A new poll by the Dominion Institute shows that Canadians are faring dramatically worse today than they did in 1997 in a test of their knowledge of history, politics, culture and geography.

About 60 per cent would fail today a test similar to the one that immigrants take to become Canadian citizens. A decade ago, when the institute began quizzing Canadians, just 45 per cent were unable to score a passing grade by answering 12 out of 21 questions correctly.

Just as striking is the finding that immigrants have improved their knowledge in the past 10 years and did better than the general population in the latest quiz. About 70 per cent of first-generation Canadians passed, while a decade ago scores in the two groups were similar, with the edge going to those born in this country.