Canada’s passport has climbed ahead of the United States in global travel rankings, giving Canadian travellers greater visa-free access to destinations around the world.
The Henley Passport Index — a widely followed global ranking that measures how many countries citizens can visit without a visa — now places Canada in 9th position, compared to 12th for the U.S. Last year, both countries were tied for 7th place.
The shift is partly the result of other nations imposing reciprocal visa restrictions on American travellers in response to tougher U.S. entry requirements. As a result, U.S. passport holders now have access to fewer destinations without prior authorization.
Canadians, meanwhile, can travel to Belarus, Papua New Guinea, and Uzbekistan without a visa — countries that Americans must still apply to visit. They also benefit from visa-free entry to Bolivia and Rwanda. When the data is broken down further, Canada ranks 32nd globally for visa-free travel compared to 37th for the U.S.
The index, published by Henley & Partners for the past 20 years, also highlighted China’s rapid rise in travel access. China moved from 94th place in 2015 to 62nd in 2024 before slipping slightly to 64th this year. Over the past year alone, China has extended visa-free access to 30 additional countries, now granting visa-free entry to travellers from 76 nations — significantly more than the U.S.
Canada’s overall ranking was affected somewhat by Brazil’s decision to reinstate visa requirements for Canadian visitors earlier this year, after unsuccessful negotiations with Ottawa to ease entry rules for Brazilian citizens. Still, Canada’s passport remains among the world’s most powerful, giving its holders more global mobility than their American counterparts for the first time in years.