Canada has been rated the safest place to travel in 2024, after moving up from the sixth spot in 2023. It also ranked first in terms of safety in transportation, lack of violent crime, and health measures, and as the safest place for women and LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC peoples.
The ranking was featured in Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s Safest Destinations report, which has, for nine years, helped travelers narrow down where to go when safety is a priority.
The list for 2024 was compiled via a survey of 1,702 travelers evaluated alongside data from the Global Peace Index and the State Department’s travel safety ratings, and the average GeoSure Global scores of each country’s major cities.
“A safe place was originally a place that’s largely free from terrorist activity. Then it became a place that was safe from disease outbreaks. Now it’s a place where all types of people can move about freely without discrimination or harassment,” the company said in its 2024 rankings.
In terms of Canada’s top ranking, Berkshire Hathaway said that “cold weather and low population density make for safe travels.” However, the company did say that visitors should take precautions with natural disasters when coming to Canada, such as wildfires.
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“Canada’s plethora of forests were seemingly all burning, which has reduced air quality in most major Canadian cities. This made travel to Canada difficult for people with respiratory conditions.”
The report also highlighted the possibility of avalanches and rockslides.
However, Canada’s reviews were overwhelmingly positive overall. Gap Year Travel Store, for example, wrote of it that ““As traveling destinations go it really doesn’t get much safer than Canada … Violent crime is comparatively low and there is a low incidence of gun-related crime.”
Switzerland made second place for 2024, moving up from the ninth spot in 2023. Its low crime rate and safety were behind this score hike. Countries to follow it were Norway in third place, Ireland in fourth, and the Netherlands in fifth place.
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The Netherlands ended up falling from the top place, which it had held last year.
The complete list for 2024 is as follows:
1. Canada
2. Switzerland
3. Norway
4. Ireland
5. Netherlands
6. United Kingdom
7. Portugal
8. Denmark
9. Iceland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Japan
13. France
14. Spain
15. Brazil
