Is It Time to Update the Citizenship Test?

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, 75 Years of the Canadian Citizenship Act Special Issue, 2022

By Kelly Boutsalis

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is a phrase often attributed to Will Rogers, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. For many newcomers to Canada, their first impression of the Indigenous peoples living on their ancestral lands in Canada often comes in the form of an outdated study guide for the citizenship test.

When the Citizenship Act came into force in 1947, it allowed people to become legal Canadian citizens for the first time. Under this Act, citizenship could be granted to permanent residents of Canada who, among other qualifications, showed they possessed sufficient knowledge of what it meant to be Canadian.

Today, candidates applying for Canadian citizenship must have “adequate knowledge of Canada” as well as an understanding of “the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.” Applicants display this knowledge by taking a citizenship test that covers topics such as Canada’s history, government, regions, and symbols. The practice materials to prepare for that test, as well as the test itself, should ideally be up-to-date and all-encompassing for each subject. Fundamental pieces of information are missing, however.

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Kelly Boutsalis is a Mohawk freelance journalist from the Six Nations of the Grand River. The bulk of her work focuses on highlighting Indigenous stories, and her words have appeared in The New York Times, The Walrus, The Narwhal, and more.

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Kelly Boutsalis
Kelly Boutsalis
Kelly Boutsalis is a Mohawk freelance journalist from the Six Nations of the Grand River. The bulk of her work focuses on highlighting Indigenous stories, and her words have appeared in The New York Times, The Walrus, The Narwhal, and more.

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