When is Good Friday observed in Canada?

Discover Canada records this in two direct labels. The guide writes: Good Friday — Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. The day the test wants is therefore the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday.

The placement is precise. Discover Canada commits Good Friday to a specific position in the church calendar: it is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. So Good Friday and Easter Sunday are not separate holidays in different weeks — they are paired across the same weekend. Good Friday on Friday, Easter Sunday two days later, with Easter Monday the day after Easter Sunday.

Easter is a moveable feast. Discover Canada places Good Friday in the holiday calendar between fixed-date and moveable-date holidays. Like Easter Sunday, the date of Good Friday changes each year — it depends on the lunar cycle of the Christian church calendar — meaning Good Friday is not a fixed calendar day like January 1 (New Year's Day) or July 1 (Canada Day) but moves within the spring calendar each year.

Easter-related holidays appear in the calendar. Discover Canada lists three Easter-related days in the National Public Holidays section: Good Friday (Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday); Easter Monday (Monday immediately following Easter Sunday); and Easter Sunday itself, which falls between them. So Good Friday and Easter Monday bracket Easter Sunday with one day on either side. The full Canadian holiday calendar runs from New Year's Day (January 1) through Sir John A. Macdonald Day (January 11), Good Friday and Easter Monday in spring, Vimy Day (April 9), Victoria Day (Monday preceding May 25), Fête nationale Quebec (June 24, Feast of St. John the Baptist), Canada Day (July 1), Labour Day (first Monday of September), Thanksgiving Day (second Monday of October), Remembrance Day (November 11), Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day (November 20), Christmas Day (December 25), and Boxing Day (December 26). When the test asks when Good Friday is observed, the source-precise answer is its position relative to Easter Sunday: the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday.

The question is testing whether new citizens know when Good Friday is observed. Discover Canada commits to one position: the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each substitute a different timing. "Monday after Easter Sunday" is Easter Monday, not Good Friday. "Friday after Easter Sunday" is six days after Easter, not Good Friday. "First Friday of April" is a fixed-date placement that does not align with the moveable Easter calendar. Only the Friday-before-Easter-Sunday answer matches.