The power of the Canadian passport started off this year by nudging up one point on the Henley Passport Index to hit a score of 186.
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 a ranking for the top 112 of them that reflects 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.
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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.
The organization’s first-quarter ranking of 2023 of the passports of countries all over the world put the Canadian passport on par with those of Australia, Greece and Malta. All of those countries, including Canada, scored 186 on the index.
The highest-ranked passports are the ones issued by Japan and Singapore. They scored 193.
Second place went to South Korea with a score of 192. Germany and Spain tied for third with scores of 191. Finland, Italy and Luxembourg came in fourth with scores of 190.
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The European countries of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden scored 189 each while France, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom placed sixth with scores of 188.
The United States was one of five countries, including Belgium, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, that narrowly beat out Canada by a single point to snag the seventh spot in the rankings with scores of 186.
Narrowly beating out Canada by a single point on the index’s scorecard, the American passport garnered a score of 187 and came in seventh place along with Belgium, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.
Afghanistan’s Passport At The Bottom Of The Heap
The dubious distinction of having the least-desirable passport in the world goes to Afghanistan which got only 27 points to place 108th.
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 so far holding steady there.
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 *
- Papua New Guinea *
- 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
- Czech Republic
- 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
- Indonesia *
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos *
- Macao
- Malaysia
- Maldives *
- Mongolia
- Nepal *
- Pakistan **
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea **
- Sri Lanka **
- Taiwan
- 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
- United States
- Uruguay
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso *
- Burundi *
- Cape Verde Islands *
- Comoro Islands *
- Egypt *
- eSwatini
- Ethiopia *
- 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
- Uganda *
- 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.
