TORONTO -- Canadians can travel to more places without a visa than most other countries in the world, according to the latest global passport ranking update.
Canada tied for sixth, along with the UK, the United States and five other countries on The Henley Passport Index, which measures the travel freedom offered by a country’s passport. Canadians can visit 184 countries without a visa, or can get a visa or other permit on arrival.
Ranked first in 2014, this is the lowest position the U.K. and the U.S. have ever occupied.
Japan and Singapore tied for first place, while South Korea, Germany, Finland came third. Thirty-two countries occupied the top 10 positions, with 22 of them being members of the European Union.
Passports holders with the least amount of travel freedom were from Afghanistan, which was ranked 107th, followed by citizens from Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Pakistan.
"Often, there is a strong correlation between visa freedom and other benefits such as business and investment freedom, independence of the judiciary, fiscal health, and property rights," said Christian Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partner, in a statement.
Analysts found a particularly strong correlation between passport freedom and economic indicators such as foreign investment inflows, property rights, tax burden, and investment freedom.
The index uses information provided by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), which holds the largest travel database in the world. The index ranks 199 passports and 227 different travel destinations.
