According to a new report, Canada is the third safest country in the world for travellers in 2025.
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP), the North American travel insurance company behind the annual safety rankings, listed Canada in the top spot, just under Iceland (#1) and Australia (#2).
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Canada beat out countries such as Switzerland (#5), New Zealand (#6), the United Kingdom (#13), and Sweden (#15).
BHTP surveyed American travellers on multiple aspects of travel safety, including safety from crime, terrorism, and diseases, and safety for groups such as travellers of colour and LGBTQIA+ travellers.
BHTP augmented these ratings with other indices and information (including the Global Peace Index, data from Numbeo, and an average of the GeoSure Global scores of major cities in each country).
It then calculated a “weighted score that reflects each country’s overall safety.”
Canada ranks among top #3 in multiple sub-categories
BHTP used an average of six sub-category scores as the basis for the Safest Places calculation mentioned above.
Canada fared high among the following sub-categories:
Safety from violent crime (Canada #2)
Safety from terrorism (Canada #2)
Transportation safety (Canada #1)
Health measures (Canada #1)
Women’s/ LGBTQIA+/People of Color Safety (Canada #2)
This year’s report also provided a “Hall of Fame” ranking to shed additional perspective on historical travel safety. For the Hall of Fame, BHTP ranked countries who have averaged a top 10 position since 2018, when the company started doing its rankings.
According to the Safe Travel Hall of Fame, Canada ranked in third place, beaten only by Switzerland (#1) and Australia (#2).
Wildlife and road safety
According to the report, travellers exploring Canada’s great outdoors might want to focus more heavily on precautions for encounters with wildlife while driving.
BHTP noted, “bear and rubber-legged moose haunt the middle stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway, elk are found farther west and caribou farther north, wolves are common, and white-tailed deer are the same car magnets they are in the United States.”
2024 rankings
Canada ranked in the top spot for 2024, meaning it actually fell in ranking for 2025. That said, the report notes its place among countries regularly featured in the list, stating, “after years of doing this, it’s clear that travellers think that Canada, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand are pretty safe spaces.”
How to visit Canada
Travellers to Canada will generally need to apply for a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorization (eTA) in advance to enter Canada.
Americans and green card holders, as well as citizens of France living in St. Pierre and Miquelon, do not require an eTA. They need to present valid travel documents like a passport upon entering.
Having the required documents does not guarantee entry. Travellers also need to be admissible to enter Canada. There are several things that can make travellers inadmissible, such as past criminal activity.
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