A couple of interesting Ipsos-Reid polls (if you put any stock in such things) just out...
Highlights from this one - Detailed Table 1 - Detailed Table 2 (all links to .pdf files):
Eight in ten (82%) Canadians age 18 to 24 fail basic Canadian history exam –one point (1%) more than failed in 1997
Less than half of respondents (46%) could name Canada’s first P.M. and only one-quarter (26%) could give the date of Confederation
On the eve of Remembrance Day survey shows young peoples’ knowledge of Canada’s military heritage is up over last decade
Only five percent of respondents indicate that the test was “too hard” – one in ten embarrassed by their lack of knowledge
And some highlights from this one, different but complementary - Table 1 - Table 2 (all links to .pdf files):
While only four provinces require students to take a course dedicated to Canadian history to graduate, nine in ten ( 89%) 18 to 24 year olds think history should be a mandatory subject in every province
Half of young adults (54%) think history courses should focus on the history of ”Canada, the nation” as opposed to only one in ten (11%) who think that the history of their region should be paramount
Seven in ten (70%) young adults support the Dominion Institute’s recommendation that to graduate from high school students should be require to take the citizenship exam given to newcomers to Canada
Only one in ten (8%) young adults rank history as the academic subject that has most prepared them to succeed in their everyday life
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