Spot the Canadian Quiz

Question: As a youth, which of these recording artists starred in the Canadian teenage drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation?

Answer: Aubrey Drake Graham portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star, on Degrassi. Since 2013 Drake has been the global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is frequently seen courtside.

Question: Inviting the community to “paint the town pink,” Cornwall, Ontario, held a festival on July 21, 2023, in honor of what native actor?

Answer: Among other activities, Ryan Gosling Day featured a screening of Barbie, in which Cornwall, Ontario’s favorite son portrays Ken.

Question: Raised in a small town in Quebec, what pop diva has the best-selling French-language album of all time?

Answer: Céline Dion hails from Charlemagne, Quebec, a town of just over 6,000 people, a population that almost entirely speaks French. Her 1995 album D’eux is the best selling French-language album of all time.

Question: When asked about his most Canadian attribute, what Marvel movie star quipped, “You may be able to dig up a lot of sources who will deny this, but I’m polite.”

Answer: Ryan Reynolds is from Vancouver, British Columbia, and was 13 years old when cast on the Nickelodeon teen soap opera Hillside (retitled Fifteen in the U.S.).

Question: The first onscreen role for which of these comedy superstars was a Canadian made-for-TV movie?

Answer: Already an up-and-comer in Toronto’s comedy scene, Ontario native Jim Carrey was only 19 years old when he costarred in Introducing…Janet, which first aired in 1981.

Question: What all-time sports great was born in Brantford, Ontario?

Answer: Widely considered to be the greatest hockey player ever, Wayne Gretzky’s first professional stint was with the Indianapolis Racers, part of the World Hockey Association (a short-lived rival of the National Hockey League). He soon joined up with the Edmonton Oilers, who won four Stanley Cups during his tenure.

Question: Which of these Hall of Fame musicians played coffeehouses across Canada before moving to Los Angeles in 1966?

Answer: While playing at Thunder Bay’s 4D club, Neil Young met Stephen Stills, with whom he would form the band Buffalo Springfield. In 2020 Young become a dual citizen of the United States and Canada so he could vote in the presidential election.

Question: Originally raised near Niagara Falls, Ontario, which of these film directors has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame?

Answer: James Cameron returned to his hometown to release a preview for his film Avatar: The Way of Water. For the nighttime screening, the waters of Niagara Falls were illuminated Pandora blue.

Question: Which of these Emmy-winning funny women honed her craft at Toronto’s Second City theater?

Answer: Catherine O’Hara was in the initial cast of the Canadian sketch comedy TV program SCTV before going on to star in such movies as Beetlejuice and Home Alone. In 2020 she won an Emmy Award for her work on Schitt’s Creek.

Question: Which of these pop sensations teamed with beloved Canadian coffee chain Tim Horton’s to create specialty-flavored doughnut holes?

Answer: A Canadian chain similar to Dunkin’ or Starbucks, Tim Horton’s typically markets its doughnut holes as TimBits. In 2021 they began collaborating with Ontario native Justin Beiber to create such flavors as sour cream chocolate chip and renamed them TimBiebs.

Question: Before boldly going “where no one has gone before,” which of these Star Trek stars was born and raised in Montreal?

Answer: In 2017 William Shatner was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honors.

Question: Before moving to Nashville to record her first album, which of these artists sang in nightclubs in Toronto?

Answer: One of the top-selling country music stars of all time, Shania Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2011.

Question: Struggling as a student, which of these action stars attended four different high schools in Toronto before pursuing a career in Hollywood?

Answer: Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, and his family moved to Sydney and New York City before settling in Toronto.

Question: Which of these Friends stars attended the same grade school as future Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau?

Answer: Matthew Perry was born in Massachusetts but moved to Ottawa at a young age. He is rumored to have beat up Justin Trudeau in the fifth grade. The prime minister challenged the Friends star to a rematch via Twitter, but Perry demurred.

Question: Which of these dystopian novels was written by a Canadian author?

Answer: Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, was born in Ottawa and graduated from the University of Toronto.

Question: Eventually developing a new sport in Massachusetts, which of these people was originally from Canada?

Answer: James Naismith was a multisport athlete at Montreal’s McGill University, where he studied philosophy and Hebrew. He decided to pursue a career in athletics, moving stateside to become a physical education instructor, and eventually developed the game of basketball.

Question: Which of these Sex and the City actresses left New York for Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where she had grown up?

Answer: Kim Cattrall was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to Canada at a young age. One of her earliest acting gigs was portraying Janet in a 1976 production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre.

Question: Which of these inventors spent much of his later life living in Canada?

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland, moved to the U.S., where he invented the telephone, and then later spent many of his golden years in the Great White North. He was never a Canadian citizen, as residents of Canada were British subjects until 1947, when Canadian citizenship was recognized.

Question: Which of these former heavyweight boxing champions competed for Canada in the Olympics?

Answer: Born to Jamaican parents living in London, Lennox Lewis moved to Canada as a young man and excelled in boxing. He placed fifth for Canada in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and won gold in Seoul four years later.

Question: Which of these clothing retailers was founded by a Canadian in Vancouver?

Answer: Chip Wilson, who founded lululemon in 1998, was born in California but moved to Calgary, Alberta, at age five. The company still maintains its headquarters in Vancouver.