Canada has been ranked as the safest country in the world for travelers, according to a report by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) released in late 2023.

BHTP said that the total rankings are based on an average of “all measures from [BHTP’s] State of Travel Insurance research”, which combines “six sub-category scores as the basis” for the rankings.

In the lists, BHTP did not include any African country including Nigeria and South Africa which are largest economies.

Up from sixth place in BHTP’s rankings last year, Canada has moved to the top spot in the rankings for the world’s safest places to travel this year.

According to the report, important reasons for Canada’s high ranking include “cold weather and low population density, [which] make for safe travels.”

Further, each of the top 15 countries in BHTP’s rankings was given a dedicated section in this year’s report, which included a section titled “What you need to watch out for.”

For Canada, this section identified wildfires as an area of concern for travellers, noting that “Canada’s plethora of forests were seemingly all burning, which has reduced air quality in most major Canadian cities. This made travel to Canada difficult for people with respiratory conditions.”

In breaking down, Canada’s ranking by sub-category, BHTP’s report used dimensions like safety from violent crime, safety from terrorism, transportation safety, health measures (including disease) and safety for groups (women, travellers of colour and LGBTQ+ travellers).

Other 14 safest countries after Canada according to BHTP’s rankings include Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Spain and Brazil. (Vanguard)

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