What Happens If You Fail the Canadian Citizenship Test: Retakes, Hearings and What to Do Next
Failed the Canadian citizenship test? Here is exactly what happens next, how the retake works, when a hearing is required and how to make sure you pass second time.
The pass mark for the Canadian citizenship test is 15 out of 20, or 75 percent. Most people who have prepared properly get there. But some do not, and if you are reading this after failing, the situation is not as dire as it feels right now. The process has clear next steps, and knowing what they are makes them much easier to work through.
What happens after a first failure
When you fail the written test, IRCC schedules you for a second attempt. That second attempt may be written again, or it may be conducted orally by an officer. The format is at the officer's discretion and is not something you can choose or request. Either way, it covers the same material as the original test: Canada's history, government, rights and responsibilities, geography and symbols, all drawn from the Discover Canada guide.
There is no fixed waiting time between the first and second attempt, but administrative processing typically adds several months to your overall timeline. That time can be used well.
What happens if you fail again, or do not attend
If you fail the second test, or if you do not attend it, IRCC schedules a hearing before a citizenship judge. Missing the second test is treated the same as failing it, so attending matters regardless of how confident you feel going in.
At the hearing, the citizenship judge does not simply administer another test. They assess you in person and evaluate your overall knowledge of Canada, as well as whether you meet the other requirements for citizenship. The judge has full discretion over how to conduct the assessment and which questions to ask. Some hearings are conversational. Others are more formal. What they have in common is that they are not multiple choice. You will need to demonstrate genuine understanding, not just the ability to pick a correct answer from a list.
A hearing adds further months to the process and is more stressful than a written test for most people. It is worth doing everything possible to pass at the second attempt rather than reaching that point.
What to do between attempts
The time between your first and second attempt is the most useful window you have. Use it specifically, not generally.
Start by reviewing which areas felt weakest during the test. IRCC does not release a detailed question-by-question breakdown, but most people have a sense of where they struggled. Go back to those sections of the Discover Canada guide and read them again, slowly. The history chapter and the government chapter are where most candidates lose points. If you are unsure which topics gave you the most trouble, treat all of them as priorities and work through the guide in full.
After rereading, switch to active practice rather than passive reading. Use practice questions in the same format as the actual test. Work through them chapter by chapter so you can see exactly where gaps remain. When you get a question wrong, understand why the correct answer is right before moving on. That single step, repeated consistently, matters more than any amount of extra reading.
In the two weeks before your second attempt, take several full 20-question mock tests under timed conditions. If you are consistently scoring 17 or higher, you are in good shape. If you are still falling below 15, keep working and rebook only when your practice results are solid.
Reading the Discover Canada guide once was not enough the first time. Give it two complete passes, with active testing in between, and your second attempt will look very different.
Why preparation before the first attempt is always the better option
Each failed attempt adds months to the path to citizenship. A second attempt takes time to schedule. A hearing takes more. The application window you are waiting in is not paused while these steps happen. Getting it right the first time is not just easier; it is significantly faster.
Where to practise
PassCitizen has all the Canadian citizenship test practice questions available for free, organised by chapter from the Discover Canada guide. You can work through specific sections or take full timed mock tests. No account needed.
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