Workbook 12

Activity 1: Immigration and Refugees

Get Focused

Arriving in Canada as an immigrant means being faced with many new challenges and opportunities. Making the journey is not always easy. Leaving one's home, wherever home may have been, can be difficult. But, leaving home to arrive in a country where everything is new and different - language, culture, beliefs, and values - is a whole other story. One can only imagine how much courage it must take to attempt to start a new life in Canada.

 

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For most immigrants, the act of legally becoming a Canadian citizen is a very important and celebrated turning point in their journey. A few steps are involved in becoming officially a citizen. First, an individual must determine if he or she is eligible to become a citizen. If so, then the person can apply for citizenship. If the individual is between 18 and 54 years old, he or she must take the citizenship test, which evaluates knowledge of Canada. The questions cover topics such as

• rights and responsibilities of a citizen
• Canadian social and cultural history
• Canadian politics
• Canadian geography

The test also evaluates how well new Canadians can speak either of the official languages.

 Internet Web Search

Open an Internet browser. Use the keywords "CBC Canadian citizenship test". Using those keywords, you should find a CBC website that provides a citizenship quiz.

At the time this course was written, a citizenship quiz was available at the following link: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/immigration/citizenship-quiz.html.

After reading the questions in the quiz, is there any information about Canada that you did not already know?

In this activity, you will answer this inquiry question:

What criteria are used when accepting immigrants and refugees to Canada?