Canadian Passport Climbs In World Rankings

The Canadian passport has climbed from the eighth spot last year to seventh place in the third quarter of this year in the Henley Passport Index rankings.

The international ranking of passports ascribed the Canadian passport a score of 185, one point less than the document’s score last year, but is now putting it higher in the rankings relative to the passports of other countries.

The 18-year-old Henley Passport Index, which is updated quarterly, uses data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) to compare 199 passports for 227 travel destinations and gives 104 rankings for the top ones, reflecting the global mobility afforded by the passports of those nations.

“The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required,” notes the Henley & Partners website.

Canada regularly features among the countries with the world’s most powerful passports, offering visa-free access, which is seen as a measurement of the freedom of citizens of a country, to 185 destinations.

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Canadian Passport Among World’s Most Powerful

The organization’s third-quarter ranking of 2023 of the passports of countries all over the world put the Canadian passport on par with Greece with both countries scoring 185 on the index.

The highest-ranked passports are the one issued by Singapore with a score of 192.

Second place went to Germany, Italy and Spain, each of which received a score of 190.

Third with a score of 189 went to Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden while Denmark, Irelan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom took fourth with 188.

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Belgium, the Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland scored 187 to come in fifth and Australia, Hungary and Poland narrowly beat out Canada with a score of 186.

Canada, though, did beat out its neighbour to the south, ranking one point and one spot in the rankings above the United States.

Afghanistan’s Passport At The Bottom Of The Heap

The dubious distinction of having the least-desirable passport in the world again went to Afghanistan which got only 27 points to place 104th.

Barely beating out Afghanistan for the worst passport in the world is Iraq, whose passport was given a score of 29 and Syria, with a passport score of 30.

The Canadian passport reached the second spot on The Henley Index in 2014, then slid to sixth place by 2016 and stayed there for four years. The passport then lost ground relative to other passports throughout the world during the pandemic as public health restrictions and border closures severely limited travel to other destinations.

Last year, though, the Canadian passport moved up a notch, to the eighth spot and is now back up to seventh, on its way to securing its pre-pandemic level.

Those countries to which Canadian passport holders can travel visa-free, including those that require a visa only upon arrival, are:

• American Samoa **
• Australia **
• Cook Islands
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Guam
• Kiribati
• Marshall Islands *
• Micronesia
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand **
• Niue
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau Islands *
• Samoa *
• Solomon Islands *
• Tonga *
• Tuvalu *
• Vanuatu
• Armenia *
• Bahrain *
• Iraq
• Israel
• Jordan *
• Kuwait *
• Lebanon *
• Oman
• Palestinian Territory
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia *
• United Arab Emirates *
• Albania
• Andorra
• Austria
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Greenland
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• Vatican City
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Bonaire; St. Eustatius and Saba
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Curacao
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• French West Indies
• Grenada
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Montserrat
• Puerto Rico
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Maarten
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• US Virgin Islands
• Bangladesh *
• Brunei
• Cambodia *
• Hong Kong (SAR China)
• Indonesia *
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos *
• Macao (SAR China)
• Malaysia
• Maldives *
• Mongolia
• Myanmar *
• Nepal *
• Pakistan **
• Philippines
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka **
• Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
• Tajikistan *
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste *
• Uzbekistan
• Argentina
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Falkland Islands
• French Guiana
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay *
• Peru
• Suriname
• United States
• Uruguay
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso *
• Burundi *
• Cape Verde Islands *
• Comoro Islands *
• Djibouti *
• Egypt *
• eSwatini
• Gabon *
• Guinea-Bissau *
• Lesotho
• Madagascar *
• Malawi *
• Mauritania *
• Mauritius
• Mayotte
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Reunion
• Rwanda
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles *
• Sierra Leone *
• Somalia *
• South Africa
• St. Helena *
• Tanzania *
• The Gambia
• Togo *
• Tunisia
• Zambia *
• Zimbabwe *

A single asterisk denotes a country in which Canadian passport holders are issued a visa upon arrival, typically at a port of entry like an airport.

A double asterisk denotes a country for which Canadian passport holders must have an electronic travel authorization (eTA) as an entry requirement even though they are visa-exempt. An eTA is electronically linked to the passport and is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.