Canadians can now travel to more than 180 countries without the need for a visa, according to the latest Henley Passports ranking of the most powerful passports, which finds a growing gap between citizens of different countries when it comes to freedom of travel.

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The results of the Henley Passport Index, which was created 17 years ago, show that the number of destinations that can be reached without a prior visa has increased significantly in recent years. In 2006, an individual could visit an average of 57 countries without a visa, while today the number is 107.

Canadian passport holders can travel to 185 destinations without a visa. Thus, the country ranks seventh on the index, right after the United States.

However, this increase illustrates an increasing disparity between the level of freedom of travel for the countries of the North compared to the countries of the South. In fact, citizens of the richest countries can travel without a visa to more than 180 countries in the world while this number hardly reaches 50 in the poorest countries.

Effects of the epidemic

In addition, the Henley Global Mobility report notes increasing inequalities caused in part by COVID-19 and the difficulty of accessing vaccines.

An individual’s health and immunization status affects mobility as much as access to passports without a visa. Andreas Brooklin, a cardiologist and medicine specialist, said staying in the “wrong” country can have a huge impact on access to business and medical and health services, and make travel impossible for some. Board of Directors of the SIP Family Medicine Office in Switzerland.

“Opening immigration channels is essential to post-pandemic recovery,” said Henley & Partners president and inventor of the passport index concept, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin.