Cit Test Dates
Cit Test Dates
The study guide Discover Canada contains a lot of dates to remember. Here are all the
important dates in chronological order, taken from all chapters. This timeline should help
you remember all the dates.
1215 Signing of Magna Carta in England
1497 European exploration began with the expedition of John Cabot, who was the first
to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast
1534 Jacques Cartier made three voyages across the Atlantic, claiming the land for King
to Francis I of France
1542
1550s The name of Canada began appearing on maps
1604 The first European settlement north of Florida was established by French explorers
Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain
1608 Samuel de Champlain built a fortress at what is now Quebec City
1610 English settlement began
1670 King Charles II of England granted the Hudson’s Bay Company exclusive trading
rights over the watershed draining into Hudson Bay
1916 Manitoba became the first province to grant voting rights to women
1917 The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge, securing the Canadians’ reputation for
valour as the “shock troops of the British Empire.”
1918 Most Canadian female citizens aged 21 and over were granted the right to vote in
federal elections
1920 Foundation of the Group of Seven, who developed a style of painting to capture
the rugged wilderness landscapes
1921 King George V assigned Canada’s national colours (white and red)
1927 – The Peace Tower was completed, in memory of the First World War
– Old Age Security was devised
1929 Stock market crashed which lead to the Great Depression or the “Dirty Thirties”
1934 The Bank of Canada was created
1940 Unemployment insurance (now called “employment insurance”) was introduced by
the federal government
1944 In the Second World War, the Canadians captured Juno Beach on June 6, as part of
the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day
1947 The discovery of oil in Alberta began Canada’s modern energy industry
1948 The Japanese-Canadians gained the right to vote
1951 For the first time, a majority of Canadians were able to afford adequate food,
shelter and clothing
1952 Queen Elizabeth II became Queen of Canada
1960s Quebec experienced an era of rapid change known as the Quiet Revolution
1960 Aboriginal people were granted the right to vote
1965 – The new Canadian flag, as we know today, was raised for the first time
– The Canada and Quebec Pension Plans were devised
1967 Canada started its own honours system with the Order of Canada
1969 Parliament passed the Official Languages Act, which guarantees French and
English services in the federal government across Canada
1970s The term First Nations began to be used
1980 – Terry Fox, a British Columbian who lost his right leg to cancer at the age of 18,
began a cross-country run, the “Marathon of Hope,” to raise money for cancer
research. He became a hero to Canadians
– O Canada was proclaimed as the national anthem
1982 – The Constitution of Canada was amended to entrench the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms
– Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed the amended Constitution in Ottawa
1988 Canada enacted free trade with the United States
2006 The House of Commons recognized that the Quebecois form a nation within a
united Canada