Citizenship test timeline
From your Acknowledgement of Receipt to test day
Most people arrive here asking one question: when is my test, and how much time do I actually have? Here is what happens between the two dates, and how to use whatever is left.
First — do you need the test at all?
The knowledge test is part of a citizenship grant application. If you are applying for proof of citizenship — a citizenship certificate, including under the recent changes for people born abroad to Canadian parents — there is no test, and nothing on this site applies to you.
Within grant applications, the knowledge and language requirements bind applicants who are 18 to 54 years old on the date they sign the application. Under 18 or 55 and over on that date, and you have no test to prepare for.
Check your own case against IRCC before spending anything. IRCC: citizenship grant eligibility
The stages
Application submitted
You send the grant application. Nothing to study yet — but this is the date the age band above is measured against.
Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR)
IRCC confirms your application is in the system. This is the date most applicants count from, and the point at which preparing early actually pays: you now have a long, quiet window and no fixed deadline.
Test invitation
A notice arrives giving your test date, usually a few weeks ahead. This is the moment the abstract becomes concrete — and the moment to build a real schedule rather than keep reading.
The test
20 questions, 30 minutes, 15 correct to pass. Drawn from Discover Canada and written in plain language, in English or French.
Oath of citizenship
After a decision on your application, the ceremony. Nothing further to study.
How long between AOR and the test?
There is no fixed interval, and anyone quoting you one is guessing. It depends on your office, your application and the queue. IRCC publishes current processing times and updates them as they change — that is the only figure worth planning against.
The practical answer: do not wait for the invitation. Applicants who start after the notice arrives are working against a few weeks; applicants who start at AOR are working with months. The plan below scales to either.
Build your study plan
Enter your test date if you have one, or the date you want to be ready by if you do not. The schedule works backwards from it.
Pick a date to see a schedule.
Practise against the real format
Free timed mock tests, 20 questions each, scored at 15 to pass. No account needed to start.
Start a free test