 2.6 square kilometres.
86. Calgary, which averages 333 days of sunshine per year. (Psst—this is the warmest place in Canada.)
87. Wolverine, whose origin story says he was born James Howlett in 1832.
88. The polio vaccine. The culprit was a vaccine clinic worker named Jean Paul Robinson, who sold the haul for $50,000.
89. The Great Escape. He helped orchestrate a POW breakout from Poland’s Stalag Luft 3 in 1944. In the movie, Charles Bronson played a character based on him.
90. Sir Sandford Fleming. He also designed Canada’s first postage stamp and engineered much of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
91. Ripple Rock, near the Campbell River in British Columbia. The hidden peak was causing hundreds of boating accidents each year.
92. Lake Minnewanka in Alberta. The summer resort village disappeared after a hydroelectric dam raised water levels.
93. Hailstone. It fell during a hailstorm in Cedoux, Saskatchewan, and weighed 290 grams. (Here's why Calgary is the hailstorm capital of Canada.)
94. Wood pulp. He made the first batch after his local paper mill ran out of cotton rags, which were previously used to make the stuff.
95. Baffin Island, Nunavut. They’re the oldest such fossils in the world.
96. Prince Edward Island. The sand on Basin Head Beach is known to squeak, or sing, when you walk across it.
97. Robert J. Flaherty’s Nanook of the North, which uses documentary and docudrama to chronicle the lives of Inuit living on the Ungava Peninsula in northern Quebec.
98. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which also warehoused millions of litres of booze during Prohibition.
99. Golf, surprisingly. (Hockey, of course, is next.)
100. Degrassi: The Next Generation. He posted a photo of a cheque for $8.25 on his Instagram in 2017.(Remember the original series? Take a nostalgic look back at 10 times Degrassi High was the best thing on television.)
101. $1 million. It weighed 100 kilograms and was made from pure gold bullion.
Canadian Trivia Score Card
How many did you get right?
0-24 Correct: While you may not know your Pile-of-Bones from your Labatt Park, you didn't give up and got a few stumpers, too. You deserve a doughnut (see question No. 18)!
25-49 Correct: Nice effort. Not everyone can hit a home run like Babe Ruth at a certain Canuck ballpark (see question No. 69), but you did make first base.
50-74 Correct: That light-as-air feeling is elation at getting halfway to perfection. Or maybe you're stationed near one of Canada's more curious geographic anomalies (see question No. 1).
75-89 Correct: What you don't know about Canada can fit on a certain island micro-nation smack in the middle of a Great Lake (see question No. 82).
90-101 Correct: You are a Canadian trivia whiz. Your admirers, with good reason, want you elected as our next prime minister. Or at the very least you should run the Canadian trivia night at your local pub. Whichever post you take, you've earned bragging rights. Congrats!
Looking for more Canadian trivia? Brush up on these fascinating facts about Canada.
The post The Great Canadian Trivia Quiz appeared first on Reader's Digest Canada.
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