French Numbers with a Canadian Twist Quiz

Answer: Trois

A loonie is worth one dollar and a toonie is worth two dollars so the answer to this is three, translated to French making the answer trois. The loonie and toonie are both coins, replacing the one dollar and two dollar bills. The loonie was introduced in 1987 and the toonie was introduced in 1996.

A loonie was placed at centre ice at the E Center Arena in Salt Lake City before the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. This is the arena where the hockey games took place during the Olympics and both the Canadian women's and men's teams went on to win Gold medals. As a result the "lucky loonie" has become part of Canadian folklore and the Royal Canadian Mint has released a commemorative "lucky loonie" for each Winter Olympics since then.

Answer: Cinq

There are three levels of government in Canada. The federal level is responsible for things such as heritage, the environment, finance and foreign affairs. At the provincial level of government, the responsibilities include transportation and education. At the municipal level of government, the responsibilities include bylaw enforcement and animal control.

The Canadian flag consists of two colours, red and white. There are three vertical stripes, the two outer stripes are red and the middle stripe is white with a red maple leaf on it.

Three for the levels of government plus two for the colours on the Canadian flag makes five or cinq in French.

Answer: Treize

There are ten provinces and three territories in Canada, making the answer thirteen, or treize in French. The provinces, in alphabetical order, are Alberta, British Columbian, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

The three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Nunavut officially separated from Northwest Territories and became its own territory on April 1, 1999.

Answer: Deux

Canada is a bilingual country with the two official languages being English and French. This is a key characteristic of Canada and any federal services including federal courts and legislation, is in both English and French. At the provincial level, only one province, New Brunswick, is officially bilingual.

The official language of Quebec is French and all other provinces and territories have English as their official language. Despite there being two official languages, there are many languages used throughout Canada, including many Indigenous languages.

Answer: Six

There are five great lakes: Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan and all are located on or near the border between Canada and the United States, which is the only country that Canada shares a land border with, making the answer six. Canada shares maritime borders with Greenland and with France. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a small fishing island that belongs to France and is located south of Newfoundland.

Answer: Soixante-dix-sept

Kim Campbell is the first and, as of the year 2020, only woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of Canada. She was Prime Minister from June 25 to November 4, 1993 when she became the leader of the Progressive Conservative party after Brian Mulroney retired. An election was called for late October 1993 and Kim Campbell lost to Jean Chretien. She also lost in her own riding. Following her defeat, she wrote a book and was appointed consul to Los Angeles.

Canadian women did not universally get the right to vote at the same time. Women in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta got the right to vote first in 1916. Many women pushed for suffrage to make these changes happen but the movement started with Dr Emily Stowe in 1876 who was the first (and only for a while) female doctor in Canada. She formed a women's suffrage organization called "The Toronto Woman's Literary Club."

1993 minus 1916 is seventy-seven or soixante-dix-sept in French.

Answer: Vingt-deux

The Vancouver winter Olympics took place in 2010 and the Calgary winter Olympics took place in 1988, subtract the Vancouver Olympics year from the Calgary Olympics year and you get twenty-two, vingt-deux in French. The Vancouver Olympics took place in the city of Vancouver and in Whistler, both in British Columbia. Athletes from eighty-two countries participated in these Olympics in which Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics, with fourteen Gold medals.

The Calgary Olympics are remembered for two events in particular, one was the Jamaican bobsled team who made their debut at these Olympics. The other is Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, a British ski jumper who was the first British ski jumper to represent the country at the Olympics in this event since 1928. Both of these stories were made into movies.

Answer: Vingt-sept

The Battle of the Scheldt took place in 1944 during World War II and the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place in 1917 during World War I. 1944-1917 is twenty-seven, or vingt-sept in French. The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of operations led by the First Canadian Army to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that Allies could move supplies in Europe. Other countries that took place in this battle were Poland and Britain. Fighting took place for five weeks and there were over six thousand Canadian casualties during this hard fought operation.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge included four divisions of Canadian forces who fought against the German 6th army in France. Fighting took place between April 9 and April 12, 1917 when the Canadians took Vimy Ridge, thanks to their technical and tactical superiority. The Battle of Vimy Ridge is a source of pride and sacrifice for Canadians and is taught at schools across Canada.

Answer: Quatre-vingt-dix-huit

The National Flag of Canada, unofficially called the Maple Leaf flag made its first official appearance on February 15, 1965. Prior to this Canada didn't have an official national flag and so in 1964, Prime Minister Lester B Pearson put together a committee to resolve this. Three choices were presented and the winning design was created by George Stanley, a Canadian public servant, soldier and historian.

The original three colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united under one federation called the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. The province that was known as Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec at Confederation making the first four provinces of Canada Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec.

1965-1867 is ninety-eight or quatre-vingt-dix-huit in French.

Answer: Quarante-sept

Pierre Elliott Trudeau first took office as Prime Minister in 1968 and his son Justin Trudeau first took office as Prime Minister in 2015. 2015-1968 is forty-seven or quarante-sept in French.

Pierre Trudeau was known for his outgoing personality and his swagger. He was Prime Minister for fifteen and a half years and faced many challenges during his tenure, including the October Crisis in 1970 when a terrorist group known as the FLQ kidnapped a Canadian minister and a British consul. Trudeau controversially enacted the War Measures Act, giving the government sweeping powers and in a memorable moment for Canadians when asked how far he would go to stop the violence, he answered "just watch me."

In the first time in Canadian history, the son of a former Prime Minister was elected. Justin Trudeau first took office in 2015 when he beat out Stephen Harper, the incumbent Prime Minister. In another memorable Trudeau moment, Justin Trudeau, when introducing his new cabinet which was completely gender balanced, was asked to explain the significance of this gender parity in his cabinet and he simply answered "because it's 2015."