Canada's Passport Is Among The Most Powerful In The World — But It Used To Rank Even Higher

A new ranking of the most powerful passports in the world has listed Canada's passport among the global top ten — but it's actually slid down the ranking in recent years.

The latest passport index report by immigration consultancy firm Henley & Partners considered 199 different passports and their access to 227 different travel destinations.

Each passport was ranked based on how many countries it enables visa-free travel to, ranging from access to 193 countries at the top of the list to just 27 countries at the bottom.

Per the index, Japan's passport is considered the most valuable in the world, as it enables visa-free travel to 193 different countries globally.

Singapore and South Korea are tied for second place, with passport holders able to access 192 countries without obtaining a visa first.

As many as 21 passports placed before Canada's, with multiple countries ranking in each place between third and seventh.

For example, Germany and Spain shared third place, while France, Ireland, Portugal and the U.K. shared sixth.

In seventh, the United States ranked alongside countries like Norway, Switzerland and Belgium.

On the 2022 ranking, Canada's placed eighth, alongside the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta and Australia. Per the report, these passports have visa-free access to 185 destinations.

Although the Canadian passport is up in recent years (it ranked ninth in 2020), it has previously held a much higher spot on the ranking.

Between 2016 and 2019, it ranked sixth, while in 2015, it was listed in fourth place with the likes of New Zealand, Belgium and Spain.

The Canadian passport reached its pinnacle in 2014 when it ranked second highest on the list, alongside Denmark, with visa-free access to 173 countries.

Then, it was only behind the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Germany and Finland.

While the number of countries Canadians can visit without obtaining a visa has actually increased since 2014, the index suggests other passports are expanding their reach a little quicker than Canada.

Comparatively, on the bottom end of the 2022 index are Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Passport holders from these countries can only get visa-free access to 30, 29 and 27 countries, respectively.