Canada’s passport has been ranked 7th in a new global ranking of the world’s most powerful passports in 2025.
The ranking was conducted by global consulting firm Henley & Partners and is based on the number of destinations Canadian passport holders can access without a prior visa.
In 2025, Canadian passport holders will have visa-free access to 188 destinations. This puts Canada in joint seventh place with Malta and Poland.
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This is also the first time that a Canadian passport has outperformed a U.S. passport since the company began publishing the Henry Passport Index in 2006.
This year, the United States has fallen to ninth place on the list, two spots down from last year’s ranking of seventh place.
Meanwhile, the Canadian passport is also in seventh place, having held the position since 2024. This is an increase from 2023, when Canadian Passport was ranked 8th.
Egypt and Brazil are two countries that will remove visa restrictions for Canadians in 2025, according to the index. Meanwhile, Gabon and Togo currently require Canadians to obtain visas to visit.
Despite the fact that Canada maintained its seventh place position, Henley & Partners noted that Canada has fallen three places over the past decade from fourth place in 2015.
methodology
The Henley Passport Index considers destinations to be visa-free if they allow visa-free arrival, a visa on arrival, a visit permit, or require an electronic travel authorization (eTA).
Destinations that require a visa or government-approved electronic visa (e-visa) are not counted.
This helps determine the overall mobility of the passport holder.
The index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association and powered by the research team at Henley & Partners.
How is a Canadian passport different from other passports?
The Henley Passport Index examines visa-free access for 199 passport types to 227 travel destinations.
This year, Singapore regained the top spot as the most powerful passport, giving its holders access to 195 of the world’s 227 destinations.
Japan followed, offering visa-free access to 193 destinations.
Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list, with visa-free access to 26 destinations.
The index also noted that the UAE gained access to an additional 72 destinations in the past 10 years, dropping to 10th place in 2025, making it one of the biggest “growers” in the past decade. .
How do I get a Canadian passport?
To obtain a Canadian passport, you must first become a Canadian citizen.
People born in Canada are automatically eligible.
Note: If someone is a direct child of a Canadian citizen (at the time of birth), they may be eligible to inherit citizenship status from their parents through the current interim arrangements.
For those not born in Canada, this can be a long process that involves first obtaining Canadian permanent resident status. There are many PR avenues to consider.
After obtaining PR status, there are other criteria that must be met.
Canadian physical residency requirements for citizenship (you must have lived in Canada for at least three of the past five years). File taxes and pay any outstanding taxes. Pass the citizenship test. and take the oath of citizenship.
Generally, it takes at least three years to become a Canadian citizen through naturalization.
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