How many Canadians served in the First World War out of a population of about eight million?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence about the First World War. The guide writes: More than 600,000 Canadians served in the war, most of them volunteers, out of a total population of eight million. The number the test wants is therefore more than 600,000.

Three precise commitments. Discover Canada commits Canada's First World War service to THREE specific facts: (1) the number was more than 600,000; (2) most of them were volunteers — not conscripts; (3) the total Canadian population at the time was eight million. So roughly one in thirteen Canadians served in the First World War — an extraordinarily high proportion of the population engaged in the war effort.

The war began in 1914. Discover Canada commits the war's start for Canada to a specific named sequence: "When Germany attacked Belgium and France in 1914 and Britain declared war, Ottawa formed the Canadian Expeditionary Force (later the Canadian Corps)." So Canada entered the war in 1914 — the same year Britain declared war — through the formation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which was later renamed the Canadian Corps. The 600,000+ Canadian service figure thus reflects volunteers and others who served between 1914 and 1918 in this corps.

The wider human cost was significant. Discover Canada records that the First World War carried major weight in Canadian national memory. The Canadians fought at Vimy Ridge (April 9, 1917), where the Canadian Corps first fought as a single unified force — a moment described as "the birth of a nation." The 600,000 figure reflects a country of just eight million pulling its young men in extraordinary numbers into a distant European war. The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill — completed in 1927 — was built in memory of the First World War. The Memorial Chamber within the Tower contains the Books of Remembrance with the names of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who died serving Canada. Many Canadian soldiers wore maple leaf cap badges; "Canada's soldiers began using the maple leaf in the 1850s." Canada's wartime service is also commemorated each year on Remembrance Day. So when the test asks how many Canadians served in the First World War out of a population of eight million, the source-precise answer is more than 600,000.

The question is testing whether new citizens know the size of Canada's First World War contribution. Discover Canada commits to one number: more than 600,000. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each substitute a different number. The first choice halves the actual figure — under-counting Canada's service. The second choice is also smaller than the source's named figure. The fourth choice exceeds the source's named figure. Only 600,000 — the source's exact named number — matches.