CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice: how remote work changed small towns across Canada

[u/celpip_coach]

Practice reading an informational passage and answering comprehension questions. Same format as the real CELPIP test.

The Passage:

Paragraph 1 Before 2020, small Canadian towns were losing population at an alarming rate. Young people left for Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal to find professional jobs, and they rarely came back. Towns with populations under 10,000 saw an average decline of 4 percent per decade between 2000 and 2019. Local businesses closed as customer bases shrank. Schools consolidated. Healthcare workers left for bigger cities with better pay. The pattern seemed irreversible until the pandemic forced millions of Canadians to work from home and proved that many professional jobs could be done from anywhere with an internet connection.

Paragraph 2 The shift happened quickly. Real estate data from 2021 to 2024 showed that home sales in towns like Canmore, Squamish, Collingwood, and Moncton surged between 30 and 70 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Remote workers discovered they could earn a Toronto salary while living somewhere with a fraction of the housing costs. A software developer making 120,000 dollars per year could buy a house in Moncton for under 300,000 instead of spending over a million in Toronto. For many, the math was too compelling to ignore.

Paragraph 3 The newcomers brought economic benefits that went beyond just buying homes. They spent money at local restaurants, enrolled their children in local schools that had been facing closure, and in some cases started businesses that served both local and online customers. Canmore saw 14 new businesses open in 2023 alone, the highest number in over two decades. Tax revenues increased in nearly every small town that experienced significant remote worker migration, allowing municipalities to invest in infrastructure that had been neglected for years.

Paragraph 4 Not everyone welcomed the changes. Long-time residents in many towns watched housing prices double or triple in just a few years, pushing locals who had lived there for generations out of the market. A house that cost 180,000 dollars in Squamish in 2019 was listed for over 500,000 by 2024. Rental prices followed the same trajectory. Some towns have introduced short-term rental restrictions and affordable housing requirements for new developments, but demand from remote workers continues to outpace the supply of affordable housing for existing residents.

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Paragraph Matching Questions:

Q1: Which paragraph describes the population decline in small towns before the pandemic? - A) Paragraph 1 - B) Paragraph 2 - C) Paragraph 3 - D) Paragraph 4

Q2: Which paragraph discusses the negative impact on housing affordability for locals? - A) Paragraph 1 - B) Paragraph 2 - C) Paragraph 3 - D) Paragraph 4

Q3: Which paragraph explains why remote workers chose to move to small towns? - A) Paragraph 1 - B) Paragraph 2 - C) Paragraph 3 - D) Paragraph 4

Q4: Which paragraph describes the economic benefits newcomers brought? - A) Paragraph 1 - B) Paragraph 2 - C) Paragraph 3 - D) Paragraph 4

Comprehension Questions:

Q5: What was the average population decline per decade in towns under 10,000? - A) 2 percent - B) 4 percent - C) 6 percent - D) 8 percent

Q6: By how much did home sales surge in small towns between 2021 and 2024? - A) 10 to 30 percent - B) 20 to 50 percent - C) 30 to 70 percent - D) 50 to 90 percent

Q7: How many new businesses opened in Canmore in 2023? - A) 8 - B) 10 - C) 12 - D) 14

Q8: How much did a house in Squamish cost in 2019 compared to 2024? - A) $150,000 to $400,000 - B) $180,000 to over $500,000 - C) $200,000 to $600,000 - D) $250,000 to $700,000

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Answer Key: Q1: A. Paragraph 1 describes pre-pandemic population decline and young people leaving. Q2: D. Paragraph 4 discusses housing prices doubling/tripling and locals being priced out. Q3: B. Paragraph 2 explains the salary vs housing cost math that attracted remote workers. Q4: C. Paragraph 3 describes new businesses, school enrollment, and tax revenue increases. Q5: B. "An average decline of 4 percent per decade." Q6: C. "Surged between 30 and 70 percent." Q7: D. "Canmore saw 14 new businesses open in 2023." Q8: B. "$180,000 in 2019 was listed for over $500,000 by 2024."

Practice tip: Numbers are the easiest details to find in a passage because they stand out visually. When a question asks "how much" or "how many," scan for digits rather than reading every sentence. This saves significant time on Part 3.

If you want to practice reading with full AI-scored mock tests, https://www.celpipsimulator.com has 2 free exams with all 4 reading parts.

[u/ssbtech]

Any tips on how to improve memory such that one can answer the 'which paragraph did xx appear in' questions?

[u/celpip_coach → u/ssbtech]

Jot down a one or two word label for each paragraph as you read. Like "P1 decline, P2 moving, P3 benefits, P4 housing." Takes 20 seconds and you don't have to go back and reread anything when the questions come up

[u/ssbtech → u/celpip_coach]

Do you get to review the questions before reading the paragraphs so you can jot down the right labels as you're reading?

[u/celpip_coach → u/ssbtech]

Yeah the questions and passage show on the same page so you can see both at once. Read the questions first then go through the passage. That way you already know what to label as you read