The Canadian Passport Ranked Among The Most Powerful In The World
The United States surpassed Canada.
A person holding a Canadian passport and boarding pass inside of an airport.
A ranking of the most powerful passports across the world has put the Canadian passport among the top global tiers, indicating that those of us who are citizens in what was recently ranked the third-best country in the world, can travel the globe with relative ease.
In addition to the Canadian passport being among the most treasured globally, it's also known as one of the most beautiful passports.
Passport Index, an online agency that curates, sorts and ranks the world's passports, dropped its annual Global Passport Power Rank, and Canada landed in the seventh-highest grouping, alongside countries such as Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia and Slovenia. The ranking is based on a "mobility score," a measure of how easy it is for holders of a passport to travel elsewhere.
The global passport index reported that Canada has visa-free access to a total of 123 countries and visa-on-arrival for 50 countries. Canadians would also be required to obtain a visa to visit 25 countries before arrival, including destinations such as China, Algeria, Iran, Niger, Syria, Venezuela and the Russian Federation.
While Canada's placement is still rather impressive, considering its up against nearly 100 passport ranks, it's certainly seen some better days. In the 2023 report, the Passport Index had Canada in the fifth-highest group, tying with countries such as the United States and Australia.
This year, Canada's rank dipped while the U.S. and Australian passports ranked in the sixth power rank with visa-free access to 123 countries for American passport holders and 117 countries for Australian citizens.
So, which country has the most powerful passport in the world? The United Arab Emirates managed to receive the highest power rank with visa-free access to a total of 131 countries. A slew of European countries followed suit with Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, all scoring in the second-highest ranking group.
Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria, and Switzerland all scored in the third group, while Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Ireland and South Korea all ranked in the fourth group.
As for the least powerful passports in the world, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan, all ranked the lowest, with visa-free access to anywhere from 12 to six countries.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.