Quiz of the Day
Canada Celebrations
Monday, 18 May 2026
Victoria Day — Canadian history, Queen Victoria facts, Commonwealth trivia
1. What is Victoria Day in Canada?
- A harvest festival
- A holiday celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday and the reigning monarch
- A remembrance day
- Canada's independence day
Victoria Day falls on the last Monday before May 25. It's informally known as the 'May Two-Four' weekend — both because it falls near May 24 and because of the Canadian slang for a case of 24 beers.
2. How many provinces and territories does Canada have?
- 12 provinces, 1 territory
- 10 provinces, 2 territories
- 10 provinces, 3 territories
- 8 provinces, 2 territories
Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories span 6 time zones. The newest territory, Nunavut, was created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories — it's larger than Western Europe but has a population of only about 40,000.
3. What is Canada's national sport?
- Lacrosse
- Curling
- Both — lacrosse (summer) and ice hockey (winter)
- Ice hockey
Canada officially has two national sports: lacrosse (summer) declared in 1859, and ice hockey (winter) added in 1994. Lacrosse was invented by Indigenous peoples and was originally called 'The Creator's Game'.
4. What is the world's longest coastline?
- Australia
- Russia
- Indonesia
- Canada
Canada's coastline stretches 243,042 km — longer than any other country and equal to about six times around the Earth. If you walked it non-stop at 5 km/h, it would take over 5.5 years.
5. How long did Queen Victoria reign?
- 45 years
- 63 years
- 70 years
- 53 years
Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901 (63 years). She gave her name to an entire era. When she took the throne at age 18, she was just 150 cm tall and immediately requested an hour alone — the first time she'd ever been in a room without a chaperone.
6. What is Canada's official bilingualism?
- English and Spanish
- French and Indigenous languages
- English and French
- English and Indigenous languages
About 22% of Canadians speak French as a first language, mostly in Quebec. The Official Languages Act of 1969 made both official at the federal level. All product packaging in Canada must be bilingual.
7. What natural wonder straddles the border between Canada and the United States?
- Yellowstone
- Great Lakes
- Grand Canyon
- Niagara Falls
About 750,000 gallons of water flow over Niagara Falls every second. In 1969, the US Army Corps of Engineers actually 'turned off' the American Falls for months by diverting the river to study erosion.
8. What Canadian invention changed the world of communication in 1876?
- The telephone
- The radio
- The television
- The telegraph
Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in 1876 in Ontario. Canada also gave the world basketball (James Naismith, 1891), insulin (Banting and Best, 1921), and the Canadarm used on space shuttles.
9. What is poutine?
- French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy
- A type of pancake
- A type of maple candy
- A Canadian cocktail
Poutine originated in rural Quebec in the late 1950s. Several restaurants claim to have invented it. Canadians consume about 300 million servings per year. The word 'poutine' is Quebec slang for 'a mess'.
10. Which Canadian city is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris?
- Montreal
- Quebec City
- Ottawa
- Toronto
Montreal has about 4 million people and French is the mother tongue of about 53% of residents. The city sits on an island in the Saint Lawrence River and hosts the world's largest jazz festival.
11. What animal appears on the Canadian one-dollar coin?
- Beaver
- Bear
- Loon
- Moose
The Canadian $1 coin features a common loon (a diving bird), which is why it's nicknamed the 'loonie'. The $2 coin, featuring a polar bear, is naturally called the 'toonie'. These nicknames are used in everyday Canadian life.
12. How much of the world's fresh surface water does Canada hold?
- About 5%
- About 30%
- About 10%
- About 20%
Canada contains about 20% of the world's fresh water and 7% of global renewable freshwater. It has more lakes than all other countries combined — over 2 million lakes cover about 9% of Canada's total area.
13. What was the last province to join Canadian Confederation?
- British Columbia
- Alberta
- Prince Edward Island
- Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador didn't join Canada until 1949 — it was a separate British dominion. The vote to join was extremely close: 52.3% to 47.7%. Some Newfoundlanders still debate whether it was the right decision.
14. What is the Northern Lights phenomenon that is visible across much of Canada?
- A meteor shower
- Light pollution reflection
- Aurora borealis — solar particles interacting with the atmosphere
- Volcanic glow
Canada's northern regions, especially Yukon and the Northwest Territories, offer some of the best aurora viewing in the world. The lights can appear green, pink, purple, and red. Yellowknife is known as the 'Aurora Capital of North America'.
15. What is Canada's national animal?
- Canada goose
- Beaver
- Moose
- Polar bear
The beaver became Canada's national emblem because the fur trade built the country's early economy. Hudson's Bay Company traded beaver pelts for centuries. The beaver appears on the nickel and was on Canada's first postage stamp in 1851.