Who were the first people to live in Canada?

The official answer to this foundational question is Aboriginal peoples. The Discover Canada guide and the Oath of Citizenship recognize that long before settlers and immigrants began arriving, the land that is now called Canada was already home to distinct Indigenous nations. The Oath itself binds every new Canadian citizen to faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the Constitution which recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This wording is not decorative — it is the legal centrepiece of how Canada formally acknowledges who was here first.

The guide groups Aboriginal peoples into three constitutionally recognized categories: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. These three groups appear together every time Aboriginal peoples are referenced in the Oath, in the French version (Premières Nations, Inuits et Métis), and in the constitutional framework Canada inherits. Test-takers must remember all three names, in this order, because the citizenship test frequently asks candidates to identify the constitutionally recognized Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

The guide places Aboriginal peoples chronologically before the settler era. It states that for 400 years, settlers and immigrants have contributed to the diversity and richness of our country. That 400-year window describes only the post-contact settler period — Aboriginal peoples were already established across the territory long before that window opens. Their presence is the historical baseline upon which every later wave of newcomers was layered, and the reason the Constitution treats Aboriginal and treaty rights as pre-existing rights, not granted privileges.

Understanding that Aboriginal peoples were the first inhabitants is essential because their rights are entrenched in the highest law of the country. Every citizenship candidate swears an oath that explicitly recognizes the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This connects directly to other test topics: the Constitution, the Oath of Citizenship, the responsibilities of citizenship, and Canada's shared commitment to the rule of law. New citizens are not merely told a historical fact — they are asked to take on, as part of their duties, an ongoing constitutional acknowledgement that Aboriginal peoples occupied this land before settlers arrived and that their rights continue to be recognized today.