If you know why 1867 is a noteworthy year in Canadian history or what top job Sir John A. MacDonald held at that time, then you've already outsmarted most college-aged Canadians on parts of a basic pop quiz.

That's according to a countrywide survey released Friday that suggests fewer than half of Canadians between the ages of 18-24 can name the country's first prime minister. Even fewer still — 26 per cent of young Canadians — are aware that 1867 was the year of Confederation.

PERCENTAGE WHO PASSED QUIZ BY REGION
 Province  2007  1997
 B.C.  15%  23%
 Alberta  22%  27%
 Manitoba/Saskatchewan  29%  16%
 Ontario  21%  23%
 Quebec  9%  12%
 Atlantic  13%  18%
 Canada  18%  19%

"The verdict is in," Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of the Dominion Institute, concluded in the report. "After a decade of significant investments in history education, we have failed to move the dial towards greater knowledge and understanding of Canadian history."

The poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid and the Dominion Institute, discovered a decline in Canadian history knowledge from 10 years ago, when a similar sample group scored an overall one per cent higher than this year's batch of young Canadians.

Most of this year's respondents failed the 30-question quiz, which included the same questions asked in 1997.

Only 46 per cent correctly identified John A. MacDonald as Canada's first prime minister, compared to 54 per cent of Canadians who could do the same a decade earlier.

More knowledge of military facts

Interestingly, in spite of the poor results, only five per cent of the respondents believed the questions were too difficult.

All was not lost, however. The study also found improvements in certain areas. In 1997, only 17 per cent of Canadians knew that Chinese Canadians were forced to pay a head tax to immigrate to Canada, but that figure jumped up to 32 per cent in 2007.

When it comes to key moments in military history, the young adults in 2007 also knew more than their predecessors. More people in this year's group (37 per cent, up from 31 per cent) knew Nov. 11 was the day the First World War ended, and also that the Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War (37 per cent, up from 33 per cent).

Saskatchewan, Manitoba score highest

Griffiths said the results were nonetheless disappointing. The Dominion Institute had hoped to see an upswing in history knowledge 10 years after the earlier survey, given that public institutions and advocacy groups over the last decade have spent hundreds of millions on educational initiatives such as the CBC's A People's History and the Historica Foundation's "Heritage Minutes." A new Canadian War Museum is also in the works at a cost of $134 million.

The national average for passing the test was 18 per cent, while the national average in 1997 was 19 per cent.

The survey found that young adults in Saskatchewan and Manitoba performed the best, with 29 per cent passing the quiz, up from just 16 per cent in 1997. This also represented the most improvement in the last decade.

By contrast, Quebec fared the worst out of the provinces, with only nine per cent of young adults passing the quiz, down from 12 per cent in 1997.

Nunavut, which had not been part of the original survey, was not included in the study.