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Grade 9 · Social Studies · Unit 4 of 8

Confederation & Expansion

Building Canada and BC joining

What your child practises

Why the colonies united in 1867, how Manitoba and BC joined, the building of the railway and who built it, Louis Riel and the Métis, and how expansion affected First Nations.

BC Curriculum learning standard: Canadian Confederation and territorial expansion: BC joining Canada, the CPR, the Métis and western settlement

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which workers faced dangerous conditions and low pay on the Canadian Pacific Railway?

    • British lords
    • Native-born artists
    • Thousands of Chinese labourers
    • Government ministers
    Show answer

    Thousands of Chinese labourers

    Hint: Many died building the railway through BC's mountains, and the government later imposed a Head Tax (1885) on Chinese immigrants.

  2. Question 2

    What was the National Policy (1879)?

    • A school policy
    • Tariffs on imports, western settlement and a railway to build a national economy
    • A treaty with the United States
    • A plan to leave the Empire
    Show answer

    Tariffs on imports, western settlement and a railway to build a national economy

    Hint: It aimed to protect Canadian industry and fill the West with settlers.

  3. Question 3

    Which province joined Confederation in 1873?

    • Newfoundland
    • Prince Edward Island
    • Alberta
    • Saskatchewan
    Show answer

    Prince Edward Island

    Hint: PEI hosted the Charlottetown Conference but joined six years after 1867.

  4. Question 4

    In what year did British Columbia join Confederation?

    • 1905
    • 1867
    • 1885
    • 1871
    Show answer

    1871

    Hint: BC joined on the condition that a railway would link it to the east.

  5. Question 5

    Put these events in order, earliest first.

    • 🌾Manitoba joins Canada (1870)
    • 🌲British Columbia joins Canada (1871)
    • 🚂The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed (1885)
    • 🍁Confederation: Canada is created (1867)
    Show answer

    Confederation: Canada is created (1867) → Manitoba joins Canada (1870) → British Columbia joins Canada (1871) → The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed (1885)

    Hint: Confederation was 1867, Manitoba joined in 1870, BC joined in 1871, and the CPR was completed in 1885.

  6. Question 6

    What was the Head Tax?

    • A tax on land
    • A tax on hats
    • A tax on railway tickets
    • A fee charged to Chinese immigrants starting in 1885
    Show answer

    A fee charged to Chinese immigrants starting in 1885

    Hint: Canada's government formally apologized for it in 2006.

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